ACE
I stood in the shadows, far enough from the windows so that my reflection wouldn’t betray me, yet close enough that I could see everything. Lily.
She didn’t know it yet, of course. I had watched her long enough to see the way she moved around the house, the small hesitations that betrayed her nerves, the subtle ways she tried to make Alice comfortable. And yet, she was blissfully unaware of the truth. Blissfully unaware that the little girl laughing and babbling among the tulips, with curls bouncing and eyes wide and innocent, was the child she had abandoned at birth.
It was fascinating. Torturing. Heartbreaking.
I allowed myself a slow inhale. There was a serenity here, a perfection I had spent years constructing. Every flower arranged just so, every window catching the sunlight
