“Maybe. Let’s not bother them, sweetie. Let’s
go upstairs.”
I wanted to slap myself. My words made Lily
think it was a game. And Chloe saw the
drawing, assumed I’d made Lily do it, a
mockery of their affair. That’s why she’d tried
to kill herself.
Something Chloe said afterward must have
pushed Charles over the edge. He sent Lily
away.
Clutching Lily’s ashes, I continued to plead
with Grandma Evelyn.
“I know you never liked Chloe, wanted me to
stay, to break things off with Charles. But you
can’t force a relationship. They’re in love. And
over a drawing, they killed Lily…”
“I can’t live with the people who murdered my
daughter. Please, let us leave.”
Grandma Evelyn, knowing the truth, wept. Her
cane thumped against the floor.
“It’s a damn shame! I should never have
adopted Chloe. It cost me my precious
granddaughter…”
She was close to fainting. “Call Charles! Tell
him to drop whatever he’s doing and get here
for the funeral!”
The butler called, but Charles ignored it. I’d
called him countless times since Lily died–all
unanswered. While I mourned, he was at an
auction, buying Chloe a necklace. I showed
Grandma Evelyn his social media post; she
was livid.
“Mindy, when did you find out about them?”
she asked, gripping my hand.
I just gave a bitter laugh. When? Maybe even
before Lily was born. At first, I just thought
Chloe was his adopted sister. Then came the
late nights, the perfume, the lipstick on his
collars…
I suspected an affair, checked his phone, his
car’s dashcam. I found footage of Charles
and Chloe kissing in the car.
Chloe was flirting with him. “Charles, does
this dress look good?”
“Beautiful.”
“You didn’t even look! Stop the car and look
properly.”
The seatbelt clicked. The sounds…
Charles, his voice husky: “Chloe, I love you.”
Nobody knew. In his study, in the second
drawer, was a picture of Chloe in a bikini,
taken at the beach. He never touched me
after Lily was born. He just stared at that
photo.
<
Then I understood. He’d married me to cover
up their affair.
My friend had asked many times: “You
haven’t had sex in five years. How have you
endured it?”
I choked it down, didn’t want Lily to lose her
father. But now… Lily was dead.
The butler kept calling, but Charles didn’t
answer until Grandma Evelyn texted him,
ordering him to come. Finally, his call came,
filled with anger.
“Mindy, why are you calling while I’m with
Chloe? She’s having a panic attack, she
needs me! What’s wrong with you, are you
trying to curse Lily?”
He sneered. “You’re using this lie to
manipulate everyone! You can’t live without a
man, can you?”
“Lily’s dead. Believe it or not, if you don’t
come, I’ll never forgive you.”
<
He thought I was just trying to get attention.
“Don’t try to deceive me. Chloe needs me, I
can’t come. You made this mess, clean it up.”
The call ended. My rage and despair choked
- me.
At the funeral, I broke down, wailing by Lily’s
ashes. Grandma Evelyn, heartbroken, finally
relented.
“Mindy, we failed you. We wronged you.”
She gave me keys to a house, a bank card.
“Fifty million dollars, and a beachfront villa.
Consider it your new home. Anything you
need, just ask.”
“I want you to be happy.”
Grandma Evelyn had always been kind. My
parents died when I was young, and my
relatives shunned me. Only she accepted me.
I’d dreamt of a happy family, of Charles
coming to his senses. But he shattered those
dreams.
<
I didn’t take the keys. I wanted nothing more
to do with the family. But I needed answers. “I
want to know who killed Lily at that
academy.”
I didn’t believe the academy’s story
that
Lily had accidentally electrocuted herself.
Grandma Evelyn nodded sadly. “Don’t worry,
I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
I kept Lily’s ashes. Three days later, Grandma
Evelyn sent me a video. The parents of
another girl at the academy, drowned there,
had been secretly gathering evidence. They’d
even worked there undercover. The academy
was secretive; successful graduates were
perfectly behaved. But this video… Lily
crying, begging for forgiveness, repeatedly
punished because she didn’t confess to
something she didn’t do.
My Lily, only five… She’d cried out, “Mommy,
Daddy, help me! I didn’t hurt Aunt Chloe…”
く
Until her cries faded…
Holding Lily’s photo, I wept. Then, the nanny:
“Sir, Miss Chloe, you’re back?”
