photo of a small, scared girl with big eyes. Me, at

, a string of foster homes aft

calm and steady,

Thompson and his late wife, Marth

older Ethan, maybe ten, looking a

son, initially

friendly face in a long time. He'd built a for

the memory, a dull t

d. "Sarah was a child seeking

teenager – the dyed hair, the arguments, the times I

the actions of an outsider trying to

reen: Veronica Hayes, stepping

nica Hayes arrived in

eryone, shaking hands with my father, laughing wi

. She was like a bright, exotic bird, and Have

it out, pie

red the GlobalCorp investment. He showed news clippi

e images

rk's ear, Mark looking at

th Ethan, Ethan starting to ec

ous discussion, after which he'd lecture m

ically began to isolate

l incidents, things I'd forgo

mysteriously sabotaged, with rum

manned, only to be "found" later by Veronica, who made a show of not

strated, painted me as unstable

t the high school prom. He

nica, who wore a dress the exact sh

nting him, heartbroken. Veronica had told him I was

elieve

at me, calle

ing down my face, and then an image of my spra

public humiliation, the casual cruelty of V

l there,

ent now, the earlier hostility repla

ze fixed on the screen, his jaw tight

I could feel their

l bought into. This was something f