Chapter 9 - LILY'S VERSION
Claire had delayed telling Lily details.
She said only:
“Emma was Dad’s daughter before he met me. She died when she was a child.”
Lily cried.
Not for herself.
For a sister she never knew.
Then asked:
“Did Dad make my room into hers?”
Claire answered:
“He copied parts of your room into the apartment.”
“Why?”
“He was having a very hard time with grief.”
Lily frowned.
“That’s weird.”
“Yes.”
“Is he dangerous?”
Claire paused.
“Not in the way you’re asking.”
Then:
“But what he did crossed boundaries.”
Lily asked what boundaries meant.
“Things that belong to you—your room, your stuff, your privacy—shouldn’t be used secretly just because someone loves you.”
Lily nodded.
Then became angry.
“My purple lamp.”
“I know.”
“I wanted that.”
Claire remembered.
Lily cried for two days when Daniel said it broke.
Daniel had replaced it with a better one.
Claire thought she was overreacting.
Now the loss had context.
Then Lily said:
“I want it back.”
Simple.
That became the first repair.
Daniel brought the lamp home.
He did not explain it.
He apologized.
“I took it and lied.”
Lily crossed her arms.
“Why?”
“Because it reminded me of Emma.”
“That doesn’t make it yours.”
Daniel cried.
“No.”
Then Lily asked:
“Did Emma like purple?”
“Yes.”
“So buy a purple lamp.”
Daniel almost smiled.
Then stopped himself.
Lily had cut through years of rationalization in one sentence.
If he wanted a memorial object:
buy one.
Do not take hers.
Then Lily asked if she could see pictures of Emma.
Claire looked at Daniel.
He said:
“If you want.”
Not:
you should.
Choice.
Lily picked three photos.
Then stopped.
“That’s enough.”
May you like
Daniel accepted.
That mattered.
