2
It was the most affection I’d ever gotten from
them, but I had seen that affection before. It
just never landed on me. Not when their
darling daughter, Lily, got all the attention.
Lily was everyone’s dream girl.
>
When you mentioned the Chase family,
people didn’t think of the business. They
thought of their perfect little angel.
Ever since she died, Mom and Dad had been
playing the loving parent act. They wanted to
know how I felt, and what I liked.
They wanted to give me the love and security
I always needed.
Like an idiot, I thought they’d finally accepted
- me. I did everything they wanted so they
would love me.
I had forgotten that they didn’t like me.
before. They treated me like I was invisible,
and at times, even hated me.
Chad would snap at me for being greedy, just
because Lily gave me one of her old
necklaces.
He hated my face, and always told me that I
could never hold a candle to his perfect
sister.
But did they really hate my face because I
looked like Lily?
They only adopted me so Lily could have her
wish of having a younger “sister” before she
died of bone cancer. And I was the perfect fit.
Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me run, play, or
even eat too much. I had to stay by Lily’s side
and keep her happy.
Lily was the only one who treated me well.
Lily was the only one who ever made me feel
like I belonged.
Slowly, I started to depend on Lily, remember
her kindness, and do everything she asked…
My memories snapped back to the present as
I looked at Mom.
She patted my hand. “I’m glad you like her. I
got a little wooden bed for her to keep on
your nightstand. I’ve already had someone
move it upstairs.”
They relaxed, and gave each other satisfied
looks.
“There are other presents, too. We can
decorate your new room later.”
The new room I’d been in for two weeks…
My heart dropped.
1 coughed a few times and said, “Mom, I think
I’m getting a cold. Can you open a window?”
Mom’s voice went up a few notches. “You’re
sick?”
She pulled my arm away and snatched the
doll back.
I blinked, confused, and she looked away.
“Sure, honey.”
“Maybe you should stay in your old room for
a bit, just in case it’s contagious, okay? I’ll
have Lisa take the doll. We don’t want her
catching anything.”
く
“And Chad, get the doctor to take a look.”
Chad frowned on the way up, and I said,
“Dad, it’s just a cold. I’ll be fine in a few
days.”
My mind was racing for a solution. Once I
was back in that rigged room, I would be
trapped.
Last time, I put the doll on that wooden bed.
It would move around by the next morning. I
thought Mom was just checking on me at
night.
I was always exhausted, and my skin was as
white as a ghost.
I thought I was just sick. I begged Mom and
L
Dad to take me to the hospital.
They fobbed me off with some bullshit about
needing rest and hired a nurse.
I was stuck in bed, and didn’t know that my
soul was being stolen, piece by piece.
Then I started sleeping more and more. Then I
woke up, and I couldn’t move or speak.
I felt something cold, and clammy grab me.
And then there was Lily’s face, twisted in a
cruel grin.
“It’s finally worked…”
The face I’d always known as Lily, was
smiling at me?!
Where was my body? Where was I?!
When I saw Mom and Dad, I screamed, but no
sound came out. Save me, I wanted to shout.
I can’t breathe…
But they just stared at me with indifference.
“If it’s not useful, we should get rid of this
garbage. We don’t want bad luck.”
Mom handed “me” a pair of scissors.
“Me” took them, and looked hungry.
“Why do I have to deal with being sick? With
being in pain? With sleepless nights? You get
to be happy and stupid!”
“I wish I could have a healthy body!”
<
She tore my hair out, and cut my limbs off
with the scissors.
444
Pain shot through my body, but I couldn’t
scream.
“Burn it, Lily. If we burn it, she won’t be
angry, and her soul will disappear.”
That’s when it hit me. The person inside of
me, was Lily!
In that moment, I understood.
The promises of a sister, the gifts, the
comfort… it was all a lie.
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