In the letter her parents left her, she finally learned the truth.

"Dear Rina,

I want you to know that your father and I love you very much. We never wanted to leave you, but circumstances made us do that exactly that.

To protect you, we must leave you and hope you will be raised with all the love and affection you deserve.

Although our hearts are breaking, we have no other option.

One day, you might understand why we had to do this, but until then just remember that you are always loved.

No matter what happens, no matter where we are, we are thinking about you. We love you very much.

Love,

mum and dad (Caroline and Jack)"

Rina read the letter a few times before she could fully comprehend what it said. As tears ran down her face, she couldn't help but repeat under her breath: "I was loved! I was loved! I AM LOVED!"

It was such a revelation for her that she had trouble digesting the information.

Although it was something she always wanted to hear she couldn't believe that she was reading the letter correctly, that they did love her.

They loved her enough to try to save her from whatever trouble they were in, hoping she would have a better future.

Maybe she did, for a while. It was possible that had her adoptive father stayed alive, she would have lived a very happy life.

However, that wasn't Caroline and Jack's fault. They couldn't have known that death would come knocking on her new family's door.

No one could have predicted the change in the behavior in the rest of her family after the death of its patriarch.

For the first time since she could remember, Rina was crying from joy.

She spent most of her life thinking that she was unwanted and unlovable, that even her parents couldn't stand to be around her. The feeling of unworthiness and sadness plagued her for the large part of her life and all that time her biological parents were out there loving her and wishing they were with her.

Most of her doubts and sorrows could have been avoided if Grace had only shown her the letter. It would have made her life much better, bearable.

It was painful for Rina to think that Grace cared so little for her, that she didn't even find enough love in her heart to share a little hope with Rina.

Over the years, she understood and accepted that Grace didn't love her, but it was difficult for Rina to accept that someone could be so cruel as to hide such an important part of her life, of who she was.

For years, she blamed herself for what was happening to her, and after reading the letter she felt she was unjust towards herself. Her parents, her biological parent have always loved her unconditionally without her ever knowing that they even existed.

They wanted her to be happy, and she failed them in that. Blaming herself for Grace and her brothers not loving her she made herself miserable, and that was something her parents wouldn't have wanted for her.

Before she could lose herself in regret she started rummaging through the chest to check if it hid any other gems similar to the one she had discovered.

Nothing had the same emotional impact on her, but she did find her adoption papers with the exact date when she was born. That, with the name of her parents, could prove useful in tracking them down.

Even though those pieces of information were very valuable, what she found more precious to finally know the truth, finally being able to see that she was worth loving.

After a while, when she was able to at least partially accept the wonderful truth she gathered all the precious papers and put them in her backpack, ready for the next day.

She wanted to speed up time so that she could share the exciting news with Serena immediately. Instead, she fell asleep safely tucked in the knowledge that she was special, that there was someone out there who loved her, who has always loved her.

Next day went by in a blur. Rina was in her happy bubble, untouchable and undisturbed by anyone or anything.

Before she knew it, it was time for her to meet up with Serena.

Once they met up, Rina was more than eager to share the information and together they started brainstorming on what the best course of action was.

"You see, I was right. The adoption agency that arranged your adoption is the same as mine. That can't be a coincidence. There must be some connection that we are missing. Why the two of us?" Serena wondered.

"The only logical thing would be for us to check with the adoption agency first. Maybe they can give us some information." Rina said.

"Well, that will probably be easy for you, but I only have my date and place of birth. It's not much to go on." Serena said, sadness obvious in her voice.

"We will find both of our families! Do you hear me?! Don't you give up on me, we are just getting started!" Rina said with obvious enthusiasm.

The knowledge that she wasn't just thrown out like a piece of garbage made her feel a lot more confident and optimistic, and she was eager to share that optimism with her friend.

"I know, I am sorry. I am just jealous. You know that your parents wanted you but couldn't keep you. What if I find out that mine just didn't want me. I am not sure if I would be able to handle that." Serena admitted.

"I can't promise you that it won't happen because I don't know what made your parents leave you. The only thing that I can promise you, is that I will be there for you no matter what happens. It may sound strange, but I feel like you are the sister I never had and I will always try to help you as much as I can." Rina said.

An awkward pause followed that statement since none of the girls were good at expressing their emotions and what Rina said left them both speechless.

At the same time, it made Serena feel a bit better, and she was ready to face her past no matter what it held.

The first thing they did was to contact the adoption agency. As they expected, they didn't have a lot of information since both girls were left without their parents contacting the agency. There was no way for the agency to get any information about their families.

The only information that they could provide the girls with, was what they were wrapped in and what was found with them. Although it was not much, the girls were happy they were making some progress.

Rina browsed social media using the names of her parents, but she didn't have high hopes that she would find them that way. It was obvious that her parents were in some kind of trouble, and she didn't think they would advertise themselves on the internet. Still, she felt she had to check.

As for Serena, she scoured the web for any information about birth announcements on the day of her birth, but there was too much information and nothing was helpful for her.

Finally, the girls decided to use the adoption registries. They typed in the information they had about their respective parents, but there were no matching results.

Instead of despairing, they decided to register their information in case their parents decided to use the registry to try to find them.

"I think that is enough for today. My eyes hurt from staring at so many sites. Honestly, I think that we are on a good track we just have to keep trying. We'll find them, you'll see. "Rina said.

"Of course we will. After finding them, we will finally be able to figure out why we are the way we are. Then we will be able to control it perfectly." Serena said trying to sound as upbeat as Rina, but failing miserably.

They said goodbye to each other after arranging to meet again the next day.