- 2.
“Mom,” I said, “did you bring my photo
album? Can I see it?”
“Sure did.”
Carol dug in her bag and handed me this
beat–up old scrapbook.
I flipped through the pages.
Pictures of me growing up.
Lily had one too.
Hers was a record of a little princess
becoming a rich socialite.
Last time, when I reunited with my real
parents, we all started crying.
Lily slipped away, back to the house.
She locked herself in her room.
And swallowed a whole bottle of pills.
L
She locked herself in her room.
And swallowed a whole bottle of pills.
Mom and Dad brought me back to their
mansion.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Davison, ran up to
them, saying, “Oh, no, Lily killed herself!”
The party was over.
Richard carried Lily to the car and drove her
to the ER.
My parents sat outside the operating room.
The doctor came out and shook his head.
“We did everything we could. I am so sorry.
You need to prepare yourselves.”
Susan nearly fainted. Richard caught her.
Lily left a note in her scrapbook.
[“Mom, Dad, Mark, thanks for all the love.
Now, I’m giving it back to Maggie.
Goodbye. If there’s a next life, I want to be
your real daughter.“]
Mom and Dad flipped through Lily’s baby
<
ju
pictures, JUST SUNNIITY.
She was the apple of their eye.
They thought: “What was she hiding? Why
would she end her life?”
Mark flew in from overseas.
He spent the night in Lily’s room, whispering
her name.
He was eaten up with guilt.
“Lily, I’m so sorry, I should’ve protected you.”
“Why didn’t you wait for me?”
“You want to die? I’ll go with you. But first,
I’m making the person who did this pay.”
Mom, Dad, and Mark blamed me for Lily’s
death.
They thought I killed her.
They regretted finding me.
At the funeral, they screamed at me to get
out.
They never wanted to see me again.
I walked out of that cemetery.
