MY AUNT SLAPPED ME FOR MY DEAD MOTHER’S NECKLACE, THEN THE ESTATE PAPERS REVEALED WHY SHE NEEDED IT SO BADLY
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Chapter 11 / 15
Chapter 12 - Vanessa Faces Lily Again
A year passed before Vanessa asked to apologize.
Lily was eleven.
Daniel let Lily decide.
She agreed to a short meeting with a therapist present.
Vanessa looked older.
Tired.
She said:
“I hit you because I was angry and scared.”
Lily stared at her.
“You broke Mom’s picture.”
“Yes.”
“You said the necklace was yours.”
“Yes.”
“You knew it wasn’t?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“I knew Claire wanted you to have it. I convinced myself the key meant something else.”
“That’s not the same.”
“No.”
Lily touched the pendant at her neck.
“Did you hate Mom?”
Vanessa started crying.
“No. I loved her.”
“Then why did you steal from her?”
Vanessa whispered:
May you like
“I kept accepting help until I stopped remembering it was hers to give.”
That answer stayed with everyone.
