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I wandered from room to room , but I couldn't find my own.
Everything felt different — as if the entire house had changed, as if it were filled with strangers.
Panic surged through me. When I turned around, I ran straight into Lily. "Bella, what are you doing?" she asked.
I was so anxious that I blurted out without thinking.
"I want to go back to my room."
Only by going back to the room where I had lived for more than twenty years could I feel truly safe.
Lily said impatiently, “Your room is on the second floor, isn’t it? Why are you wandering around down here ?"
The second floor? My face went blank.
Lily stared at me for five long seconds.
It was like she’d uncovered some shocking secret. She immediately dragged her mother over. "Bella, look at her. Do you know who she is? "
The middle-aged woman standing in front of me looked so familiar, but I couldn't remember her name.
The mother and daughter exchanged a look — and then smiled. That kind of strange, knowing smile.
I sat by the window in a daze for half an hour before the memory slowly returned to me.
I knew it — Lily and her mother had figured it out. I was sick. The same illness that had taken my mother. They were laughing because they were glad that I was about to become a useless person and might not even have a few good years left .
Lily, this time I'll place the bet. And I’ll bet you don’t know what love really is.
I looked at Lily, eyes shining with a fragile kind of hope. "Ethan doesn't believe me. He won’t even look at my diagnosis report."
Lily slowly picked at her nails.
"You want me to tell him for you, right?"
I nodded. Lily’s lips curled into a smug smile.
"You really think he’ll pity you when he finds out? "
I stayed quiet. Silence was as good as yes.
Lily laughed — that soft, silvery laugh that always sounded like mockery.
"He’ll find out sooner or later anyway. Why should I be the one to tell him? When the time comes..."
I interrupted her, "When the time comes, he will fall in love with me out of pity. Just help me this once—please?"
Lily's brows furrowed deeper, and for a second, something vicious flashed in her eyes.
"Sister, you don't understand men at all! By then, you’ll be a mess—filthy, confused, maybe even wetting yourself or setting the house on fire! You’ll be nothing but a burden. Ugly. Useless. And you still think a man could love you? ?
Think about it. Did Dad treat Mom any better because of her illness ? I advise you to leave Ethan as soon as possible! Otherwise, he’ll only end up hating you more ."
She always compared me to my mother. And yes—on the surface, we seemed the same. But I knew deep down… we weren’t. My father never loved my mother , but Ethan loved me.
I pretended to break down, running off in tears. And as I turned, I calmly tapped the button — stopping the recording on my phone.
