My Sister Adopted a Five-Year-Old Girl Who Looked Astonishingly Like Me. At First, Everyone Joked That She Must Be My Daughter. But Just Two Weeks After the Adoption, My Sister Came to My House in Tears and Said, “Sarah, I Found Out Who Emily’s Real Mother Is.”

I leaned forward.

“Then who was her mother?”

Mrs. Brown hesitated.

“There’s someone who can explain.”

Forty minutes later, a gray-haired woman entered the office.

The moment she saw me, she froze.

“Sarah?”

I recognized her.

It was Helen, Linda’s mother.

She immediately began crying.

“I’ve spent years trying to find you.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because Linda wanted you to know the truth before she died.”

My stomach dropped.

“Linda died?”

Helen nodded.

“Five years ago. She was very ill.”

I covered my mouth.

Helen explained that Linda had helped care for Emily after the baby’s mother became seriously ill. Eventually, the young mother died, and Linda’s own failing health prevented her from raising Emily.

The little girl had entered foster care before eventually being  adopted by Mary and John.

But one question still haunted me.

“Why does Emily look exactly like me?”

Helen looked down at her trembling hands.