"Don't stress yourself too much, Maya. I believe you, and I know something is up with the Grayson, but you cannot keep stressing yourself over and over for people who don't deserve it," Mrs Patel said as we walked into her house. It wasn't the mansion I was used to, but it was something I could manage to live in; her house was on the other side of town where civilization was low; luckily, that was where Oakland University was located.
The house is a three-bedroom apartment; it has a modern touch to it but nothing too fancy. Mr. Grant pays for everything, so we do have a decent environment, but since Mrs. Patel decided never to look for a Job and continue leaching on the money they gave, her living conditions were not too confusing, and I know she could do better; I believe so.
Although the money Mr Grant gives her monthly is nothing but a token to them, it is enough money for us to live comfortably with; Mrs. Patal even drives a run-down car of theirs. I think that was one of the past mysteries of Oakville why he took care of Mrs. Patal, why the ever so powerful Grants were being nice to a commoner like Mrs. Patal but the situation around the adoption makes everything clear, they wanted it to be a complete secret and she was the only one who knew.
Whispers going around are saying Mrs. Grant even went as far as traveling out of Oakville for a while to make it seem like she gave birth to me outside of town. The other day when some neighbors came visiting I heard them talking about how everyone had thought I had cancer because the Grants always shaved my head bald, they didn't want anyone to see the real color of my hair so everyone believed I was blond and looked like my mom, not until the incident about a month ago.
"Hey, Mrs. Patal, can I speak to you?" We just got out of the car, and I could see she was stressed out from the meeting we just had, but there were a few things I wanted to ask about.
"You can just call me Mom; I know it feels weird, but I am your birth mom, after all. It's so cliche don't you think? Normally, the children would be fighting to stay with their birth mom, but my case is the opposite," Mrs Patel said as she walked into the house, and I was right behind her.
"Okay, I'll think about it"
"That's good, at least show me some respect. I am the only person who thinks you are not crazy, you can ask your question, Sophie"
"How do you know that? How do you know that I'm not Maya?" We were in the living room, and I turned to look at Mrs. Patal, who was seated right in front of me. The chairs were worn down, and I could feel the foam begging for fear of life anytime I sat on it.
"Sophie, sweety, I know you both look alike, but I am the one who gave you out. You are the youngest, and I wanted to keep my first daughter; come on now," I don't know if she was trying to avoid my question but her answer made no sense to me and her body language too.
"Well, how do you know I am the youngest? At least there should be some way you can prove it"
"Oh really? And you how do you know you are Sophie? Why can't you prove it to us?" Mrs patal said in a dismissive tone as she got up from the couch and began walking towards her room.
"At least I.."
"Please don't start with your memory loss nonsense, I think I have heard enough of it"
Mrs. Patal interrupted me before I could complete my sentence.
"How would you know that? You are always in your room rotting away, I have been here for over a month, and the only time I have seen you care for me is when it comes to extorting the Grants. You make sure I get the drugs so you can have a bit of change from it, but do you make sure I take them?" I yelled back at her. Mrs Patel was in ruins. She was never active, and all she ever did was go shopping or run down to the nearest bar until she blacked out.
"Oh, stop making those false accusations; at least I know the real Maya would never complain about anything I do. Go ahead, I don't care anymore. Judge me like everyone else in this town; at least I am better than you good-for-nothing father, and yes, he has been more useful dead than he was ever of use when he was alive."
"Useless father? The Grant wants to keep the truth hidden, and you know something about it, don't you?" I said as I looked up at her, her demeanor remained the same.
Oh, shut your trap; no one wants to hear anything from you. And I am getting compensated properly for my silence, so no, you would not be getting any information from me," Mrs Patel protested.
"You can trust me, I promise I won't tell anyone. Tell me what happened to Dad," I said, lowering the tone of my voice, trying to give her a sense of safety.
"Does it matter? Even if I tell the truth who would believe me?" She was now at the front of her room door holding the knob.
"It does, and I would believe you," I said softly as I tried to gain her trust; she wasn't the one who raised me, but she was still my biological mother, and I had pity for her, especially after seeing the life she is living, this would have been my living situation.
"And who would believe you? Do whatever you like. That's your problem. But don't come in here asking for anything, understood? I never judged you, so don't come here and begin judging me," She said as she proceeded to enter her room and slammed her door shut.
"Like you have anything I want," I said as I walked to my room. It was of no use. And she was right who would even believe an alcoholic over the mighty Grant?
I am lucky Caleb is on my side; at least, he is normal. Well, I think time would tell who the real Sophie is, but I just have to prove everyone wrong. I just have to make them believe that I am Sophie.
It seems everyone wants me to prove myself through academic excellence, and I have to do just that. After spending a month with the imposter, I thought Mom and Dad would have known by now that they got the wrong Sophie, but no, they didn't even notice any behavioral change; that plus the fact that they still believedd I was behind Alexandra's death.
"How can someone get good grades in this situation? The environment was poor; no home-cooked meals as we always got taken out from a cheap restaurant across the street, no reading materials, nothing," I whispered to myself; I would be in and out of the library for now, I guess. Couple this with me trying to get everyone to believe my identity as Sophie and also clearing my name from Alexandra's... Can I even do this?
Well, it seems the statement of the police was altered as Grant did confirm he had something to do with her murder being filed as an accident; that's how powerful he is. Would solving Alexandra's death give me a clue on how to expose fake Sophie?
Celeb asked to meet tomorrow after school, but I wonder if I will be going to school tomorrow. I have to fix this room, it's messed up, and I can not live in this environment.
"Ding" my phone vibrated.
Who is texting me? It wasn't late per se, but no one has texted me for the past month, and I am accustomed to it.
"Come to the school's Auditorium. I have something for you," the text read, it was from an unknown number.
"Who is this?" I texted back. I could have ignored the message, but curiosity got the better of me; I wanted to know.
"Come and find out tomorrow"