**Diary Entry**
The peace of my quiet home was shattered this morning when the door swung open abruptly. There stood a young womantall, slender, with piercing eyes and a defiant stare. I knew her instantly. It was Sophie, my youngest niece, the one Id left behind in the care home all those years ago.
Auntie, she said sharply, arms crossed. Ive been looking for you. They told me you lived here. Her voice was firm, her gaze unyielding. I invited her in, offering tea, but she refused, choosing instead to stand stiffly in the middle of the room.
Do you remember me? she demanded, her eyes darting around. Sophie. The girl you abandoned.
I nodded silently, my chest tightening with guilt. Memories of that troubled little girldefiant, restless, impossible to handleflooded back.
Why did you do it? she pressed, stepping closer, fists clenched. I was your own flesh and blood! Beneath her bravado, I saw uncertainty, a fragility she tried to mask.
I had no choice, I replied softly. I couldnt take care of you both. Emily needed me more.
Sophies face twisted in anger. So you chose her over me? Just threw me away like rubbish? Her voice trembled, and I felt the weight of my decision crashing down.
I want money, she said bluntly. For what you did. Compensation.
My conflict deepened. Here was a young woman grown strong and self-assured, yet the scars of abandonment still marked her.
How much? I whispered, fighting back tears.
She named a sumone my modest income could scarcely afford. Silence hung between us as I weighed the cost.
Fine, I said at last. The guilt was unbearable, and if money could ease my conscience, so be it. And then there was Emilywhat might her resentful sister do?
This all began years ago, when my younger sister fell into a reckless affairone fuelled by drink and poor choices. Then came Emily, bright-eyed and full of laughter, a child who lit up every room. She spent more and more time with me, and soon, I loved her as my own.
But fate had other plans. Five years later, another baby arrivedSophie. From the start, she was difficult: tantrums, speech delays, a temper like wildfire. While Emily was gentle, Sophie was chaos. My sister and her husband spiralled, lost in drink and neglect, until the authorities took the girls away.
Then came the impossible choice: take both or neither. My heart ached for Emily, but Sophie? How could I manage two such different children?
In the end, I chose Emily. Selfish, perhaps, but necessary. Sophie stayed in the system, forgotten.
And now she was here.
At first, there was joya family reunited. But with it came obligation, a demand on my time, my money, my emotions. Sophies presence unsettled everythingmy routines, my peace, even my bond with Emily.
Ive lost my peace again. The past is no longer buried, and the cost of my choice has come due.
