The car swerved and crashed into the bushes.
David was on the ground with me, breathing
heavily. He held me close. “I saved you.”
David must have imagined this moment a
million times.
While watching Amy’s accident, while writing in
his diary…
Now it was real.
David told me not to be scared.
The driver scrambled out of the car and rushed
over to apologize.
But Olivia didn’t look at him.
David had dropped everything when he jumped
<
The certificate and the diary.
And Olivia had the diary.
17
When we got back to the Chiangs, Olivia had
finished reading the diary.
The proud socialite broke down. She collapsed,
grabbed my arm, and started crying. “Daughter,
look at me. I loved you. Don’t hate me…”
She couldn’t get the words out.
I said, “Aunt Olivia, you’re mistaken. I’m not
Amy.”
Olivia stopped.
“Right, you’re not Amy, you’re Jane.” Olivia
laughed through her tears and cupped my face
in her hands. “Jane is my daughter too. I’ll be
Olivia looked at me with love and affection.
She meant it.
The good times were about to begin.
I was going to be the favorite.
But I looked at David and said, “I want to go
back to the orphanage.”
Arthur grabbed my shoulders. “What are you
doing?”
David was shocked.
But he seemed to understand.
David said, “I’ll call the director.”
He walked away and made the call.
Olivia ran to the trash can. “Where’s the
painting? Jane, I’ll find the painting. Don’t be
mad. I’m sorry…”
But all she found was the garbage,
Arthur tried to pull her away. “Olivia, calm down.
The kids are here.”
“Don’t stop me. I beg you.” Olivia pushed him
away and ran out the door. She tripped, lost her
shoes, and ran to the dumpster. She started.
digging through the trash.
“It has to be here.”
I said, “I can paint another one for you.”
Olivia looked at me. “You forgive me? You’re not leaving?”
I didn’t nod.
Olivia looked disappointed. “You all hate me.”
“Mom,” David said, pulling her away. “That’s not
true. Please don’t do this.”
Olivia shook him off. She looked at me.
When the orphanage car arrived, Arthur and
David had to carry Olivia out. She was trying to
drag me back inside.
But I got in the car.
I might regret it, but I wasn’t hesitating.
I knew what I was giving up.
I was giving up the family and love that I envied
Summer for having.
I knew that if I didn’t leave, Olivia would try to
make up for what happened to Amy.
She would love me.
Maybe she would even be better than Summer’s
mom.
But Amy died of depression.
She deserved the apology.
She deserved to be compensated.
I wasn’t worthy.
I couldn’t take what she had earned with her
life.
The car drove off.
It was quiet.
Then I started crying.
Epilogue
After Jane went back to the orphanage, she got
ostracized.
Getting adopted was a big opportunity.
Most of the kids were mad at her.
Some even said, “You knew you were a screw-
up, but you went anyway. Now you’re crawling
back.”
Before, Jane would have shut down. But she
looked at them and said, “I had bad parents
before becoming an orphan. It wasn’t my
choice, because I was born to them. Now I had
a chance to choose again. I tried it, but it
wasn’t the right fit, so I came back.” She
stopped. “If I had the chance to choose again, I’d do the same thing.”
The looks of annoyance froze.
Jane said to the girl who had given her the
Stop for
