I’d worked toward a future my stepmother insisted I’d never have. Just when my dream was within reach, something happened that nearly destroyed my chance. I thought losing my father’s support had been the hardest part of growing up. Then an unexpected delivery revealed a secret he’d left behind.
“Where are they, Vanessa?”
My stepmother looked up from her coffee.
“Where are what?”
“My hearing aids. They were beside my alarm clock.”
She glanced at the empty case in my hand.
“Maybe you misplaced them, Zoe.”
“I checked before bed. Both were there.”
Vanessa shrugged.
“Then keep looking.”
My scholarship interview started in forty minutes.
Without my hearing aids, I could hear sounds, but understanding speech was much harder.
I’d miss words and struggle to follow questions.
Vanessa knew that.
***
At eleven the previous night, Vanessa had entered my bedroom.
“What are you doing?” I’d asked.
“Watering your plants.”
She’d crossed to my windowsill, although she’d never watered them before.
Now she stood in my doorway again.
“You were in here last night,” I said.
“So?”
“Did you move my hearing aids?”
“Why would I touch them?”
“Because they’re missing, and you were standing right beside them.”
Her expression hardened.
“Watch how you speak to me, young lady!”
“Please, Vanessa. I need them.”
She looked at my interview dress, then nodded toward the laundry basket.
“Maybe this is where you belong.”
I stared at her.
“Did you take them?”
She picked up her coffee.
“You’d better start getting used to disappointment.”
Then she walked away.
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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