Loved Until Their Real Child Arrived

"Gabriel!" Mom snapped, interrupting Dad before he could finish his sentence.

However, I knew what he was about to say.

The other kids at the orphanage had been right.

Adopted kids like us would eventually be sent back to the orphanage once our adoptive parents gave birth to their own children.

I had been too foolish, believing that I would be different.

I bit down on my lip and didn't say a single word. I watched as Mom and Dad left the house while comforting my sister, Freya Walker.

The door clicked shut softly, but I felt as if a heavy weight had been dropped on my heart.

My chest ached terribly. I thought I would cry, but my eyes remained dry. I didn't shed a single tear as I stood rooted to the spot in the living room.

A long time passed before I returned to my room and pulled out a small luggage bag from under my bed.

Five years ago, I had brought this very same luggage bag to this home.

I had been very young at the time, to the point that I couldn't really remember my life at the orphanage. But I remembered how Mom had squatted in front of me, asking me with bright eyes, "Will you come home with me?"

She smiled when I nodded. Her smile had been prettier than everyone else's at the orphanage.

However, Mom's eyes had been devoid of mirth earlier. In fact, she hadn't spared a single glance at me when she held Freya's hand and left the house.

Dad had behaved the same way.

It was why I knew that they were going to send me back to the orphanage. Instead of waiting for them to bring it up to me, I figured that I might as well take the initiative and leave of my own accord. It would be less humiliating that way.

That way, I could tell the kids at the orphanage that I hadn't been discarded by Mom and Dad. On the contrary, I was the one who wanted to return to the orphanage—though there was a chance that they wouldn't believe me.

I gently swept the dust off the luggage bag and pulled the slightly rusty zipper. I then began to pack my belongings.

I placed a few garments into the bag first, including my favorite pair of blue pants, the scarf that Mom knitted for me last year, and a red cap that was pilling slightly.

I stacked them neatly on top of one another and tucked them in the bag.

I didn't dare take too many things with me as I didn't want them to think that I was being too greedy.

I then began to pack my toys.

I hesitated for a long time before I finally decided on two items—an old Rubik's Cube with peeling paint and a baseball cap with a moon design.

Mom had given me the Rubik's Cube on the first night that they took me home with them, telling me that it was a lucky charm from Santa Claus.