As I was walking at the fair, my hands were grabbed by some children I have never met. I had no idea what was going on.
"We found you, Emma! We are so glad that you are alright! How could you disappear suddenly two years ago? We have been searching for you for a long time but we had no clue where you had gone. We finally met, thank goodness!" the children said.
They were all different ages with both girls and boys; some of them seemed younger than me but two of them seemed to be the same age as me.
What were they saying? Did they know me? How could they know my real name?
"Umm…...Sorry, but who are you guys?" I asked.
"What? You don't remember us?" one of the girls said.
"Have we ever met before?" I asked.
I had very weird feelings about them. I felt like they were all so familiar to me but I didn't remember any of them.
Isn't that called déjà vu? What were those nostalgic feelings? I didn't understand.
This was supposedly our first meeting. But how could I feel so upset when I looked at them?
A voice inside me told me that we had not just met, but that we had also been very close a long time ago.
They answered my question and I cried without knowing the reason.
In the winter two years ago, I was found in the snow by a married couple from the Woodhouse family.
I woke up in their mansion and didn't even know who I was. I had lost all of my memories except for my first name Emma.
Out of compassion, the married couple adopted me, and most importantly, it seemed that I looked the same as their only daughter, Helia, who had passed away a few years ago.
I have orange hair and emerald-green eyes which makes me look like Helia's appearance. They treated me like their real daughter and I didn't have any trouble living with them.
They gave me a new name and I started to live as a Woodhouse daughter. I told them that I wanted to keep my first name Emma even though I had a new surname.
But they said that it would be easier for me to use the name of their daughter who passed away. I didn't understand what they meant at that time.
But I accepted the fact that I couldn't protest too much about it, otherwise, I might get kicked out of this family and have nowhere to live.
So I became Helia Woodhouse and started a new life pretending to be the real daughter of the Woodhouses.
The Woodhouse family has been influential for generations. Many of the family members worked at the higher echelons in the military of the United States. They even led the United States to win the third world war.
The Woodhouse is a family with a long, great military tradition. Therefore, as the daughter of this family, I wanted to learn everything I could to earn the right to bear the family name.
In the past two years, I studied hard to learn everything they taught me to the utmost. Just to be the daughter my parents could be proud of and I hoped they would love me more because of my effort.
There were a lot of things I had to learn as their daughter so that others would not be suspicious of my true identity.
Etiquette, language, music, manners, dance, history, literature, art, and how to use a handgun are some of the things I learned.
Helia was skilled at using guns and she always went hunting with her family. That's why I had to learn how to use a gun to play the role of “Helia” perfectly.
They hired some teachers for me and I had to have lessons almost the whole day ever since I lived in the mansion. There has been no holiday for me, I still had to review what I learned even if I had a day off without any lessons.
Sometimes, I had to review it until 2 or 3 am after I finished the usual lesson on weekdays. I knew I had to be as perfect as possible if I didn't want to expose my true identity, and to keep the affection of my parents.
I didn’t want to give up and promised myself I would finish my duty successfully. No, it had to be this way. There was no other path I could go except this one.
A month ago, I had my 15th birthday. My parents held a fancy birthday party for “Helia”, which means for me.
They announced that I would be the next head of the family when I become an adult. I was delighted that my parents trusted me that much even though I am not their natural daughter.
My father is the head of the family now and he will let me inherit it in the future. I have a lot of relatives because the Woodhouses are a big family.
I acted as the real Helia Woodhouse, otherwise who knows what would happen if someone found out that I am an impostor. I wanted to get acknowledgement from my parents even though I have to erase my true self to become someone else.
Habits, tastes, hobbies, the way of speaking, walking and laughing will reflect one's self. It will be riskier for me at the banquet with lots of people who know the real Helia, especially at a family party.
I have to be cautious but act naturally at the same time. The slightest misstep would lead me directly to doom. There are no mistakes allowed to make. I can't fail.
“Don't worry, you can do this Helia,”
I told myself. I took a deep breath before I went into the main room of the party.
I talked to different people but mostly my relatives who are part of the Woodhouse family.
When they talked about the real Helia's past, I responded with what I have learned of her past from my parents. When they talked about something from her past I hadn't heard of, I just responded in a perfunctory manner. Lots of people took the initiative to congratulate me on my birthday and I made sure I gave everyone my signature smile.
But there was always a limit to playing like someone else.
"Sorry Mr. Evens, I guess I have to go now in case my father is looking for me." I left with a natural smile.
I walked to the hallway and I started to run into the bathroom when there was no one watching me.
Oh come on, please don't pick this time to break down! However, the feeling of wanting to vomit didn't disappear.
I threw up so hard that my tears came out without control. The bathroom I had used was far away from the main room so no one would know that I threw up here.
“It'll be alright,” I thought. “Everything is fine.” I had made no mistakes so I was safe. I comforted myself to calm down.
"What if someone discovers the truth, will they kick me out? No, I won't let that happen, never" I said to myself looking at the mirror after I threw up.316Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlC89TGWp4v
