My sister died giving birth to my niece, Layla, and since I adopted her and raised her alone, she never knew the truth. But at 18, a relative told her I wasn’t her real mom, and she yelled, “My life is a lie! I hate you!” before packing her bags and leaving. After two months of silence, I finally received a chilling message on my phone that led me to a high-end resort.
The flight there was a nightmare because of a man in business class who was UNBEARABLE. He yelled at a mom with a crying baby and even threw sauce at a flight attendant, but he was eventually silenced by a 14-year-old boy sitting next to me.
When I arrived at the resort, I found Layla, but she was under the influence of a woman named Jenna. Jenna was a professional scammer who had recently targeted a 49-year-old man after his 20-year marriage ended. At the resort, I met other victims of Jenna’s circle, including a woman whose partner had secretly divided her inheritance into categories like “Car, investments, vacation” on a spreadsheet while expecting her to fund his lifestyle.
We also encountered Sandy, a mother who had tried to surprise her son, only to find a poster congratulating him and an unknown girl on their wedding. When Sandy tried to enter, her son denied knowing her and had security remove her. It turned out the “unknown girl” was Jenna, who was isolating the son to steal his family’s money.
The situation escalated during the rehearsal dinner. I spotted the wedding planner, Annabelle, looking panicked as someone screamed, “JEN NEEDS HER SECOND DRESS!”. I pushed past Annabelle and burst into the room to find Layla helping Jenna get ready.
I showed Layla the truth about Jenna and how she treated people, sharing the story of another girl who was dumped at her grandmother’s house at age 10 because her mother decided she didn’t fit into her new life. That girl had learned that real love doesn’t pick favorites, and Layla realized that my love for her was real, regardless of biology.
Together, we exposed Jenna’s lies. We even helped a young mother whose husband, Jack, had been pressured by his mom to abandon their newborn triplets at the hospital. With the “village” of strangers we met at the resort, we stopped the wedding and the scams.
As we headed home, Layla hugged me. I remembered the words: every day i walk this earth, i am proof that she was here. I knew that even though her mother was gone, her love didn’t end, it lives inside of me, and now, it lives inside Layla too.
