I froze mid-step, my heart seizing in my chest. Had I heard him correctly?


    "Where''s Lily?" Ethan repeated, his tone casual as if asking about the weather. “I''ll go pick her up so she can


    have dinner with Grandmother."


    My lungs refused to work. The hallway seemed to tilt beneath my feet. How could he mention our daughter so casually? As if she were still alive? As if he hadn''t missed her funeral?


    "Olivia Winters, stop acting crazy," Ethan warned, his amber eyes narrowing at my silence.


    I could read the message in his gaze. He didn''t want me to bring up Lily''s death again. He still refused to


    believe she was gone.


    My eyes darkened with fury. I hadn''t nned to say anything about her death. My concern was for Matriarch Evelyn. She had loved Lily fiercely, had been the only one besides me to visit her regrly during her illness. Could the elderly woman bear the news of her death? Would it break her already fragile health?


    I opened my mouth to respond when Matriarch Evelyn''s voice came from the staircase


    "What are you talking about? Picking someone up for dinner with me?"


    Panic seized me. I turned to face her, forcing a smile as I approached.


    "Grandmother, there''s no..." I tried to change the subject, but Ethan cut me off. "Lily," he said, looking at me pointedly.


    I red at him before turning back to Matriarch Evelyn, my mind racing for what


    to say.


    "Grandmother, Lily, she''s..." I began hesitantly.


    "Who''s Lily?" Matriarch Evelyn frowned, her brow furrowing in confusion,


    I stopped, stunned into silence. The question hit me like a physical blow. How could she not remember Lily? Her own great-granddaughter?


    Ethan''s expression shifted from annoyance to concern. He pulled out his phone and quickly typed a message.


    "I''ve texted Dr. Bet toe over," he murmured, his voice suddenly serious


    "Liv why aren''t you.


    Matriarch Evelyn patted my hand gently, concern in her aged eyes.


    I squeezed her hand back, fighting to keep my tears at bay.


    "Lily is someone very important to me," I said softly, unable to bring myself to exin further.


    "Important? Then Grandmother must meet her," she said decisively. "Ethan, go pick her up."


    My throat tightened. I couldn''t do this. I couldn''t exin that Lily was gone, that


    she''d never again run through these halls or sit at the dinner table


    "Grandmother, Lily isn''t avable today," I managed. "I''ll take you to see herter"


    三口


    The lie tasted bitter on my tongue, but I couldn''t bear to see the pain that would fill


    her eyes when she


    learned the truth.


    "Alright," she conceded, "but when she''s free, you must bring her home. Grandmother likes anyone who''s good


    to our Liv."


    Only her. Only my grandmother-inw had truly cared for Lily in this family. I blinked rapidly, fighting back