Knockoff

“Twenty-thousand dollars?” Victoria repeated. Merritt instantly shook her head with regret.

“I told Roger that we should have put more in the account, but don’t worry. There’s more where that comes from. After all, soon you’ll be the head of the Love, Em line. And-”

“It’s not that,” Victoria interrupted loudly.

“Emily, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Merritt Love was the perfect mother. Victoria had studied her for the past four weeks. She was loving, doting, accommodating though often worrisome. And with good reason. Victoria’s own mother had left her without warning or explanation when she was just seven years old. Victoria had never heard from her again. The contrast was remarkable at the least.

When Jayce Roper, Victoria’s father, had come to her with the perfect scheme, she was a little hesitant at first, but Jayce, being the better than average con man that he was, had convinced her that this could be the big one.

The two of them had been running minor scams for menial payoffs since her mom had left them ten years ago. A few dollars here and there kept them afloat, but this was the jackpot. This was the hit they’d been waiting on for years.

Roger and Merritt Love, the fashion designing duo that rose to fame and power seemingly overnight had everything. Houses, cars, anything money could buy, not to mention the money itself. The only thing missing was the baby girl they’d lost seventeen years ago when she was abducted from a busy Atlanta mall.Emily Gray Love was seven weeks old when Merritt turned her back to pay for bacon cheese fries in the food court of the mall. Seconds later, she turned to check on Emily only to find the baby, the carrier, and the diaper bag gone without a trace.

The story had made national headlines. Hundreds of people in the mall, but no one had seen Emily’s abductor. The carrier was left behind in a corner near the food court restroom, but baby Emily was not seen again.

The Loves rose to fame and relocated to New York following Emily’s abduction. People even wondered if the Loves had gotten rid of the baby themselves in a publicity stunt to propel their design company. Following Emily’s disappearance, the couple had remained childless.

Merritt had never given hope. In recognition of Emily’s eighteenth birthday, the Loves had designed a new line of designer handbags called Love, Em. The announcement had renewed interest in the case of Emily’s mysterious disappearance.

Queue the Ropers. Victoria’s resemblance to the computer generated age progression image of Emily was undeniable. When Jayce first brought it up, Victoria had concerns about the possibility of a DNA test and any number of things that could go wrong, but Jayce had an answer for all of her concerns. He even had a plan for rigging the DNA test in Victoria’s favor.

All that was required of Victoria was to pretend to have been held in a dark space and abused for years. She had given DNA and much to her dismay and relief, the DNA had been a match. The plan had gone off without a hitch. Merritt Love had embraced Victoria as Emily and not looked back. Roger Love did not appear convinced, but tried not to discourage his wife.

Merritt had hardly let Victoria out of her sight in the weeks that had passed. Victoria had spent the last month basking in the love of the mother she hadn’t had in many years. As the days passed, she grew surprisingly fond of Merritt Love, who, in many ways, reminded her of her own mom, whose face she almost no longer remembered.

Victoria squeezed the debit card in the palm of her hand. Twenty thousand dollars was a lot of money, but Merritt had not batted an eye when she released the card and account paperwork into Victoria’s seventeen year old hands.

“Merritt,” Victoria said softer.

Merritt looked surprised. Early on in their reunion, Victoria had taken to calling her Mom. It was a small gesture that meant the world to Merritt. “Emily, what’s wrong?”

Victoria began to cry. She had never thought about the emotional consequences of this. Jayce would be disappointed, but she would leave him out of it, take the blame, bear the consequences. What she couldn’t bear was to take advantage of someone so kind, so loving, and so undeserving of the loss she’d experienced.

“My name isn’t Emily. It’s Victoria. Victoria Roper.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I can’t take your money. I...I’m sorry,” Victoria sobbed as Merritt stared in confusion. “I’m so sorry about Emily. I’m sorry I lied. I never would have...if I had known...and then you, you were just so good to me...I’m sorry.”

“What are you saying?” Merritt asked calmly with tears filling her eyes.

“I’m not your daughter. I only pretended…”

“No...No...We did a DNA test. We covered all of the bases. Why are you saying such horrible things? Roger!” she yelled with the agony of a wounded animal. “

It felt like an eternity passed before Victoria was escorted away from the Love’s estate in handcuffs. The months that followed dragged by even slower. Victoria was charged with crimes she couldn’t even pronounce. She was held in a juvenile detention center until trial. Her father visited once, but only to tell her what a fool she was to ruin the one shot they had at ever having a decent life.

She had become as famous as ten year old Victoria had dreamed she’d be.In the months between her arrest and her trial, the court of public opinion had ruled against her and sentenced her to death by humiliation, guilt, and shame that would no doubt be with her for the rest of her life.

By the time her trial began, Victoria no longer cared what happened to her. After all, she had no one. She listened to Merritt Love relive the fight she’d had with Roger on the day of Emily’s disappearance, Emily’s abduction, and the pain that she herself had caused. Merritt was strong when she testified and Victoria longed to call her Mom again. Merritt had said that she didn’t hate Victoria, but that no one, including Victoria, would ever know the pain that the ruse had caused.

The final trial day brought with it a myriad of emotions. Victoria was relieved for the trial to come to an end, anxious to know her own fate, and ready to face the consequences of her hurtful actions.

It was on that last day that a last minute witness was introduced. In fact, the witness was so last minute that Victoria’s court appointed attorney hadn't even had the opportunity to fill her in. Victoria had seen her enter the courtroom and she looked familiar, but it wasn’t until she was called to the stand that Victoria recognized her own mother.

Sabrina Roper, now Barnhart, had emerged seemingly from the dead and Victoria could not believe her eyes.

“Mrs. Barnhart, do you know the defendant?” Victoria’s attorney asked to which Sabrina nodded. “Please speak.”

Sabrina cleared her throat and spoke softly. “Yes. I raised her as my own daughter for seven years.”

“And how did you come to be Ms. Roper’s mother?” the attorney asked.

Sabrina took a deep breath, rolled her neck, and wiped away a tear before she spoke. “Eighteen years ago, I walked out of Pinnacle Square Mall in Atlanta, Georgia holding her in my arms.”

Victoria’s eyes widened as the testimony continued. Victoria couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was she saying that she was really Emily Love?

“My then husband, Jayce Roper and I had lost a baby. I followed Merritt around the mall for several minutes. I was in a really low place, but it’s no excuse for what I did.” Sabrina dropped her head.

“Mrs. Barnhart, you’ll face federal charges once this is over. Why are you coming forward now?”

“I know Victoria or Emily thinks I walked away because I didn’t love her, but that’s not true. I did something horrible and I have lived with the guilt of it for the last eighteen years. My ex-husband always was a con man and I have no doubt that he put Victoria up to this, but I can’t stand by and watch her life be ruined again.”

“How do we know that you’re telling the truth?”

“This,” Sabrina said, handing the attorney a small black notebook, which was introduced as evidence. “It’s Roger Love’s little black book. It was in Emily’s diaper bag, but that detail was never released to the press. Merritt testified that she and Roger fought that day. I believe this is what they fought about.”

Victoria looked to Merritt Love, Roger by her side, as the blood drained from her face. Indeed, this had been the scam of a lifetime.