Prologue

I suppose I should have known. You see those types of movies everywhere nowadays.

It wasn't as if it was that big of a shock. My parents had never looked like me, neither had any of my family. I never really had anything in common with them either. In my childhood they would go camping out at the lake. I, however, would take that time to bug spray my entire room and only leave on the occasion of food, which my mom would refuse to serve me in my room.

So when some skinny little bitch came to my parents' front door and said that we were switched at birth and she herself was their actual daughter, it didn't really surprise me at all. Upset me, sure, but didn't faze me.

I had just graduated with an MBA and was home for the summer to take a break before I had to enter the "real world". My father was the one who answered the door, soon ushering Sasha Hiljoy into the living room and calling my mother and I. It was there that she told us the truth, and all of our lives changed.

Sasha had gotten the better end of the deal. My biological parents had died months previous in an accident. No other immediate family members where alive so it wasn't as if I could get to know the family I never knew. The only thing I could get out of Sasha was that they were born and raised in Gotham City.

When Sasha was asked to donate blood after the accident, they then realized that none of her DNA matched either of her parents. After she demanded to know why, an investigation was instated, leading to the only conclusion that she had been mixed up with another baby after birth. Six girls later, she found a DNA match with my parents.

When my parents realized that they had a new daughter, one they had much more in common with than me, they swarmed on her and left me in the dust. Not that Sasha was much help. She made her position very clear when she sneered and told me I didn't belong in that house anymore.

And I didn't.

After that I moved in with a friend from college. Living a state away from what can only be described as my previous family was helpful in my recovery. Those who said you can't run away from your problems aren't always right, I guess.

In this new city I sort of floundered for a while. My depressive state as well as my shock made everything worthless. It took a while, but with the help of time and my friends I eventually came out of it, even if I was covered in scars. I eventually got a job at a local performing arts company, and my life started getting back on track.

It was a year after I had been tossed out of my family when I met Jason Harper. We met in a normal café on a normal day when both of us were on our lunch break. A year later we moved into an apartment together. Two years after that, he left.

It was pretty sudden, I had to admit. I also had to admit that I wasn't entirely unhappy about it. Truth be told I felt our relationship straining for quite some time. I had entertained thoughts about breaking up with him, and had even gone so far as to start planning how I would do it if I could only make up my mind, when he made it for me.

The unexpected part was the fact that he just left.

On Wednesday morning at 8:25 I kissed him goodbye. 5:40 Wednesday night I walked in to an empty house.

All of my stuff remained, including the stuff we bought together-the TV, most of the furniture, my clothes. Everything that he owned was just gone. The recliner he always used, the end tables, the TV stand, half of the kitchen ware, all of his clothes and toiletries had disappeared.

Jason never mentioned being unhappy. He never showed any signs of wanting to leave. Without any notice he had left my life.

I spent a week going about my normal routine. No matter how much I thought about breaking up with him, some part of me hadn't wanted it to happen.

After that week ended I made a decision that I had been thinking about for some time. When thinking of ways to breakup with Jason, I knew I needed somewhere to go. I was now 28 years old and I needed to face my past in order to move on with my future.

It was time I moved to Gotham.