For years, I carried the burden of this girl’s pain that I had never been able to hug in my arms.
Valentina has become my reason for living.
I worked as a day waitress and studied in the afternoon. While I was asleep, I made bracelets, bags and small accessories that I sold online. At first, I only got one or two orders a week.
Then a photo of my handmade jewelry went viral.
The orders began to flow across the country. I hired two women to help me. Then ten. A small online store has become a brand, and the brand has become an international company.
Six years later, I bought our first home.
Ten years later, he had stores throughout Mexico.
At thirty-five, I was richer than the frightened girl we had thrown into the street I could never have imagined.
But success hasn’t cured everything
Every birthday reminded me that there should have been two girls by my side.
And every time I looked at Valentina, I wondered what her twin might have been like.
Twenty years after my parents turned me down, I decided to come back.
I thought I was going to show them again that I had survived without them. I wanted you to see the woman they had abandoned.
I arrived in a black Mercedes and stopped in front of my childhood home.
The house seemed smaller than in my memories. The door was rusty, the walls broke and the weed invaded the court where I had played before.
I walked up to the front door and played.
A young woman opened up.
For a few seconds, we remained silent.
It looked like a stroke.
I had my eyes, my cheekbones and the same little mark above her left eyebrow that Valentina has been wearing since she was born.
My heart started beating the chamade.
“Who are you looking for? “-she asked.
Before I could answer, my parents came after her.
My mother covered her mouth.
My father became livid.
I looked at them and sketched a cold smile.
“Do you regret leaving me? »
The young woman suddenly grabbed my mother's hand.
“Grandma,” he whispered, staring at me, “is this my real mother?” »
Time seemed to stop.
“What was he calling you? “I asked him.
