Chapter 3 - My Sister Walked In
Rebecca was my younger sister.
She was also the person who had held me while I screamed the night Lily disappeared.
For ten years, she had attended every memorial event.
Every birthday dinner where an empty chair remained beside mine.
Every television interview.
Every fundraiser for missing children.
She had watched me destroy myself looking for Lily.
And according to my daughter, Rebecca knew exactly where she had been.
“No.”
The word came out automatically.
Lily flinched.
I immediately regretted it.
“I believe you.”
“You just said no.”
“I know.”
I sat down.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t saying you were lying. I was saying my brain doesn’t understand.”
Lily looked toward the window.
“She said you would do that.”
“Do what?”
“Pretend.”
My hands went cold.
“Pretend what?”
“That you wanted me.”
Sophie stood from her chair.
“My mom never stopped wanting you.”
Lily glanced at her.
Sophie’s face was furious.
“She has your picture in her bedroom.”
“Sophie.”
“No, Mom.”
She looked back at Lily.
“She has boxes of newspaper articles. She cries on your birthday. She thought I didn’t know, but I did.”
I had no idea Sophie had noticed.
Lily stared at me.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
Before I could say more, the door opened.
Daniel walked in.
He looked older than the man I had divorced six years earlier.
More gray at his temples.
More lines around his eyes.
But the second he saw Lily, every bit of color vanished from his face.
He stopped in the doorway.
“Oh, my God.”
Lily stiffened.
Daniel covered his mouth.
His eyes filled instantly.
“Lily?”
She stared at him.
He took one step.
Then stopped himself.
Exactly as I had.
“I’m Daniel.”
“I know.”
His face crumpled.
“You do?”
“She told me about you.”
He looked at me.
“Who?”
I whispered, “Rebecca.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Before I could explain, Lily suddenly grabbed my wrist.
Hard.
Her eyes were fixed on the hallway.
“No.”
I turned.
Rebecca was walking toward us.
She carried flowers.
Of course she did.
She always brought flowers to hospitals.
Her blond hair was perfectly styled.
Her cream coat probably cost more than most people’s monthly rent.
The moment she saw me, she rushed forward.
“Amelia! I came as soon as Marcus told me—”
Then she saw Lily.
The flowers slipped in her hands.
Not enough to fall.
Enough for me to notice.
Rebecca stopped.
Lily moved behind me.
Daniel saw it too.
Rebecca’s eyes flicked from Lily to me.
Then back.
“Oh my God.”
Her voice sounded perfect.
Too perfect.
“Is that…”
I didn’t answer.
Rebecca pressed her hand to her chest.
“You found her?”
Lily’s fingernails dug into my arm.
Rebecca stepped forward.
“My beautiful girl.”
Lily gasped.
“Stay away from me.”
The room went silent.
Rebecca stopped.
Her expression shifted.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Anger.
Then the mask returned.
“Sweetheart, you must be confused.”
“Don’t call me that.”
Rebecca looked at me.
“What happened to her?”
I stared at my sister.
“You tell me.”
Her face changed.
“Excuse me?”
“She says she knows you.”
Rebecca gave a nervous laugh.
“Well, of course she knows me. I’m her aunt.”
“No.”
Daniel moved beside me.
“She says she knew you before today.”
Rebecca looked at Lily.
Something passed between them.
A warning.
Lily immediately lowered her eyes.
I stepped between them.
“Look at me, Rebecca.”
She did.
“Did you know where my daughter was?”
Her mouth fell open.
“Are you insane?”
“Answer me.”
“I spent ten years helping you look for her!”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Rebecca’s cheeks reddened.
“This is disgusting.”
“What is?”
“You find a traumatized child on the street and within hours you’re letting her accuse family members?”
Lily’s breathing became faster.
I felt it before I saw it.
Panic.
“Rebecca, leave.”
“Amelia—”
“Now.”
My sister stared at me.
Then her eyes went to Lily.
“You don’t know what she’s been through.”
Lily whispered, “I know exactly what I’ve been through.”
Rebecca’s jaw tightened.
Daniel stepped forward.
“You heard her.”
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
“Oh, now you care?”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“This is not about our divorce.”
“You abandoned Amelia when she needed you.”
“And you stayed.”
“Yes, I did.”
Rebecca pointed at herself.
“I was there every single day.”
Lily suddenly spoke.
“You were there for me too.”
Rebecca froze.
Lily stepped from behind me.
Her entire body was shaking.
“You came every month.”
“Lily,” Rebecca said softly, “you’re confused.”
“You brought the envelopes.”
“What envelopes?” I asked.
Rebecca ignored me.
Lily kept talking.
“You told Denise not to let me watch television.”
My head snapped toward her.
“Who is Denise?”
Rebecca’s face went white.
Lily pointed at my sister.
“You told her my mother was dangerous.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“This is absurd.”
“You said if I ever saw Amelia Grant on TV, I should turn it off.”
Daniel stared at Rebecca.
“How did Lily know Amelia’s full name?”
Rebecca opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
I stepped closer.
“Who is Denise?”
“I don’t know.”
Lily’s voice broke.
“You do.”
Rebecca turned on her.
“Enough.”
The force in that one word made Lily recoil.
Every doubt I had left disappeared.
I moved between them.
“Don’t speak to her like that.”
Rebecca seemed to realize what she had done.
She softened immediately.
“I’m sorry. This is emotional.”
“No.”
I looked at the woman who had slept in my guest room when I couldn’t be alone.
Who had held Sophie at her baptism.
Who had stood beside me when Daniel and I signed our divorce papers.
“This is something else.”
Rebecca grabbed her handbag.
“I won’t stand here and be accused.”
“Then sit down and explain.”
“I don’t owe anyone an explanation.”
“You owe me ten years.”
Her eyes met mine.
For one second, I saw something I had never seen before.
Hatred.
Then she smiled.
Coldly.
“You should be careful, Amelia.”
Daniel took a step forward.
“Was that a threat?”
Rebecca ignored him.
She walked toward the door.
I called after her.
“I’m going to the police.”
She stopped.
Her back remained toward us.
Then she said something that made Lily begin sobbing.
“They won’t believe a street kid with a damaged memory.”
Lily collapsed against me.
I held her.
Rebecca walked away.
Daniel ran into the hallway, but I shouted for him to stop.
“Let her go.”
He turned.
“Why?”
I looked down at Lily.
Because Rebecca had made one mistake.
A huge one.
She had defended herself against details we had never told her.
I pulled out my phone.
This time, I called the police.
Then I called the private investigator who had worked Lily’s case for seven years.
His name was Thomas Reed.
When he answered, I said only one sentence.
“Reopen everything, and start with my sister.”
He was silent.
Then he asked, “Rebecca?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“Amelia, there’s something I never told you.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
May you like
“What?”
“When Lily disappeared, Rebecca was the last adult seen alone with her.”
