r Kevin. Every dollar I scraped together, every hour of sleep I lost, was a brick in the road to his future. I had found him abandoned, a s

den under a cheap coat. My heart felt like it would burst with pride. He was on stage, handsome and confident in his ca

his valedict

Kevin said, his voice smooth and confident, booming through the speaker

wrong. It is about nature. It is about the blood that runs through your veins

ss started to cr

rcome a great deal. I had to escape a past that sought to drag me down, to free myself from a woman w

face. He couldn't be tal

row, a socialite dripping in diamonds. He smiled, a brill

my existence, my real mother," he announced, gesturing to th

owing him a kiss. The

ed around them. A reporter shoved a microphone in his face. He wrapped his arm

ind refusing to process what was happening.

st. "Who is this woman? Security, get her awa

rled. "I think she' s the one who kidnapped my

into accusations. "Kidnapper." "Cr

out of the auditorium, my pleas lost in the noise of Kevin' s celebration. The

kidnapper who had held him hostage in poverty. My years of love and sacrific

d by the story of the "evil kidnapper," made my life a misery. The beatings we

alone and forgotten, my last br

felt a s

was in my tiny, cramped apartment, the one I had lived

ver thought I'd hear agai

to the city? I can' t stay her

-old Kevin, his face full of practiced desperation, b

y I had agreed to uproot my life for

been r