Six months later, I was taken to the orphanage while my aunt sold my parents flat on the black market.
When I turned five, I became an orphan. Responsibility for me fell to my auntmy fathers sister. While my parents were alive, we wanted for nothing. They held high-ranking jobs, we had a spacious flat in the city, and a little cottage in the countryside. But after they died, everything changed.
My aunt already had her own daughter, Matilda, and we never got along. Even though she was younger, Matilda mocked me constantly. Aunt Beatrice, though pleasant to strangers, was petty and cunning. She never missed an opportunity to benefit herself. I never knew her kindness, her comfort, or a single word of warmth.
From childhood, my duties included scrubbing floors and washing dishes. I wasnt allowed to watch telly, and sweets were bought only for Matilda. Soon, Aunt Beatrice sold my fathers car. My mothers clothes and jewellery vanished, while she and her daughter dressed finer than ever. They dined in cafés and restaurantswithout me.
As a child, I didnt realise Beatrice had sold everything and claimed the money was for my upbringing. Years later, we moved into her tiny one-bedroom flat on the outskirts of London. Six months after that, I was handed over to the orphanage, and she sold our familys flat.
Adjusting was hard, but I adapted fast. I got a decent education, and after finishing school, I rented a small flat. I worked as a cleaner at a supermarket, but they promised me a promotion. One day, the owner came in.
When Mr. Thompson saw me, he asked me to his office after my shift. Inside, it was just him. He wanted to hear my storywho my parents were, what had happened to me. I told him everything.
He smiled and said he remembered me from when I was small. Hed been friends with my parents. Years ago, hed started his own business, built a chain of shops, and now he was developing a new shopping centre. When it was finished, hed need a manager. He offered me the jobbut I didnt have the qualifications.
I was about to refuse when Mr. Thompson promised to help me get the training I needed. How could I say no? Studying wasnt easy, but it was fascinating. I passed without trouble, and in the end, I got the jobwith a salary that changed everything.
Years passed. I bought a two-bedroom flat. Then one day, Matilda knocked on my door. Ill never know how she or Aunt Beatrice found me, but Matilda demanded I let her in and help her get work.
She had no higher education, so I offered her a temp job as a cleaner. Outraged, she refused and rang her mother straight away. Aunt Beatrice screamed down the line that I owed herfor my upbringing, for my survival. She swore if I didnt help Matilda, shed make me regret it.
Mixed emotions churned inside me. All these years, and she hadnt changed a bit. But I had. I wasnt that helpless little girl anymore. I decided thenI didnt need an aunt like her. Or a cousin, either.
