I used to think my life was a gilded cage, trapped by the family who adopted me, the Blakelys.
They showered me with privilege, but it was just a facade.
Then, everything changed. I' m on my knees, a throbbing pain in my cheek, accused by my adoptive mother, Elizabeth, of assaulting my "sister," Nicole.
Nicole plays the perfect victim, her eyes brimming with fake tears as Elizabeth tells me, "You are not our daughter, Stella. Nicole is. You owe her everything."
They stripped me of my identity, making me feel like a replacement, a charity case who had stolen another's life.
