A young woman who works as a maid for a billionaire’s family does a DNA test and discovers she is his daughter.

Ellie Barrows was as poor as a church mouse, but she had grown up surrounded by luxury. Her mother had been the housekeeper to a Wall Street billionaire, Kingston Dane, since before Ellie was born, and all her children had had the run of the grounds.

Ellie would often spy on Kingston Dane’s only daughter Rachel. For Ellie, Rachel was like a fairytale princess. and she desperately wanted to be just like her, to wear pretty dresses, talk to her, be her friend. But Rachel always treated her with disdain.

As Ellie and Rachel grew up, and Ellie started doing part-time work at the mansion, the differences between them seemed even greater, and the rich girl was even more unpleasant, arrogant, and demanding.

When Ellie finished high school, she knew that there was no money for college. If she wanted to study further, she’d have to work, so she enrolled in night classes at the local community college and took a full-time job as a maid at the Dane mansion.

It seemed to Ellie that Rachel went out of her way to make her life more difficult, and she told her mother so. Mrs. Barrows refused to take sides. “It’s Miss Rachel’s right to ask us to serve her…”

We are all equal and should treat each other with kindness and respect.

“Mom, she doesn’t have to be so AWFUL about it!” Ellie protested.

“Listen to me Ellie,” Mrs. Barrow said, “For the last 25 years the Danes have treated me well, and it’s thanks to this job that I’ve put food on the table for you and your brothers and sisters…”

“Mom,” Ellie said angrily, “he’s not doing you a favor, you WORK for every penny he pays you, and then some! Kingston Dane is…”

“Don’t you badmouth him!” cried Mrs. Barrow. “EVER! Mr. Dane is a fine fair man. When your father became unable to work, it was Mr. Dane who helped me. So don’t you criticize him!”

Ellie was furious, and when her work shift ended she stomped out angrily. In class, she ended up baring her soul to her closest friend. “Can you believe she DEFENDED this guy?” Ellie gasped.

“Whatever!” cried Ellie’s friend Patty. “Guess what? The results for my Ancestry DNA test just came in and it’s so COOL! I have cousins in England, can you believe it?”

“You do?” asked Ellie. “Wow, maybe I should do that too! Maybe I’ll find some rich relatives and won’t have to suck up to the Danes anymore!”

And that weekend, Ellie took a DNA swab and sent it in. She never imagined that simple gesture would transform her life.

When the results arrived two weeks later, Ellie was excited, until she saw that she had a half-sibling… According to the site, the sibling had given permission for contact, and when Ellie saw the name, she nearly fainted.

Rachel Dane? Her half-sibling was Rachel Dane? “OMG!” Ellie cried, clutching at her head. Her mother peeked into her room.

“Ellie? Are you alright?”

Ellie stared at her mother. “How could you?” she cried. “And you never told me?”

“Told you what?” asked Mrs. Barrows, surprised.

“That Kingston Dane is my father!” Ellie screamed. Mrs. Barrows looked frightened and quickly shut the bedroom door behind her.

“Ellie, please, keep your voice down…” she whispered. “Your father…”

“My father? Oh, that’s rich!” Ellie said, furious. “You’d better have an explanation!”

And Mrs. Barrows did. She explained that shortly after her husband had been paralyzed in a work accident, Mr. Dane’s wife had passed away.

One night, Mrs. Barrows had found Mr. Dane weeping bitterly in the dark, and she had reached out to comfort him. Somehow things had progressed to intimacy, a one-time event that was never repeated.

Neither Mrs. Barrows nor Mr. Dane had ever spoken of it again, and then she had discovered she was pregnant. “I couldn’t tell him,” Mrs. Barrows whispered. “I knew he’d want you to bear his name, and I couldn’t do that to my husband…”

Somehow knowing that Kingston Dane was her father, that Rachel was her sister, made her situation even harder to bear.

One afternoon, Ellie walked into Rachel’s room and found a lovely gown thrown carelessly onto the bed. She picked it up to hang it up and yielded to the temptation of holding the designer gown against her and looking into the full-length mirror.

“What are you doing?” Rachel screamed coming out of the walk-in closet. “Don’t you touch my things,” Rachel screeched. “You disgusting, low-born piece of trailer trash!”

And that was when Ellie snapped. “I’m as low born as you, you pedantic monster! I’m your sister!” Rachel stared at Ellie and turned and ran out, calling for her father.

She came back dragging Kingston Dane by the arm. “FIre her, daddy!” Rachel screamed. “She’s a filthy liar! She says she’s your daughter!”

But Kingston’s reaction wasn’t what Rachel had expected. He staggered and reached out a hand to Ellie. “Ellie? My daughter? But your mother…She never said…”

Ellie shook her head. “She didn’t want to hurt my father.”

“Oh Ellie,” Kingston Dane cried. “I’m so sorry. I wish I’d known!”

“It’s true?” gasped Rachel. “You had an affair with her MOTHER? That’s disgusting!”

Kingston Dane turned to his daughter. “You don’t disrespect Mrs. Barrows, Rachel, and you won’t disrespect your sister if you know what’s good for you!” And Rachel, who was very aware that her entire lifestyle was supported by her daddy’s billions, shut up.

Kingston agreed not to make Ellie’s paternity public, but he immediately changed his will, leaving Ellie half his estate. He announced that Ellie would be going to the Ivy League college of her choice on a Dane Industries scholarship with a very generous allowance, just like Rachel’s.

What can we learn from this story?

Sometimes the truth isn’t as simple as we think it is. Ellie discovered that her father was a billionaire and that her mother had cheated on her father.

We are all equal and should treat each other with kindness and respect. Rachel was shocked to learn that the lowly maid was her half-sister.

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