A Billion Dollar Exchange

It was rusty and it looked very old, she picked it up and sat down on the bed.

She had seen her mom with that box a few times when she was little.

And it was mostly when her dad had treated them badly.

She used her hand to wipe the dust that covered the top and gently opened it.

The box held many old pictures.

Most of them were of her mom and dad together when they were younger.

They looked so perfect and she looked more like her mom when she was younger.

Liling didn"t want to continue looking at those pictures, they awakened painful memories.

She swiped them faster, though she saw some pictures of her and her parents together she didn"t stop to admire it.

Liling stopped when a piece of paper fell from the pile.

Her gaze fell on the paper on the floor and she pushed aside the stack of photos to pick it up.

It looked old and tattered as though it had been opened severally.

Liling opened the paper and discovered it was a letter to her.

She froze as her heart beat increased rapidly, she recognized the handwriting as her mom"s.

What did her mom write to her?, what did she want to tell her?

She quickly started reading the letter ignoring the fast rate of her heat beat.

"My beautiful Lily,

My wish is that when you see this, I would no longer be on earth, I"m sorry but I can"t face you, I can"t bear you hating me.

My lily, I"m sorry for not giving you great childhood memories, good parents and a loving home.

I"m sorry for making you the centre of the mess I caused, I"m sorry for pulling you into my h.e.l.l.

I"m sorry for making your father detest you, I"m sorry for depriving you of a peaceful childhood.

If I could change things, I would. If I could take you back to the heavens, I would.

But you are here now, and even though I"m sorry for what I"ve done, I don"t regret having you.

You have been my reason to continue living and my reason to persevere and I love you.

You"ve had many questions since childhood, you"ve wondered why your dad doesn"t love you and why our family is so torn apart, I"ll answer you now.

Liling, it"s all my fault. Don"t hate your dad and don"t blame him, I betrayed him and had you with another man.

He"s not your biological father. "

At this point, Liling collapsed on the ground. The hands that held the letter shook as tears gathered in her eyes. Her vision was blurry and she couldn"t bring herself to continue reading the letter.

Why was her life so sad? Couldn"t she smile just a little? Even if it"s for a few hours?

How was she to accept that the man she had lived with throughout her life was not her dad?

That her existence was a lie?

She couldn"t hold her tears, this was gravely unbearable.

Then who was her biological father?

As she thought about it, she picked up the letter which had fallen on the floor and continued from where she stopped.

"...I made a mistake which I know is impossible to correct. I know I failed your dad but like I said I don"t regret having you.

As for your biological father, he died two years after you were born, that was why I hid it from your dad since he was already dead.

I thought he wouldn"t find out but he did, and that was what led to the h.e.l.l we are living in.

I didn"t tell your biological father about you, and since you looked very much like me, it was well hidden, until that very day.

Liling, I"m sorry for not being a great mom, I"m sincerely sorry. If I could apologize to you everyday for the rest of my life, I will. I"m sorry Liling, please forgive your mom. I love you, please Liling forgive me.

I had not wanted to tell you but I realized that you deserve to know..

Liling, your biological father is your father"s late brother.

I"ll stop here but when you read this just know that your mom was truly sorry.

Mom

Liling stared at the letter which was already soaked with her tears.

She was utterly dumbfounded.

Her mom had slept with her uncle to have her!