No one remembered her when she was little, but the moment she started making money, suddenly her parents came crawling out of the woodwork.
Her parents had spent her entire childhood figuring out where to stash her. She’d arrived in their lives at the worst possible timeunwanted, inconvenient. At first, her grandmother helped look after her, but after Granny had a stroke, there was no one left to raise the little girl. The measly pension and her parents wages barely covered caring for a sick adult, let alone a child. After a few months, they made the call: Emily would be sent to a childrens home, «just for a while.»
«Youll stay here while your dad and I sort out some money,» her mother told her.
Emily actually believed them. She waited, because life in the home was no picnic. No private room, no warmth, no real careit was practically a prison. She couldnt connect with the other kids; the staff barely noticed her. To survive, Emily buried herself in books donated by well-meaning charities.
She aced school, and when she got into university, she was thrilled to escape to another city. Starting with barely a penny to her name, she juggled part-time jobs and saved every bit to launch her own business. People laughed when she opened a tiny online shop selling homemade candles.
«What kind of job is that? Youll never make proper money,» they scoffed.
But the little business grew. She was one of the first in the market, and soon, orders poured in. A young bloke helping with deliveries eventually quit his own job to make candles with her. Bit by bit, it became a proper family affair.
The care home staff heard about Emilyshe was the face of the shop, after alland so, inevitably, did her parents. Under the guise of placing an order, they reached out. When the package arrived, they turned up at the return addressright on Emilys doorstep.
She wasnt exactly thrilled to see them. Theyd forgotten her, and shed forgotten them. Maybe it wasnt polite, but she showed them the doorwith her husbands help.
They hadnt bothered raising her. Hadnt even checked if she was alive. Now, suddenly, they wanted to play happy families? Too late. Shouldve looked for her sooner. Shouldve brought her home. Now Emily was grown, a mother herself, and she didnt need parents like that.
