“Burn those who burned me!” Chapter 158

**Chapter 30: Vanessa Taylor: Part 1 (the prodigal daughter returns).**

All her life, Vanessa had been adored and doted on by her parents and brothers. As the only daughter and youngest of House Taylor, she was indulged to the fullest. Any and everything she wanted; they always made sure she received. And because she was the only daughter, there was never a moment in her life where she felt she had to compete or SHARE any of her spotlight. Not even when the truth about her identity came out.

The year Vanessa Taylor turned thirteen, after going to the hospital for a tonsil removal; that same hospital revealed there had been a mix-up the day of her birth.

*“Mr. and Mrs. Taylor….we’re so sorry about this; but it was accident!”*

Laura Taylor almost fainted, the hospital had just informed her and Harold that Vanessa was not their biological daughter and in fact was accidentally switched at birth.

*“How the hell did this happen!!!”*

Harold barked as the nervous hospital chief tried to explain.

*“I-It was mix-up with the name tags…it truly was-”*

*“I don’t want to hear another word! You can consider your days as chief of this hospital over!!!”*

True to his word, Harlod convinced the hospital board to fire that chief of medicine. Afterwards, they were told where their biological daughter was sent.

To the Bowen family.

Though they weren't rich, the Bowens was a healthy middleclass family. Harold and Laura learned their *‘daughter*’, Josie Taylor was a well-rounded seemingly happy only child with a high IQ. They also learned her adoptive parents died when she was eight years old in a tragic plane crash. For the past several years she was being raised by her paternal grandmother; Darlene Bowen.

That night, Laura and Harold contemplated what to do.

*“She’s our daughter Laura. Don’t we owe it to her?”*

*“But what about Vanessa! We’ve raised her all of her life! She’s grown accustomed to being a Taylor. I love her! I don’t care what the results are!”*

Harold ran his fingers through his hair. He loved Vanessa as well; no DNA test would ever change that. But he couldn’t ignore the fact that he had a biological daughter out there.

*“Then why don’t we do this. Let’s just bring her home and we’ll petition the courts to let us also keep Nessie. That way, we don’t have to give up our daughter.”*

Laura beamed! Was that truly possible!

*“Do you think they’ll let us do that?”*

Harold smiled smugly.

*“Of course! I’m Harold Taylor! I run majority of Bridgeton. And besides, Josie is being raised by some old woman; we’ll simply point out that we are better suited for both the girls.”*

The next morning, Harold and Laura informed their three children; Christian the oldest, was seventeen at the time. Jamie was fifteen, and Vanessa was thirteen.

*“What the fuck!! What kind of hospital makes that type of mistake!”*

Jamie was furious; he and Vanessa were the closest. As he fumed, tears began to stream down Vanessa’s face.

*“So…what does this mean? Am I leav-”*

*“NO! Mom and dad would never do that! Right?”*

Christian rolled his eyes; his brother was entirely too impulsive and hotheaded when it came to his little sister.

*“Jamie, why don’t you calm down.”*

*“Calm down! We just found out our sister isn’t biologically related to us! How can you-”*

*“That’s enough!”*

Harold slammed his hand on the dining table causing everyone to jump.

*“Vanessa, your mother and I love you dearly…we would never send you away. No matter what…you’re OUR daughter.”*

Vanessa could feel her nerves calming, she’d grown accustomed to her lifestyle and there was no way she was giving that up! Just as she was about to feel at ease again, Harold dropped a bombshell.

*“But we have decided to bring the girl home. She’s family after all. A Taylor.”*

The three siblings were shocked, they hadn’t expected Harold to say that. Vanessa’s brain began to race in a million places.

*‘What the fuck!!! How could they!!! I will not share my spotlight with ANYBODY!!!’*

Vanessa fumed inwardly, she’d worked years getting this family to bend to her will, she wasn’t about to let some outsider come and take that all away. She didn’t care WHO this girl was! Making sure her outward mask was intact, Vanessa smiled her sugary smile.

*“I think that’s a wonderful idea father! I would be thrilled to have a sister!”*

Harold and Laura beamed with pride, their *‘perfect’* daughter was always so sweet and caring. Christian and Jamie looked at their little sister with pride.

*“She better be worthy of your kindness and love.”*

Jamie scoffed as he hugged his sister.

*“Jamie’s right. We won’t go easy on her just because she’s our biological sister. Ness is the only sister we acknowledge….that girl will have to earn her right to be a Taylor.”*

Vanessa smiled smugly within; she pulled her family’s strings as if they were puppets and she was their puppetmaster.

Once Josie moved in, Vanessa seethed. She was beautiful, an exact replica of her mother. She had an innocence to her that Vanessa realized was natural unlike her fakeness. To top it off the little runt was a genius. There was no way she could compete with this; she had to think of a way to make sure they all hated her.

So that’s how it began, the years of Vanessa setting Josie up. Doing sneaky things like making herself fall or causing a scene that painted Josie as the bully so that others would hate her. The plan worked beautifully. By the time the girls were seventeen, the Taylors hated Josie; especially Jamie and Laura. She couldn’t understand how a daughter of hers could be so cruel. The family kept Josie at a distance which thrilled Vanessa.

*‘See that Josie…it doesn’t matter that you share blood…I am their ONLY heiress!’*

Everything was going according to her plan, until she overheard Harold and Laura one day.

*“I just received word Josie got into Rotham University.”*

Laura’s eyes widen with shock. RMU was the number one University in Bridgeton with Vancore being number two.

*“H-How did she even qualify to get into that school?”*

Josie and Vanessa didn’t go to the same high school. Laura was concerned it would be too much for Vanessa if she felt she had to compete with her own sister. So the Taylors were unaware of Josie’s academic achievements including earing the valedictorian spot. Josie’s first two years with the Taylors, whenever she would have an award ceremony that she would invite them too, Vanessa would somehow always end up either sick or injured causing the entire family to cater to her. Then, she would miraculously become better once the ceremony was over. After two years of constantly being disappointed, Josie stopped asking. Her nana and cousin was there so that was all that mattered.

*“Well…I did a little digging…turns out she scored perfectly on her SATS and she’s graduating number one in her class.”*

Laura couldn’t believe it! How had this been going on without her knowledge.

*“I don’t….this doesn’t make any sense Harold! How could we not know about her academic achievements? Caster Prep would have….”*

In that moment…Laura realized that not only did Josie not attend Caster; she didn’t know WHAT school Josie went too. Sensing her shift, Harold answered.

*“Dunlap….she goes to Dunlap Prep.”*

Dunlap prep was one of the top private schools in the country and one of the few schools that required you to EARN your spot versus being a legacy student. It was a school of engineering and science. Some of the world’s top engineers including architectural designers came out of this school.

Laura was stunned; she had no idea Josie was that accomplished. Suddenly, a wave of guilt crept into her heart as she began to realize in the five years Josie had been there, she didn’t know much about her. Had she been neglecting her? Harold must’ve felt that same guilt, sitting beside Laura, he began to speak.

*“I think maybe we haven’t been paying much attention to her. Perhaps we should change that Laura. She’s our daughter after all. There should be enough room for her and Ness. Look at all she’s accomplished.”*

Harold handed Laura a folder, inside were photos of Josie at school. The awards she’d won, the speeches she gave. Pages filled academic achievements that NONE of their children ever had.

*“We missed all of this?”*

Laura’s voice almost broke as she read over the documents. Had she been neglectful as a mother to Josie? Not wanting to accept that, Laura’s guilt quickly turned to annoyance. Throwing the folder onto the desk, she scoffed.

*“You know…this is really all of Josie’s fault! She’s always bullying our Nessie! Besides…all she had to do was tell us about this! How were we supposed to know!”*

Harold stared at his wife for a brief moment before deciding to agree. They would rather throw the blame onto Josie than admit their inadequacies and neglect due to favoritism.

*“Well…in any event, the girl has promise. I think I should start grooming her for the company.”*

Laura’s eyes shot up at Harlod.

*“What! You think she’s that talented?”*

Harold looked puzzled.

*“Well she chose Dunlap for a reason. And now she’s going to RMU…she’s clearly interested in architecture and designing. We’re building a whole new designing department at the company…she might be beneficial.”*