Jade

The box lay wide open, its contents spilling over the edge. Jade sat cross-legged examining the damning evidence, waiting to wake up from the nightmare. Her head pounded so loudly she could barely think. A loose floorboard had caused her to stumble and under the board she'd found it.

She clutched the birth certificate to her heart, at the same time trying to make sense of what she'd just read. How could her parents have kept this secret from her?

Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. Her whole world had come tumbling down in the few minutes it had taken to trip over that loose floorboarding. While righting herself she'd spotted the papers and reached down and removed them. What she'd read had sent her reeling. Only hours ago she'd been on top of the world. In love with life. Her perfect life that had only been an illusion.