Chapter 1
I was scrolling through my feed when I stumbled on a hot topic. [Is 500 dollars a month all an adopted kid gets?]
The post said: [I'm an orphan, raised by my aunt. I busted my ass to get into a top university, but I only get 500 dollars a month for living expenses.
[Meanwhile, Braden, my aunt's own son, who just made it into a second-rate college, gets one thousand a month.
[Adopted kids are treated worse than dogs. When will this miserable life of living under someone else's roof finally end?]
The comments were all over the place.
[500 dollars is more than enough for food, okay? Honestly, your aunt should raise a dog instead of you.]
[If she's adopted you, she should treat you the same as Braden. Why the double standard?]
[Well, Braden's a guy. He probably eats more. Plus, the cost of living varies by city. Why not just talk to your aunt about it?]
The poster replied right away. [I've asked her a few times, but she's just super stingy and won't budge. Guess I'll try again, but honestly, I'm not holding my breath.]
I shook my head, about to close the post, when my niece Cecilia Clayton, whom I'd raised myself, walked in.
"Aunt Daphne, is it possible to get a little more for my living expenses?" Cecilia asked.
*****
"Girls can't just scrape by when they're out. College life isn't only about eating. I need to buy some new clothes and makeup. If I look too cheap, my classmates will judge me," Cecilia said.
She looked at me, clearly upset, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
"Aunt Daphne, I only found out I was adopted when I was in middle school. The other kids would tease me, saying I was unwanted," Cecilia said.
She added, "I really don't ever want to go through that again, having no friends and being looked down on by my classmates.
"I just want to fit in at college, make friends, but all that takes money."
Seeing the hurt look on Cecilia's face, my heart twisted with a mix of emotions.
My sister died when she gave birth to Cecilia.
Cecilia's dad was just a deadbeat punk, all talk and no responsibility for his family.
As soon as he heard my sister had died and that the baby was a girl, he vanished without a trace.
Not a single decent person in the whole family stepped up. Everyone just turned their backs on that tiny, helpless baby.
I cradled her tiny body in my arms, feeling her shiver with loneliness and cold.
At that moment, I quietly vowed to raise her well, so my sister could rest in peace.
Those days were brutal.
My own son, Braden Clayton, was only two when his dad died in an accident.
Raising a child alone was already hard enough, and having to take care of a daughter as well felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.
To make ends meet, I took on all kinds of side gigs on top of my teaching job.
I tutored kids after school, ran a food stall, and even delivered takeout during holidays.
As long as it meant putting food on the table, I never shied away from hard work.
I named my niece Cecilia, gave her my own last name, hoping her life would be full of promise from that day forward.
Anything Braden had, Cecilia would have too, and maybe even more.
But as Cecilia got older, the whispers and talk behind her back only got louder.
Late one night, I finally told her the truth.
Cecilia sobbed, asking, "Why me? Why do I have to go through all this? Why is my life like this?"
Ever since that night, she started calling me "Aunt Daphne" instead of "Mom," like she used to when she was little.
She said she just needed time to process it, that she wasn't really my daughter.
Back then, she'd cry when no one was watching, telling me how her classmates would mock her.
I knew how much it hurt, so I stuck by her side and did my best to help her get through those rough days.
But ever since then, she started measuring everything against what Braden got.
She'd notice if he had an extra plate of food, grabbed another apple, or got a brand new pen.
She'd compare it all, quietly keeping score in her head, wondering if things were really fair.
To help Cecilia move past her obsession with fairness, I made sure everything between her and Braden was kept as fair as possible.
Now that they were both in college, whatever Braden got for living expenses, Cecilia got it, too. There was no difference at all.
My monthly salary was only two thousand dollars, and as I was getting older, I couldn't juggle multiple jobs like I used to.
With one thousand dollars going to the kids' living expenses, the rest barely covered my own bills and the mortgage. It was a real stretch.
But at least the mortgage was almost paid off, and Braden would be graduating in two years. There was finally some hope on the horizon.
Thinking it over, I nodded slightly.
I said, "You girls love looking good, so of course you need some extra cash. The mortgage will be paid off in two months, so once that's done, I can give you a bit more every month, okay?"
Cecilia's eyes sparkled with anticipation. "So, how much more are you thinking?"
I hesitated for a moment. "Would an extra 200 dollars work for you?"
Cecilia studied at a local college and came home every weekend. The cost of living there wasn't high, so 700 dollars a month should cover everything she needed.