Page 206 of The Charlie Method

“What happened? What’s wrong?”

“He threw him in the river!” I sob, my voice muffled against her soft white sweater. “He threw Tiger into the river!”

“What? Who?” she frets, her worry deepening as she wraps one arm around me and ushers me into the house.

Inside, she leads me into the living room, where I collapse onto the couch, still trembling from the intensity of my emotions.

“I found my brother.”

The confession flies out before I can stop it.

Mom doesn’t understand, though. “Oliver?”

“No. My biological brother. I found him, and I thought…I thought it would be okay. But he threw Tiger away. It was all I had left from before. From Korea. The only piece of my old life!”

“Honey. You need to slow down. And maybe start from the beginning. You found your brother?” she prompts, urging me to focus.

I take a shaky breath. “Yes. I found him on a DNA site. I was scared to tell you guys because I thought you would be angry or feel betrayed.”

Fresh tears spill down my cheeks.

“Anna? What’s going on?” My father’s voice sounds from the doorway.

I glance up at him, and when he sees me sitting there, concern floods his eyes.

“Peanut, what are you doing home?”

“Ed, come sit down,” Mom says. “Charlotte just told me she signed up for an ancestry site to track down her biological relatives. She discovered she has a brother.”

His expression goes serious. “Oh. I see.”

“Are you mad?” I ask, my voice cracking.

“What? I could never be angry at you for wanting to learn about your heritage,” he says, taking a seat next to me. “I wish you’d told us about this earlier. We would’ve supported you every step of the way.”

“Really?”

“Of course. We always encouraged you to learn everything you could about where you came from,” he reminds me.

“When you turned eighteen, your dad and I discussed suggesting you sign up for a site like that,” Mom admits, “but you’ve always been so resistant when it comes to anything related to Korea. I’m glad to hear you’re open to it now.”

I look between them, my heart clenching. “Why didn’t you adopt him too?”

That startles both my parents.

“Charlotte,” Mom says firmly. “We hadno ideayou had a sibling. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it now. The orphanage didn’t tell us. We thought you were the only child.”

“Why wouldn’t they tell you?” I choke out. “They could have saved him from everything he went through.”

“I don’t know.” Her voice softens. “Even your own adoption paperwork was a bit of a mess. The agency we worked with constantly complained how disorganized the Seoul agency was. But to neglect to mention asibling…” She shakes her head. “I’m stunned.”

On my other side, Dad squeezes my hand. “I wish we had known, peanut. We would’ve been a family of six rather than five. But nobody can change the past. What matters now is the present. And in the present, in this moment, you are our daughter, and our daughter is hurting.”

Before I can stop them, a slew of disjointed questions leaves my mouth. “But what if I’m not enough? What if he needs more from you than I do? What if you regret adopting me?”

Mom shakes her head again. Vehemently. “You arealwaysenough for us. Why would you ever think otherwise?”

“Because I’m not perfect. I want to be perfect for you,” I blurt out, my insecurities bubbling to the surface. “I thought if I just tried hard enough, if I showed you how smart and accomplished and capable I am, maybe I would be worth it.”

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