While helping her mother, Sarah, move into a new house, Natalie stumbles upon an old photograph hidden in a box. It shows a young Sarah holding a newborn baby with a distinctive birthmark on its cheek. But Natalie never had a birthmark. Confused and unsettled, she realizes there’s a secret her mother has been hiding.
Natalie adjusted her grip on the heavy box, glancing at Sarah, who was busily sorting through their belongings. It felt strange, this new feeling—admiration. For years, she had begged her mother to leave Ross, warning her about his manipulative ways.
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“You deserve better,” she’d say, but Sarah never listened. Each time she walked away from Ross, she’d return, swayed by a shiny necklace or an expensive dinner. But now, things were different. Sarah had finally found the strength to break free.
Watching her mother carry on despite the fear in her eyes, Natalie couldn’t help but feel a new kind of respect.
“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” Sarah said, her voice trembling as she looked around the empty house. It was a new beginning, but fear lingered in her eyes.
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Natalie paused, watching her mother. “How do you feel about everything?”
“I’m scared, Natalie,” Sarah admitted, her shoulders slumping. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
“I get it, Mom. It’s okay to be scared. But remember, you did the right thing.”
Sarah wrung her hands, glancing at the floor. “What if I go back to him again? What if I can’t make it on my own? What if I fail?”
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“You won’t, Mom,” Natalie said firmly. “You’ll figure it out, and I’ll be here with you. You’re not alone in this. You have me, your one and only daughter, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Sarah looked up, and her eyes filled with unshed tears. Her brow furrowed, lips quivering.
“Mom, are you okay?” Natalie asked, concerned.
“Yes, yes. Sorry, I just got lost in thought.” Sarah forced a smile.
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They started unpacking, trying to focus on the small tasks. “You sure kept a lot of stuff, Mom,” Natalie remarked, lifting another heavy box.
Sarah called from the other room, “Oh, really? I seem to remember a certain college student with a mountain of boxes.”
Natalie chuckled, shaking her head. “Okay, okay, you got me there. But I’m different now. I’ve learned to let go.”
She pulled open a dusty box, revealing a stack of old photo albums. She brushed off the top one and flipped it open, smiling as she saw herself as a toddler, playing in the backyard, dressed in funny Halloween costumes, and grinning with a gap-toothed smile.
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Page after page, she saw Sarah’s smiling face next to hers, but she avoided the photos that showed Ross. She flipped past those quickly, a sour feeling building in her chest whenever his face appeared.
Once she finished the albums, she reached the bottom of the box and noticed an old envelope. It looked out of place, hidden away like a secret. Curiosity took over, and she carefully opened it.
Inside was a single photograph. It showed a much younger Sarah, looking tired but joyful, cradling a newborn in her arms at the hospital. Natalie squinted at the baby, her smile fading. A large birthmark covered the baby’s cheek.
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She flipped the photo over and read the date. It matched the day of her own birth. Her heart skipped a beat, confusion filling her mind. “But I never had a birthmark,” she whispered to herself, scanning the photo again. A chill ran down her spine as dread settled in. Something wasn’t right.
Natalie stormed into the bedroom, gripping the photograph tightly. “Mom? Don’t you have something to explain?” she demanded, holding the picture up for Sarah to see.
Sarah’s eyes widened, and she froze, clearly flustered. “Uhh… Natalie… where did you find that?” she asked, her voice shaky.
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“In the box with the photo albums,” Natalie replied coldly.
Sarah swallowed hard. “I can explain. It’s… it’s just the baby of a woman who was sharing the hospital room with me.”
Natalie narrowed her eyes. “Really? And you’ve kept it all these years? Why would you hide it in an envelope?”
“I—I don’t know,” Sarah stammered, rubbing the back of her head. “It’s nothing, Natalie.”
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“Don’t lie to me, Mom,” Natalie shot back. “You always do that when you lie. What’s going on? Who’s this baby?”
Sarah sighed, her hands trembling. “It’s complicated, Natalie. It was a long time ago…”
Natalie crossed her arms. “Then start explaining.”
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Sarah took a deep breath, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Alright. But promise you won’t hate me.”
“I can’t promise that,” Natalie replied sharply. “Just tell me.”
Sarah closed her eyes for a moment, collecting her thoughts. “When your father and I first got married, we didn’t have much. We were poor, barely scraping by.”
Natalie huffed, her impatience growing. “I know all that, Mom.”
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Sarah nodded. “Then, when I got pregnant, we were excited but scared. We didn’t have the money, but we wanted to keep the baby. When we went for the second ultrasound, they told us we were having twins.”
Natalie blinked, the revelation hitting her like a wave. “Twins?”
Sarah nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. “Yes. But your father… he didn’t take it well. He said we couldn’t afford two children. He wanted me to have an abortion, but it was too late.”
Natalie’s breath caught in her throat, but she remained silent, waiting for her mother to continue.
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“When you were born,” Sarah whispered, “you had a sister. But then… your father brought two strangers into the hospital room. He said… one of you had to go. I begged him, Natalie, I did. But he had already made up his mind.”
Natalie’s hands tightened into fists. “You let him take her?”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Sarah sobbed. “I didn’t want to lose either of you.”
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Natalie stood, her chest heaving with anger. “So, I have a sister—a twin—and you never told me? You let her go, and you stayed with him after that?”
“I loved him,” Sarah whispered, tears falling freely.
Natalie glared at her, her voice trembling with rage. “You loved him more than your own child! I knew you weren’t the best mother, but this… this is worse than I ever imagined!” She turned toward the door, her mind racing.
“Natalie, please—”
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But Natalie didn’t stop. She ran out of the room, out of the apartment, leaving her mother’s cries behind her.
Back in her apartment, her hands shook as she typed out a message to Sarah:
Who did you and Dad give her to?
Minutes passed, each one feeling like an hour. When Sarah finally replied with the information, Natalie’s heart hardened. She blocked her mother’s number without hesitation, determined to find answers on her own.
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Through a few quick searches on social media, she found out her sister’s name—Amber. She lived in a neighboring state. Without a second thought, she booked a plane ticket and boarded the flight that same afternoon, her mind racing with questions.
When she landed, Natalie called a cab, and the driver took her to Amber’s address. The cab stopped in front of a charming, two-story house with a big, well-kept yard. Natalie sat in the backseat, nerves building as she stared at the house.
“Lady, I can’t sit here all day; some of us have jobs,” the cab driver snapped.
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Natalie shot him a quick, irritated look and got out of the car, her legs unsteady. She walked up to the fence, clutching it tightly for support. Her breath caught when she spotted a woman who looked just like her, except for a birthmark on her cheek—Amber.
Amber was playing with a little boy while a man, probably her husband, laughed beside them. An elderly couple sat nearby, holding hands, their smiles warm and gentle. When they leaned in for a kiss, it reminded Natalie of a love she had never seen between her parents.
“Mom, Dad, come on, show some restraint,” Amber said with a grin as she watched her parents kiss.
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Just then, two older women walked by and noticed Natalie by the fence. “Hi, Amber!” one of them greeted her warmly, mistaking her for her twin.
Natalie hesitated, caught off guard. “Oh, uh… hi,” she replied awkwardly, forcing a smile.
The women continued walking, not noticing the confusion, while Natalie tried to steady her nerves.
Natalie took one last look at Amber’s family. They seemed so content, like a picture-perfect scene from a commercial. Amber was laughing with her little boy, while her husband joined in, and her parents sat nearby, relaxed and happy.
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It was clear they were close, a real family, and Natalie felt a sharp pang in her chest. She realized then that she couldn’t disrupt that happiness. With a heavy sigh, she turned away, her heart aching but resolute.
She couldn’t be the one to ruin Amber’s peace. As much as it hurt, she knew it was the right thing to do.
The next morning, Natalie flew back home, still haunted by what she’d learned. Without fully understanding why, she found herself calling a cab to her mom’s house.
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As she arrived, she saw her dad’s car pulling away. Her heart sank, and she feared the worst. She stepped out and knocked, and Sarah opened the door almost immediately.
Natalie looked at her mom, her voice sharp. “Was Dad here?”
Sarah hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”
Natalie felt her stomach drop. “So, you forgave him. Again.”
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Sarah glanced down, fidgeting with her hands. “He brought me a necklace,” she said softly. “It’s beautiful…” Her voice faded as she spoke.
Natalie sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I see,” she said, turning to leave, feeling the familiar sting of disappointment.
Before she could step away, Sarah spoke again, her voice stronger. “But I told him to go to hell.”
Natalie stopped, stunned. She turned back, searching her mom’s face. Seeing the truth there, she stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug. They clung to each other, tears streaming, finally finding a sense of relief.
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Tell us what you think about this story and share it with your friends. It might inspire them and brighten their day.
If you enjoyed this story, read this one: When a new boss named Mr. Brecker arrived at the company, the staff hoped for the best. But he quickly turned out to be a nightmare—strict, rude, and dismissive, especially towards Kira, the hardworking manager. Instead of backing down, Kira decided to fight back, leading to a bold plan that would change everything.
This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life.
My Neighbor Was Complaining That I Went Out Bra-Less, I Responded With a Petty Revenge
Sometimes, our relationship with our neighbors may be just epic. There’re people who dislike literally everything, and they may add a grain of salt to our lives by their permanent claims. Such thing happened to our today’s heroine, who wrote a letter to our editorial to tell us about an absurd claim from her neighbor. The woman, however, never lost her temper and provided her neighbor with an epic feedback that she will probably not be able to forget.
A woman wrote to us to tell her, nearly dramatic, story.
A young woman, 20, has written a letter to our editorial. She told us about an incident that happened to her recently, and she revealed how she handled it, in a very unusual way. The woman began her story, saying, that she lives in a college dorm and their accommodation is arranged in a way that they have all-female floors.
The woman revealed that, by some reason, she has always been quarreling with her neighbors, who are her fellow groupmates. They live next door to her, and they have always been complaining about everything and anything.
She wrote, «Sometimes, it really looked like these 4 ladies hated me, for nothing. I barely talked to them, and we hadn’t had anything in common with them. I can’t remember doing anything wrong to them, but they would still always tease me and complain about me to our principals. I tried to remain calm, always ignoring their remarks and complaints, until one day.»
The woman faced the most absurd claim in her life from her dorm neighbors.
The young lady goes on with her story, saying, that in that group of people, who were permanently dissatisfied with her only existence, there was an «informal leader», a girl named Donna. She has been very nasty since their first meeting in the dorm, and she had always been the source of never-ending complaints about our heroine.
The woman wrote, «Donna has a boyfriend, who doesn’t attend our college, and, despite the strict rules for visitors, they breach all of them, and he comes to her room regularly. I knew about that, and I was never complaining about this, because I didn’t want to be like these people. But Donna was purposefully provoking me for some reactions.»
«She was spreading the rumors that I was a light-minded person and that I was trying to seduce her boyfriend, which wasn’t true at all, I just didn’t care about him and I even didn’t pay attention on what he actually looked like. If someone asked me to point at him in a crowd, I’d never do that, because I wouldn’t even recognize him. All these rumors were just rumors, and Donna was trying to make a stir, obviously, and to grab some of other people’s attention.»
Donna paid an immense attention even to our heroine’s outfits.
The woman wrote, «One day, I left my room and went down the hall to the water fountain. I refilled my water bottle, and returned back to my room. At that moment, I was wearing a red tank top and no bra. My top was fitted, but it wasn’t see through. There was a group of people hanging out in the hall, but I didn’t pay a lot of attention. An hour later, I got a violent knock on the door and there was Donna, and she was shouting at me from the beginning.»
The woman goes on, saying, «Donna was totally furious, and she shouted that if I go out into the hall again I must put a bra on. She said that her boyfriend was out there, and he was staring at me.»
The woman admitted that she has always been super non-confrontational, but this time she was fuming. She didn’t show her emotions at that moment, but she already knew what to do next.
The woman’s petty revenge came instantly.
The fed up woman wanted to compromise at first. She wrote, «I saw no problem in wearing a bra, but then I just thought that this unfair attitude would go on and on, until I react to it somehow. Next time they would complain about anything else, not less absurd than this time. I wasn’t just ready for this, I wanted to live a normal life from then on. So, I did what Donna wanted me to do, but in my own way.»
The woman revealed, «As soon as Donna asked me to wear a bra, I did this next time I left my room. But I was wearing jeans and my sports bra, and nothing else. So, technically, I did what she wanted me to do, I wore a bra.»
«Her eyes were very wide when she saw me going to the bathroom like this. But she didn’t say anything anymore. She was obviously shocked and couldn’t provide any arguments against my actions. The floor was all-female, no men were ever allowed there, and if she was the person who breached the rules, she was the one who would handle the consequences then.»
And here’re the stories of 15 people, whose revenge to their offenders was so smart, that it deserved to be called an art.
Preview photo credit bruce mars / Unsplash
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