I planned to go back and have a proper talk with the family. No matter what, he was still my biological nephew. I couldn't watch him go down a dead-end road.
I had to pull him back onto the right path. It could also count as making a contribution to the Dickersons.
"That money-losing thing will definitely come back. Just with the story that I almost died giving birth to her, I can control her for a lifetime."
"Grandma, she's really not biological, right?"
"Of course not. She was labor that your grandpa and I bought back then. How could our family have a white-eyed wolf like her."
"Grandma, she looks pretty okay, and she's not getting married anyway. How about when she comes back, we knock her out and let me try her, see if she can get pregnant."
"You little punk." My older brother's voice came through. "You don't learn anything good at all."
"What do you mean not learning anything good? This is called working hard for the continuation of the Dickerson family line." The mom I'd been calling Mom for more than thirty years praised her grandson's idea.
The conversation in the room made my whole body ice-cold.
It wasn't until more than an hour later that I pulled over. That conversation was still echoing in my ears.
It wasn't until more than ten minutes later that I calmed down a bit.
I immediately made a phone call.
"Help me do a paternity test. If my parents and I aren't related by blood, help me check how I ended up with the Dickersons."
As soon as I hung up, my second uncle's call came in.
"Gracie, today is Little New Year. As a junior, how can you be so heartless?"
"Hurry back and apologize to your mom and dad."
Just now, my second uncle and the others were all gathered there too. They all knew I wasn't biological—only I was kept in the dark.
To avoid alerting them, I chose to stay silent and hang up.
After that, I left the family group chat and called HR again to remove my second uncle and the other relatives from their positions.
When my second uncle and the others called again, I blocked them directly.
More than two hours later, the flight took off. I'd changed my ticket to an earlier flight to Miami Beach.
I needed to find a quiet place to sort out my emotions.
Before I knew it, New Year's Eve arrived. I sat by the ocean watching fireworks.
A knot that had lived in my chest for years finally came undone. The results were confirmed—I wasn't their biological child.