I grew up in a foster family that did their best. They were kind and patient, always packed my lunch, and clapped at my school plays, even when I stood in the back wearing a cardboard tree costume.

But real love is more than warm meals and polite claps. It’s… knowing where you come from.

No one ever told me anything about my biological parents. The papers said they’d asked for complete confidentiality. No names. No birthdays. No stories. Just a blank space where something big should’ve been.

I used to dream that maybe they were spies. Or rock stars. Or lost somewhere in the jungle. Anything was better than the thought that they didn’t care.

I grew up fast. By 15, I was already handing out flyers outside strip malls.

At 16, I walked dogs for people who barely remembered my name. At 18, I poured coffee for grumpy regulars who tipped in nickels and gave life advice I didn’t ask for.

“You should marry rich, sweetheart. You’ve got kind eyes.”

By 19, I was an official barista with a crooked name tag and memorized drink orders. Then came more jobs. Caregiver. Mail carrier. Gardener. For a while, I even collected roadkill off the highway.

Don’t ask. No, really—don’t.

I knew how to survive. But it felt like bad luck ran in my DNA.

By 27, I landed my dream office job. A stable paycheck. Weekends off. It felt like winning.

On the same day, I got sick. Six months of tests, doctors shrugging.

“Could be stress.”

Yeah, no kidding.

At 30, I became a nanny. The other nanny claimed I stole money from the family. I didn’t, but I got fired. I stood outside the building with one suitcase, my emergency fund stuffed in my jacket pocket, and a thousand-yard stare.

Then my phone rang.

“Ellie? It’s Jake, your father’s attorney,” a warm voice said.

“My who?”

“Your father, Henry. He passed away recently. You’ve been named the sole heir of his farm. It’s about 30 kilometers out of town. You can pick up the keys tomorrow.”

“A farm?” I repeated. “A father?”

“Biological,” he said gently. “I’ll explain more in person.”

I didn’t sleep a minute that night. I had a father. He left me a home. For the first time in my life, something belonged to me.

***

When I pulled up to the farm, I sat there for a minute, staring at the house, the fields, the silence. One question circled in my head like a fly that wouldn’t leave me alone.

Why did he leave it to me?

The house looked tired. Chipped paint peeled away from the walls, and weeds covered the yard. But then I saw the barn. It was clean. The red paint was fresh, and the doors were straight and solid. It looked proud.

Curious, I stepped inside. The scent of hay hit me first. The floor was swept. Neat stacks of hay lined the walls.

A row of fresh eggs sat in a basket like someone had just collected them. A bucket of water glistened in the corner, clean enough to drink.

And then there were the animals. Chickens clucked softly, pecking the straw. A big brown-and-white cow stood calmly, blinking at me.

The dog was the strangest part. He sat by the door like he’d been waiting for me. His fur was a little shaggy. I crouched.