A flash flood swept me away while I was saving my brother, Nathan Marlow. My parents, Mona and Thomas Marlow, adopted a girl named Poppy Marlow to take my place. Eight years later, I left my mountain village in the Silverlake Highlands and traveled hundreds of miles to Bellgrave to find them. My birth mother clung to me, sobbing so hard she could barely stand. Nathan and my childhood sweetheart, Duncan Bloomer, both had tears in their eyes. They said they had finally gotten me back. To make it up to me, they even decided to send their adopted daughter away. But when she and I later argued, my brother and my childhood sweetheart took her side and shoved me down the stairs. As I lay in my hospital bed, I heard Nathan say, "Sometimes I wish she'd died eight years ago." Duncan lowered his voice. "Nathan, she disappeared saving you." "So what? Doesn't Poppy feel more like family?" My parents said nothing. Mona only said, "Keep it down. I think she's waking up." I opened my eyes and looked at them blankly. "Excuse me. Who are you?" If they didn't want me here, fine. I would give them exactly what they wanted. I hadn't traveled hundreds of miles to win their affection anyway. I had come to use them as my ticket out of the mountains.