Lillian gasped for breath, struggling against the weight on her chest. She forced her eyes open, her mouth wide as she sucked in air, thrashing on the bed.
“No!-” She jolted awake, sitting up abruptly in bed.
She was alone, sitting on a princess-style bed, completely girlish in design.
The pink sheets had earned plenty of disdain from Conrad, but in the end, he had given in to her preference.
Lillian bent one leg, propping her hand against her forehead as she tiredly smoothed back her hair.
When Nancy came upstairs, she saw Lillian sitting there, her long hair draped over her shoulders, wearing a white nightgown. Despite the heater running in the room, Lillian looked flushed, her forehead damp with sweat.
“Miss Lillian, should I turn off the heater?” Nancy asked gently.
Lillian snapped out of her thoughts and glanced at Nancy. “No need, I just had a bad dream. Where’s Mr. Conrad?”
“Mr. Conrad left early for the office. He asked me to prepare your favorite dishes and a few items to take to the cemetery.”
Lillian stiffened but nodded. When she finished freshening up and came downstairs, she saw Andrew and for a moment thought Conrad was still home. Then she remembered Conrad mentioning last night that Andrew would drive her.
Andrew was always cold and spoke little, strictly following Conrad’s orders.
Lillian greeted him. “Andrew, want to have breakfast with me? I’ll be troubling you today.”
“No, thank you,” he replied curtly.
As expected, he kept it brief.
Lillian didn’t have much of an appetite either. She sipped half a bowl of porridge, then grabbed her things and headed out.
When she got in the car, she noticed a bouquet of flowers, some fruit, and a bottle of wine.
They were all things her father had loved when he was alive. Every year, Lillian would save up from part-time jobs to buy her father a bottle of wine and visit his grave.
Back then, she often went alone, occasionally running into Frank. But this year, these offerings had been prepared by someone else-Conrad.
Lillian touched the white chrysanthemums and forget-me-nots, still dewy with the morning frost. She wondered when he had ordered them to be arranged.
The weather was unforgiving. On such a somber day, it began to snow lightly.
When they arrived at the cemetery, the sky was overcast.
Andrew got out first to hold an umbrella for her, but Lillian waved him off. She preferred to carry the offerings herself.
“I’ll climb up on my own,” she said.
“Sir told me to escort you,” Andrew replied flatly.
Lillian knew there was no point in arguing.
The cemetery was vast, and back then, when she had little money, she could only afford to place Alvin’s urn in a communal glass case, surrounded by many others.
Carrying so much, Lillian ascended the stairs slowly. Eventually, Andrew grew impatient and took the bottles of wine from her, climbing ahead.
But when Lillian finally reached the top, she froze at the sight of Helen.
Her expression changed immediately. Without thinking, Lillian blurted, “What are you doing here?”
Helen stood there in a black-and-white couture suit, complete with a black netted hat, as if she’d been waiting a long time.
“What else could I be doing? I came to pay respects to your father,” Helen replied coolly.
“That’s unnecessary,” Lillian said coldly, stepping closer to Helen and pointing to the entrance. “You can leave now. My father wouldn’t want to see you.”
With that, she turned and started to remove the offerings Helen had brought.
But her eyes landed on the spot where Alvin’s urn had been-and found it empty.
“Where’s my dad?” she demanded, her voice shaking.
Helen looked at Lillian and said, “Your father cherished you so much, yet you leave him in a place like this? Your father was such a proud man; he doesn’t belong here. I’ve already spent money to move him to a better place.”
Lillian was so furious she didn’t even know what to say.
“Are you insane? Who gave you the right to move my father? What qualifications or authority do you have?”
“I’m his ex-wife. Your mother. If I don’t have the right, who does? Do you think any of those relatives from the Lewis family ever cared about him? If you’re going to blame anyone, blame your father. He brought this upon himself with his misdeeds and ended up abandoned by everyone. The fact that I’m willing to give him a better resting place is more than he deserves. If you truly cared about him, you wouldn’t oppose my decision.”
Lillian was ready to grab Helen by the collar, but Peter, who was standing beside Helen, stepped in to block her.
“Get out of my way! What business is this of yours?” Lillian shouted, bristling like an angry little lion. “Where did you take my father? I’m asking you one last time!”
“I’m not telling you,” Helen said coldly, unafraid of her. “Unless you apologize to me, to your uncle’s family, and agree to let us visit your grandmother.”
“Helen, have I ever done anything to owe you? Are you trying to drive me to my grave before you’ll be satisfied?” Lillian was on the verge of breaking down completely.
“Miss Lillian, please calm down!” Peter spoke up, seeing that Lillian had lost control.
But calming down was the last thing Lillian could do. All she wanted was to tear Helen apart with her bare hands.
“Give me back my father, Helen!”
She didn’t even care about the things she was holding; she reached out to grab Helen.
The cemetery, being a public place, had its share of visitors. Hearing the commotion, several people had already turned to watch.
Helen immediately put on her black sunglasses. “Peter, let’s go.”
“You’re not going anywhere!” Lillian lunged to grab Helen, and several bystanders began pulling out their phones to record the scene.
Andrew, tasked with protecting Lillian, noticed Peter trying to block her. Without hesitation, he grabbed Peter’s hand.
“Let go of me!” Peter, at his age, was no match for Andrew.
Helen noticed that Lillian had a new man by her side. She gave Andrew a once-over-tall and broad-shouldered, but he didn’t seem like a man with much elegance or charm.
Still, he didn’t match the status or class she envisioned for a son-in-law.
Well, at least his clothes looked expensive.
So be it. With Lillian’s ruined reputation and estranged relationship with her, she could marry whoever she wanted.
“What, you’re bringing a man to deal with me now?” Helen sneered, looking utterly disappointed.
Lillian was livid. She could endure anyone else’s judgment or misunderstanding, but Helen’s was the last she would accept. She would never bow to John’s family, either.
Helen, however, had no interest in being filmed by onlookers or letting anyone know Lillian was her daughter. To the world, she only had Sophia, her perfect daughter. Everyone envied her for her happy marriage, and she wasn’t about to let the gossip start about having a bankrupt ex-husband and a disgraced daughter.
As for Lillian, the disheveled, irrational woman before her bore no resemblance to the bright, beautiful child in her memories. She was nothing more than a madwoman now.
Helen quickly descended the stairs. Lillian, ignoring everything, chased after her, only to be shoved hard by Helen.
Andrew immediately reached out to catch Lillian, but Helen’s push was too forceful. Lillian’s head hit the sharp corner of an iron railing with a dull thud. Pain radiated through her, and she slumped to the ground, dazed.
“Lillian!” At that moment, Frank, who had just reached the top of the stairs, dropped everything and rushed over. “What did you do to her?!”
Helen didn’t recognize Frank and dismissed him as another one of Lillian’s scandalous entanglements.
“Peter, let’s go!”
“You’re not going anywhere!” Frank quickly took off his coat and draped it over Lillian’s shoulders, bending down with concern. “Lillian, how do you feel? Are you hurt?”