The email sat in Amelia’s inbox, unread for three days. Each morning, she’d stare at it, the subject line – "Important Family Matter" – a tiny, accusing finger. She hadn't replied to her mother's calls either, letting them go to voicemail, the little red badge a constant reminder of her failures as a daughter. Now, the email was finally open, the harsh light of the screen reflecting in her tired eyes. "Dear Amelia," it began. "I have something to tell you about your father..." Her breath hitched, a familiar tightness squeezing her chest. She scrolled down and then, with a jolt, saw a name she didn't recognize. A half-sibling. A whole other person.
Her apartment felt smaller, the walls closing in. She went to the fridge, grabbing a beer without even considering the time. The cold glass offered a moment of distraction, but then the swirling doubt started again. Why hadn't she been good enough? Good enough to be told? Good enough to have kept her parents' marriage together?
She ran a hand through her tangled hair. She had spent the last year convinced she was the problem, the reason for everything that had ever gone wrong. Her messy relationships, her struggling career, the silence that had fallen over her family. She drank half the beer in one go. Maybe the new sibling would be better than she was, more well-adjusted. The thought was a painful, bitter pill.