Gemotions

The email sat in the inbox, a digital taunt. "Ancestry Results: You Have a Surprise!" Amelia slammed her laptop shut, the metallic clang echoing in the sterile silence of her apartment. She snatched her phone, pacing the length of the living room, a restless energy coursing through her.

Her breath hitched. The words from the email, from the DNA test she'd taken on a whim, replayed themselves in her head: "No genetic match to either parent listed on your birth certificate." She felt a pressure in her chest, a knot of unease tightening with each passing second.

She dialed her mother's number, her thumb hovering over the call button. Then she slammed the phone against the table, the plastic bouncing and spinning. They'd always been so… perfect. The perfect family. The perfect life.

She needed to move. She grabbed her keys, ignoring the way her hands were shaking. She had to *do* something.