What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross (Book Summary)

Purchase What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qvtfNu

Lucy Wakefield kidnapped a baby that was left on a shopping cart in IKEA. The baby’s mother, Marilyn, was just talking over the phone, and when she came back for her daughter, she was already gone. For years, Lucy and her husband tried so hard to conceive a child, but they just couldn’t – until they separated.

Lucy never intended to steal a baby, but she no longer found another way to return it to its mother without drawing suspicions. She tried returning the baby once by placing her inside a crib, but she immediately went to the baby’s rescue when the baby cried.

The kidnapping was widely covered, with Marilyn and her husband John appearing on television, asking for help, and showing their baby photos. Lucy learned that the baby’s name was Natalie, and she was four months old. Lucy changed the baby’s name to Mia and changed the day of her birthday. Every time someone asks, she would explain that Mia is the daughter of a young woman who could not raise a child.

To start fresh, Lucy moved to the city and got an apartment. She also hired a babysitter named Wendy, who looks after Mia every time Lucy is at work. It has been this way until Mia turned 21. Mia knows that she was adopted but has no clue that she was stolen. Her birth parents have separated. Her birth father, John, married a Costa Rican and had no child. Her birth mother, Marilyn, married Grant and had 3 children.

Everything was going well for Lucy and Mia (Wendy had already gone back to China). Aside from being an advertising executive, Lucy works as a ghostwriter for a famous author. It got to the point when Lucy wanted to be known as an author. She wrote BabyDrive and had no idea that her name would appear on the cover – but then it did, and she had already joined a book tour.

On that book tour, she met Marilyn – who kept on reading books about the kidnapping. Marilyn waited in line for Lucy to sign her book, but Lucy froze when it was already her turn – as if she had seen a ghost. Just in time, Lucy’s phone rang, and the screen showed Mia’s face. Marilyn saw it and automatically recognized her daughter.
Convinced that Mia is her daughter, Marilyn looked for her on the internet. When she found her on Facebook, she messaged her. When Mia got the message, she was confused, but she tried not believing it first. However, she noticed that Lucy’s story does not make sense. Also, the DNA results proved what she prefers not to believe. Marilyn explained what happened through chat and even sent Mia a link that shows articles and photos about the kidnapping.

As Mia got confused about her origin (since she wanted to believe Lucy), she searched for her birth certificate. Mia found a key taped on the cabinet after checking her birth certificate (Lucy found it easy to fake this document). That key opens a box that contains newspaper clippings.. and the clothes Mia wore when she was kidnapped.
After knowing the truth, Mia ran away. She stayed at her teacher’s house for a while, then decided to meet with Marilyn. Mia was greeted warmly by Marilyn and her family, or Mia’s younger siblings. Meanwhile, Lucy flew to China to give her time to think and hide since the news eventually broke out.

While in China, Lucy got pneumonia, and she asked Wendy for help. She also managed to tell Wendy the truth in the long run, and to her relief, Wendy didn’t judge her. With Wendy’s assistance, Lucy got an apartment to temporarily settle in China while her Visa permits.

Also, Mia had the chance to know her birth mother better. She discovered that she is caring, and there are many ways she is different from Lucy. Mia was angry with Lucy for a while. She ignored her calls and texts and even swore that she would never talk to her kidnapper once again. But getting on with her life, Mia realized how much she missed Lucy. She realized that Lucy was still a mother to her, and after all those years, Lucy was not the wrong person. She is her mother, and she doesn’t want the person who cared for her for 21 years to rot in hell. Marilyn also found forgiveness because Lucy ruined their lives when she kidnapped Mia. Lucy was still a great mom. Marilyn and Mia decided to forgive Lucy. To settle things, Mia went to China to meet her mom.

• Purchase What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qvtfNu