A ñElA XELA

THE LIFE I NEVER CHOSE

Chapter One:

The rain started at exactly six in the morning.

Eela stood beside the window, watching drops of water race down the glass. The sky was dark, and the streets outside were almost empty.

She pulled her sweater tighter around herself.

Something felt wrong.

She couldn't explain it. It wasn't fear exactly. It was the strange feeling that comes when your heart knows something your mind hasn't discovered yet.

"Eela!"

Her mother's voice came from downstairs.

"Coming!"

Eela grabbed her school bag and hurried down the stairs.

"You're late," her mother said.

"I know. I'm sorry."

Her mother placed a plate of bread and eggs on the table.

"Eat something."

"I'm not hungry."

"You've said that three mornings in a row."

Eela looked at her mother.

There was something different about her face.

She looked tired.

Not ordinary tired.

Worried.

"Mom?"

Her mother immediately looked away.

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Of course."

Eela frowned.

"You don't look okay."

Her mother forced a smile.

"Just eat your breakfast."

Before Eela could answer, someone knocked on the front door.

Three slow knocks.

Her mother froze.

Eela noticed.

"Who is that?"

"I'll get it."

Her mother hurried toward the door.

Eela watched from the kitchen.

The door opened.

A tall man stood outside.

He was wearing a black coat despite the warm weather.

The moment Eela saw him, something inside her changed.

She had never seen him before.

But he was staring at her as if he had known her for years.

"Eela," the man said quietly.

Her mother stepped in front of her.

"Don't."

The man's expression hardened.

"She deserves to know."

"Not today."

"Then when?"

Eela stood up.

"Mom... who is he?"

Neither of them answered.

The man looked directly at Eela.

"Your mother never told you about me, did she?"

Eela's heart began pounding.

"About what?"

Her mother grabbed the man's arm.

"Leave."

He pulled his arm away.

"You can't hide the truth forever."

"What truth?" Eela shouted.

Silence.

The rain continued pounding against the windows.

Finally, the man reached into his coat and pulled out a small envelope.

He held it toward Eela.

"This belongs to you."

Eela stared at the envelope.

Her mother's face had gone completely pale.

"Don't open it," she whispered.

Eela looked at her.

"Why?"

"Because once you know what's inside..."

Her mother stopped.

Eela took the envelope.

"...your life will never be the same."

Eela slowly opened it.

Inside was a photograph.

She pulled it out.

Her fingers immediately began shaking.

It was a picture of her mother.

But she wasn't alone.

Standing beside her was the same man from the doorway.

And between them...

was a baby.

Eela stared at the photograph.

The baby was unmistakably her.

On the back of the photograph were six handwritten words:

"Eela, you were never supposed to survive."

Her breath caught.

She looked up.

The man was gone.

The front door stood open.

Rainwater blew across the floor.

"Mom..."

Her mother began crying.

And for the first time in Eela's life, she realized something terrifying:

The woman who had raised her had been lying to her.

For seventeen years.

And now, someone had finally come back to tell her why.