The Daughter in the Shadows (by Una Norris) novel Chapter 180

hapter 180 I Never Forgot

Lily stared at Yunice’s expression and froze. Owen turned away and began rummaging through the medical kit.

Yunice met Lily’s gaze and said steadily, “You don’t love me. Stop forcing yourself to pretend you do.

Lily’s lips trembled; tears slid silently down her cheeks. No one could say how much of it was genuine.

Yunice let her pant leg fall and said softly, “You say you care about me, that when you threw that vase, you didn’t aim it between Owen and Paul. You threw it at me. You

you love me but didn’t want the shards to hit Elsie, so you stood protectively in front of her bed.”

Lily shook her head and rushed to explain, “That’s not it; I was just so angry I lost control. I didn’t mean to hurt you…

ΤΕ

“Maybe you didn’t mean to hurt me. But that’s the thing calculations. You thought about everyone else’s safety but mine.”

I wasn’t even part of your

Paul frowned. “You’re blowing this way out of proportion. Madam Lily just didn’t think that far.”

“Shut up,” Yunice snapped. “You’re an only child. You’ll never understand what it’s like to grow up in a family with more than one kid.”

“You really think your grandfather didn’t favor your dad over Wyatt? You don’t know the answer

to that?”

Paul fired back, “Wyatt’s a bastard. Of course it’s different.”

But the moment the words left his mouth, Lily’s face went pale through the heart.

like she’d been stabbed right

Realizing what he’d said, Paul stiffened awkwardly. “Madam Lily, I didn’t mean it like that…”

Elsie was born from a kidnapping–technically a child of sin. She wasn’t any different from Wyatt.

Lily closed her eyes, then opened them slowly.

Her voice trembled, scattered. “I loved all of you the same. How could I not? When they first took me into those mountains, I was terrified and hopeless, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. You were only four days old. Every day, I cried and cried, wondering if a baby that tiny–who couldn’t move or speak–was screaming from hunger. Was anyone feeding you without me there? I still had milk, but I was so scared and anxious it nearly dried up. And I thought, no–I have to hold on. What if I’m rescued? I need to be able to feed you. So I forced myself. I did everything I could to keep the milk flowing. Eventually, I started bleeding. Do you have any idea how painful that is? Do you know what it feels like to have mastitis?”

Tears streamed down Lily’s face as she clutched her chest. “I got a fever from the infection. I was I was

• Finished

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