In the end, Rex leaves. She is so conflicted and with such a genuine request, he could not bear to see
her struggle anymore. He feels that at that moment his concerns became her burden.
He holds the steering wheel with both hands and looks at the traffic. At that moment, he realizes that it
won’t be easy to keep her by his side. He knows that he has a place in Lily’s heart and he has never
forgotten her. He thought that everything would be fine if they come back to the starting point. He was
too naive to think that way. Apart from emotions, there are too many issues and people between them
that require resolution.
As he ponders, the phone rings and he answers with the Bluetooth connection. The call is from his
mother, Amelia.
“Rex, I heard that you’re back. This time you left for a long duration, your grandparents miss you. Can
you come over tonight for dinner? Just nice Florence is home. We’ll have dumplings for dinner.”
Compare to Amelia’s joy, Rex appears to be cold, “You guys go ahead, I am busy with some matters.”
“What are you busy with?” Amelia knows that her son is busy but she can sense that he is upset with
something and could only endure. “Mom knows that your work is important but since your grandparents
had requested it, can you reschedule? You should know that these couple of years their health has
been declining. We may not have much time with them in the future, they…”
Rex hates to hear Amelia say these and interrupts her, “Okay.”
“Then… are you coming back?”
“Yeah.”
Amelia sighs in relief, “Okay then, I’ll prepare the dumplings and wait for you tonight!”
After ending the call, Rex is frustrated and stops the car by the roadside at a temporary waiting area.
The fire within him is lit and he winds down the car windows.
It’s not that he is unwilling to go back but there isn’t anyone at home who understands him. They know
that he is busy but do not know what he is busy with. Furthermore, going back for dinner would mean
meeting his stepfather. And it’s not that he doesn’t like him, it’s just that he doesn’t know how to interact
with him.
Apart from other things, each time that man looks at him he will feel very awkward. He isn’t looking at a
younger generation nor looking at a son. It is as if he is looking at a subordinate.
That’s why he wants to avoid such meetings as much as possible. But as a son, when he hears the
way Amelia said, he couldn’t refuse her requests.
All these years he has been used to being alone. From the moment he graduated from high school, he
didn’t take a single cent from his family. He has been taken care of himself and had to deal with
whatever comes by.
He’ll go home.
…
Lily carries a small bag and walks up the stairs. Adair has never walked up the stairs of such an old
building. They walk and pause and finally reach the fourth level. This is different from what they were
used to in England.
Lily lowers her head and says to Adair, “Smile, later you must greet grandpa and grandma. No matter
what happens you must know that grandpa and grandma love mom and they love you the most.”
Adair doesn’t understand why mom says these but he endeavors to understand, nods, “I understand.”
Lily grits her teeth and presses the doorbell.
The doorbell rings twice and she hears someone walking towards the door. Her heart is racing and
almost jumps out from her throat. The door finally opens.
Bree was doing housework and has an apron over her. She keeps saying, “I’m coming, I’m coming.”
She is stunned when she opens the door.
After five years, her black hair is now white. Though they’ve never been rich, they have never lacked
anything. But at this moment, Bree appears to be frail, as if she had aged several decades. Even her
eyes lost the sparkle she was used to.
Lily starts to tear and greets, “Mom…”
Bree isn’t as excited as she expected. Bree closes her eyes and shakes her head. Then she reaches
out to Lily and gently and slowly caresses her face.
It wasn’t a dream nor an imagination. She’s real!
As if only then does Bree believe that she’s back and her eyes widen and light up. Her breathing races,
“Li…Lily…”
She loses her balance and almost trips and Lily hurries to hold her up, “Mom!”
Her heart aches immensely when she sees Bree gently touch her to confirm her presence. How many
days and nights of imagination did she have that she doesn’t believe that she is standing there!
Harry hears the commotion and thought that his wife has another daydreaming episode and walks out
with his cup in hand. He sees two people at the door, “… Bree?”
Bree turns to let Harry see who she is blocking.
“Crash!”, the cup in his hands falls to the floor and smashes into bits of porcelain.
Harry is shocked and frozen in place. He stares at the face that he will never forget. If that’s not his
daughter, who can it be?
“Dad…” Lily can only say that. Each word is like ripping her throat out. “It’s me, I’m back.”
She sees the sorrow in Harry’s eyes and yet happiness which turns back to hurt. He steps forward
shakily with a determined and sorrow-filled voice, “No! You’re not our daughter. Our daughter is dead.
She died five years ago…”
It is like a dagger that plunges straight into Lily’s heart. There is nothing more hurtful than to hear those
words from the person who loved you the most!
“Dad, mom, I didn’t die. I am Lily, I’m really back…” Lily’s strength is drained to see them so old and
frail. She knows that they didn’t have a pleasant time these few years. They were desperate and alone
- it was indescribable.
She just selfishly left. She thought that as long as she survived, it would be enough. But she didn’t
know that some things could only be disengaged upon death and the living can only persevere through
it.
She knew that they would be fine in terms of daily necessities but they didn’t know that she was still
alive. They thought that their lovely daughter had died, therefore whether they were alive or dead was
no difference to them.
Lily musters all her courage and kneels before her parents. “Dad, Mom, I’m so sorry!”
All the sorrows and helplessness couldn’t explain why she left for five years. Her parents are the
biggest victims.
Bree lifts her up and says in tears, “Lily, you’re really our Lily…”
“Stand up first.” Harry hasn’t fully come to terms with the shock. He turns his attention to the child,
“explain to me, what’s with this kid.”
He finally hears himself being mentioned. Adair doesn’t forget what Lily instructed but he didn’t have
the chance to greet and now with his loudest and cutest voice he greets, “Grandpa, Grandma!”
It is better that he doesn’t shout. This shout almost knocks Harry and Bree off their feet!
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