When Marissa discovered the truth about her birth parents, she was shocked and excited to meet them. But only her birth father was at the coffee shop they had agreed upon, and he told her something that turned her life upside down.
“Hurry up! You have to wash my clothes after this!” Katherine yelled at Marissa. “Stop wasting time reading those senseless novels!”
While Marissa’s classmates showed off their expensive birthday presents and bragged about their yearly vacations to exotic destinations, Marissa wondered why her parents, Katherine and Walter, never treated her that way.
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All they gave her were orders, asking her to wash their dirty underwear, do the dishes, and focus on household chores instead of studying.
She tried for many years to speak to teachers and counselors at school, but they all dismissed her concerns.
“Marissa, your life is not like Cinderella,” one teacher, Mr. Carter, chuckled when she tried to explain what was happening at home. “At some point, everyone has to grow up and stop believing in fairy tales.”
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When Marissa turned 15, Katherine asked her to find a job and contribute to the household expenses.
“Your father’s salary isn’t enough for us,” she would snap. “You have to take on some responsibility!”
Although it was more work for Marissa, she loved it. Her part-time gig at a fast-food joint was perfect. Most of her paycheck went to her demanding parents, but she kept some for herself and enjoyed being around other people.
The kids at school didn’t understand her struggles, but some of the employees at the burger place did.
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They also had hard lives, and one of them gave her some sound advice. She saved every penny she could and left the house as soon as she turned 18.
As Marissa stepped into adulthood, the weight of her difficult childhood lingered. She found herself navigating a world that seemed kinder than the one she had known, yet the scars of her past remained.
For years, she lamented her childhood, especially in college, where she made her first real friend, Olive, who invited her home every Thanksgiving.
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Her mother was like warm apple pie, and her father, although gruff, was a sweetheart. They loved each other and showed affection often with hugs and kisses.
Seeing them felt strange to Marissa. She couldn’t understand why her own parents had treated her the way they did all her life, especially since they weren’t addicts or gamblers like some of her coworkers’ parents. They could have been an average family, except they hated her.
Why did they have me if they didn’t want me? Marissa wondered most of her life, but it was a question without an answer.
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She would never have an answer because she had cut off contact completely after leaving, and they hadn’t reached out either.
So, aside from Olive, she had no one else in the world.
“Maybe you do have a family, Marissa,” Olive said one day.
“Maybe you have uncles, aunts, and other relatives that your parents cut ties with.”
“You think so?” Marissa asked.
“It’s possible. And there’s a way to find out if you have family out there.”
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“Really? And what’s that?” Marissa leaned forward.
“A DNA test!” Olive exclaimed. “The one everyone’s doing these days. I think it’s the best way to find out if you have family members other than your mean parents. I’ve heard of people finding long-lost siblings through these tests.”
“I’m sure it’s going to be pretty expensive and I don’t have that kind of money right now,” Marissa sighed. “You know how it is.”
“Oh, come on! You can spare a few bucks for this, Marissa! It sounds like fun.”
A small smile tugged at Marissa’s lips. “Fine… Let’s do it!”
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A few days later, Marissa stared at her laptop screen in shock after receiving her DNA test results.
“This isn’t possible!” she gasped. “Olive! Come here!”
“What happened?” Olive rushed to the study table. “Did you find someone?”
“I found… my parents,” Marissa said, turning toward Olive. “How is this possible? I already have parents. They’re my biological mother and father.”
Olive’s eyes widened as she processed the information. “But what if they aren’t your biological parents? These results are accurate, Marissa.”
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“What are you talking about, Olive?” Marissa’s voice rose with confusion. “I’ve spent my entire life with Mom and Dad, and now you’re saying they’re not my biological parents?”
“Calm down,” Olive soothed, taking Marissa’s hand and glancing at the laptop screen. “What’s the couple’s name? Let me check… Barbara and Julian. Let’s call them and see what they say, okay? If it’s a mistake, they’ll probably hang up.”
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Marissa hesitated, her brow furrowed with uncertainty. “Are you sure we should call them? I don’t know. It feels like we’re about to open the biggest can of worms in the world.”
“I know…” Olive nodded sympathetically. “But this is the only way to find out the truth.”
Taking a deep breath, Marissa steeled herself. “Alright… I’m calling them.”
With trembling fingers, Marissa dialed Barbara’s number.
“Hello?” a woman answered.
“Hi. Is this Barbara?” Marissa asked.
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“I’m Marissa. I’m calling because I saw your name on the DNA test website… It said I might be your daughter.”
There was silence for a few moments before Barbara screamed in delight.
“My daughter! Oh, Jesus!” she took a deep breath before calling her husband.
“Julian! Come here! We found our daughter!”
Marissa blinked, taken aback by the reaction. “Hello?”
“Yes, yes, I’m here,” Barbara replied. “You said your name is Marissa?”
“Yes, I’m Marissa. But why aren’t you surprised? Were you expecting my call?”
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“We’ve been waiting for this day for 34 years, dear,” Barbara revealed. “We’ve been looking for you.”
Confusion clouded Marissa’s face as she glanced at Olive, who seemed equally perplexed. “Looking for me? I don’t get it.”
“Well, it’s a long story and I don’t want to reveal everything now,” Barbara said. “My darling, you were stolen from the baby ward the day you were born. We’ve been searching for you like crazy all these years. Julian, say hi to your daughter.”
A man’s voice, hesitant and filled with emotion, came through the line. “Hello.”
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“Uh, hi,” Marissa said. “So, you guys are telling me I wasn’t given up?”
“No! Of course not! We wanted you so bad. We loved you so much,” the older woman stuttered for a moment. “We did everything possible to find you, but the cameras weren’t great, security wasn’t tight, and most hospitals still used paper records back then. The police couldn’t track how, why, or where the criminals had gone. Worst of all, they told us this wasn’t uncommon.”
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“Wow,” Marissa breathed, rubbing the sweat from her face.
Barbara’s tone brightened. “But I have so much to tell you. Where do you live? Can we meet?”
Marissa answered, shocked to learn that her real parents were only two hours away. They made plans to meet at a local coffee shop two days later.
Two days later, Marissa was waiting at a coffee shop, when an older man called her name.
“Marissa! It’s me, Julian,” he smiled.
“Hi, Julian… I mean father… Dad…” Marissa stammered. “Where’s Barbara? I mean, where’s your wife?”
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Instead of answering, Julian grabbed her hand a little too tightly.
“Listen, I don’t have much time,” he hesitated, looking around anxiously.
“Please, you have to forgive me. You have to tell Barbara that’s all in the past, and we can move on from it.”
“Excuse me?” Marissa said, trying to pull her hand back, but his hold was too strong. “Forgive what?”
Julian abruptly released her hands, as if they burned him. His face contorted with frustration. “Are you stupid?” he hissed, gesturing wildly.
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“How could you call my wife? You weren’t alone. You were raised by parents. This is preposterous.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Marissa retorted, her mouth agape.
Julian’s shoulders sagged as he let out a heavy sigh. “You weren’t stolen, child,” he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. “You were sold. I sold you while my wife was unconscious. I didn’t want to be a father, but she got pregnant. The birth almost killed her, and she still loved you.”
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“It wasn’t easy. I had to talk to so many people before I found a nurse who was willing to arrange everything. She took money but got me a good deal. I used the money from selling you to pay off debts. Everything was going well until Barbara demanded an investigation. She spent all our savings hiring investigators to look for you.”
Marissa felt a shiver run down her spine after hearing her biological father’s confession. All her hopes of living a normal life and having a loving family had faded away.
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“When the investigators couldn’t find you, I thought it was over,” Julian continued. “But then she found out about this DNA test kit. Everything was going well until you called her two days ago!”
“She was so excited to meet you after that call… I tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen,” Julian shook his head. “And do you know what she did today? She called the cops on me! She’ll be here any minute.”
“And you want me to say that I don’t have any problem with what you did to me, huh?” Marissa said, narrowing her eyes.
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“Do you have any idea what it was like for me? I had to live with people who treated me like a slave! Now I get why they were so mean to me. They bought me to be their free labor.”
“I don’t care what you went through, okay? I just want you to help me get rid of the cops. I’ll be your father then.”
“I can’t believe this…” Marissa looked around.
“I won’t say anything in your defense, Julian. You’re going to pay for what you did.”
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Before Julian could move, Barbara entered the coffee shop with three police officers. A smile spread across Marissa’s face as she looked at her birth mother for the first time.
“That’s him!” Barbara yelled, mesmerizing Marissa as Julian stumbled out of his chair, trying to get away from the police.
Julian couldn’t escape. “NO!” he screamed, bumping into another customer. “Marissa, tell them to stop! Tell them you’re fine!”
“No,” Marissa said loudly enough for the other curious patrons to hear.
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There was no time for Julian to escape through the back, so the cops caught him, placed handcuffs on him, and hauled him away.
“Oh God!” Barbara broke into tears. “I can’t believe this.”
“Please sit down, Barbara… I mean, Mom,” Marissa said, placing her hand on the older woman’s shoulder.
“He told you everything, didn’t he?” she asked as she wiped her tears.
“Yes,” Marissa nodded. “He told me everything. He sold me to the people I always thought were my parents… But how did you find out about it?”
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“I found out about a year ago,” Barbara revealed. “I stumbled across some old diaries in his drawer. I didn’t realize they were his personal diaries until I opened one and landed on the page where he wrote how he fooled me that night by selling you to another family.”
“I was waiting for the right time to call the cops on him, and your call that day gave me the perfect opportunity,” she added.
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Marissa and Barbara spent the rest of the evening sharing their stories. Marissa told her everything about Katherine and Walter, while Barbara talked about how she always wanted to be a mother.
As they talked into the night, Marissa felt a warmth she had never known before. Though the road ahead would be challenging, she finally had the loving mother she had always dreamed of. Together, they would forge a new path and create the family bond that had been stolen from them so long ago.
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If you enjoyed reading this story, here’s another one: 65-year-old Donna adopts an abandoned little boy named Robbie, and they live together as one happy family. Their peaceful life is disrupted when Robbie’s birth mother shows up on their doorstep 13 years later.
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This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.