Switched at Birth

Sophie had slapped Emma so hard that her entire head snapped to one side, but Emma's expression was unfazed. It was as if she was already used to such mistreatment.

Julie watched in silence for a few moments before clapping in delight. "You're strong, Aunt Sophie!"

Julie's approval seemed to please Sophie very much, because she cocked her arm back and slapped Emma a second time. Julie clapped even harder, but all of a sudden, she clutched her chest and said in short gasps, "Aunt Sophie, help me! My heart hurts… Help me!"

Sophie quickly called out to me, "Claire, where's the medicine? What are you standing there for? Get the medicine!"

Before I could even reply, Sophie sprinted across the room, located the first-aid kit and found Julie's heart medicine. She poured a glass of water and slipped the pill down Julie's throat so swiftly as if she had done this a thousand times.

Julie's breathing began to ease, and I let out a sigh of relief.

Emma seemed momentarily stunned by the entire experience. When she approached Julie to comfort her, however, Sophie shoved her out of the way.

"This is all your fault! You bring bad luck everywhere you go! It's your fault Julie had a heart attack, you useless scum! You're a curse to this household, and you're a curse to my precious Julie! You deserve to die!"

Emma lowered her head and replied, sniffling, "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't mean to hurt Julie on purpose. I…"

Julie was born with a congenital heart condition. Every once in a while, it would flare up when she got over excited or stressed out, and so we kept her medicine within reach of every room of the house.

With that being said, Emma was not at all to blame for Julie's heart attack. She did nothing wrong.

I strode over to Emma and stroked her swollen cheeks. "It hurts, doesn't it?"

Sophie had hit her so hard that both of Emma's cheeks were swollen to twice their usual size. I took out a tube of ointment from the first-aid kit and gently dabbed it onto Emma's face.

Sophie pursed her lips. "There's no need to waste your time on her, Claire! She'll get better on her own anyway. Why waste that expensive ointment on her ugly face? If anything, she needs to toughen up. She's not a princess!"

I vividly recalled a time when Julie had scraped her knee and Sophie had rushed her to the emergency room in a panic.

The doctor had to squint to see the wound, that was how small it was.

Then, he made a sarcastic comment to Sophie that if she had come even a minute later, the wound would have healed altogether.

Sophie had shouted at him, "Don't get smart with me! Children nowadays are very frail! What if I take your advice and she ends up with a serious wound infection? You never know with these injuries!"

Then, she forced the doctors to perform a serial full-body scan for Julie just to be sure. The medical bill amounted to tens of thousands of dollars.

Meanwhile, Emma had been admitted to the hospital for a high fever. When Sophie reluctantly visited her, she retorted, "Don't you know that fevers are your body's way of regulating its temperature? If you ask me, you didn't even need to be admitted! You'll be fine! You should've pulled yourself together!"

I ignored Sophie's comment and turned to Emma. "It's your birthday in two days. What do you want as a present? I'll buy it for you."

Sophie scowled. "A present? For her? Claire, don't spoil her! I don't want her to think she's entitled to such luxuries!"

She pulled Emma back to her side and hissed, "Cut the crap! Stop going around acting like I'm abusing you! Did I ever starve you? Don't you know why I work so hard? Be more appreciative, you ungrateful scum!"

Then, Sophie turned around and glanced at Julie, as if to make sure she was alright, before dragging Emma back to their house.

Before they left, she paused to croon to Julie, "Don't worry, Julie, this is none of your fault. Emma deserves to be punished. I'll come by and visit you again tomorrow, alright? Be prepared for the biggest gift you'll ever see!"