05
I met Aunt Holly.
Dad sat nervously and shyly beside her as he introduced her to me: “Emma, this is your Aunt Holly. We just met recently. You’re grown up now, and dad doesn’t want to hide this from you.”‘
I looked at this fashionably dressed woman in front of me.
In my previous life, I had only met her a handful of times.
Apart from seeing her once at her and dad’s wedding, most of the time my stepdad wouldn’t let me see her.
The reason was very bizarre. Stepdad said with disgust: “That woman doesn’t look like a good person. Our Emma should have less contact
with her.”
But on my birthday, Aunt Holly waited for me at the school gate and gave me a set of branded cosmetics.
I remember it clearly, Aunt Holly with her big wavy hair and thick red lips, patted my head and said: “Emma has grown into a young lady. Take Auntie’s gift, I hope you’ll become even more beautiful in the future.”
That day was also the happiest day of my 18 years as a girl.
Unfortunately, when I got home, this set of cosmetics was discovered by my stepdad.
He said: “Wearing makeup at such a young age, are you trying to attract men’s attention?”
The psychological shadow from my previous life still made me afraid.
But Aunt Holly seemed to sense my emotions.
She spoke first, warm and sincere: “Emma, you’re so pretty. Auntie likes you, do you like Auntie?”
Me: “…”
Dad laughed sheepishly and patted Aunt Holly: “What are you doing? You’ll scare my Emma. She’s slow to warm up to people, we need to take
it slow”
After saying that, dad stroked my head and gave me a reassuring look.
Actually, I could see that dad had been watching myocational
4:24 PM
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But dad is human too, he needs companionship and love.
And Aunt Holly is not a bad person.
So the next second, I smiled at Aunt Holly and said: “Auntie, you’re very pretty too. I like you.”
I saw that dad and Auntie were both stunned.
Dad’s eyes turned red, and he lowered his head to eat a couple bites of food.
Aunt Holly, overwhelmed with emotion, took out an exquisite box from her bag.
“Emma, I won’t say those polite words for our first meeting. This is a gift Auntie prepared for you, do you like it?”
I took it and opened it.
What met my eyes was actually – a set of lingerie.
I held back my sobs.
Memories suddenly flashed back to my previous life, the third day after stepdad came to our home.
At 13, I was just beginning to develop as a girl. Not thinking much of it, I hung my freshly washed underwear on the balcony.
But stepdad suddenly came to me with a dark face.
He threw the underwear at me: “Emma, I’ve only been living with you for a few days, shouldn’t you be more careful?”
06
