Chapter 4

In the afternoon, my friend Ethan from preschool came to find me.

Ethan held up a Transformer toy, shyly saying:

"Aunt Sarah, is Lily here? This is a gift Mom and I bought for her!"

Mom's face instantly changed, looking very upset.

She blocked the doorway, not letting them in, her voice stiff:

"She's fine, just doesn't want to go to preschool, throwing a tantrum and faking illness at home!"

Ethan's mom, Mrs. Miller, looked a bit awkward, softly saying, "Sarah, Lily seems quite well-behaved to me."

"Ethan was bullied at preschool, and Lily even got hurt protecting him."

Mom seemed provoked, her voice rising to a shriek.

"What do you know? She wishes she could destroy this whole family!"

"Lily is a monster, she harmed Leo!"

"If only she were half as easy to handle as other kids, would I be this exhausted?"

Ethan started crying, scared by her outburst. Mrs. Miller, her face unhappy, picked him up and left.

Mom closed the door, her chest still heaving violently, mumbling repeatedly:

"She's not well-behaved at all, you've all been tricked by her!"

I floated beside Mom, looking at her twisted face, feeling a little sad.

Mom, I really wanted to be a good kid who made things easy for you.

Dad came into the bedroom once, standing by the bed for a long time.

He sighed, whispering, "Lily, Dad knows you've been wronged."

"But your mom is almost having a breakdown because of Leo. She's suffering too."

He tried to reach out and touch me, but his hand stopped mid-air and he eventually pulled it back.

Dad pulled the corner of my blanket up.

"You won't be sad if you're asleep. Dad will make your favorite fried eggs tomorrow."

He turned and left, his back looking bent.

Dad, I'm asleep now, and I'm not sad anymore.

But it seems I won't be able to wait for tomorrow's fried eggs.

Before going to sleep, Mom came in and glanced at me, complaining:

"I must owe you something. You were born to be a total curse."

"All day long she just sleeps. Even a cat or dog would bring some joy."

She walked to the bed.

How I wished she would anxiously touch my forehead, like when Leo had a fever, and pick me up.

But she just poked my shoulder hard through the blanket.

"Lily, stop pretending, get up now!"

I didn't react at all.

Mom's brows furrowed tightly. "So stubborn, huh? See if you can keep sleeping forever."

Leo was startled by the sound of her forcefully closing the door and cried, saying he was scared.

Mom walked past my room, holding Leo, gently humming a song.

She used to hum that song to me too.

Back before Leo was born.

She would rock me, telling me I was her little baby.

But that was a long, long time ago, so long it felt like another lifetime.

The next afternoon, I still hadn't gotten up.

Mom started to get anxious. "This brat, is she actually sick? She won't wake up no matter what I do."

Dad also seemed a bit nervous. "I'll go check on her."

But Mom changed her mind again, stopping him.

"Check what? She's just faking it. If you go now, you'll be playing right into her hands!"

They thought I was throwing a silent tantrum.

But Mom and Dad, I wasn't mad at you.

I just couldn't wake up anymore.