Chapter 3

Two years later, in September, the new school year began.

Caleb was starting first grade, while I was entering fifth grade. I confidently led my parents to Caleb’s classroom.

“Mom, Dad, that’s Ms. Rachel Morgan. She used to teach me language arts. Now she’s Caleb’s homeroom teacher.”

I was just about to go over and greet Ms. Morgan when a familiar voice suddenly rang out.

“Lily! Is that you, Lily?”

The next second, a woman grabbed me by the arm.

It was my mother.

Behind her stood Sophie.

Right. Sophie would be starting first grade too.

Evelyn stared at me in shock and disbelief, then her expression suddenly filled with overwhelming joy.

After confirming that my face matched the one she remembered, a heartbroken sob escaped her throat.

“Lily... My daughter! I thought you were dead! Why did you take so long to come back? Why?!”

She clung tightly to me, crying hysterically.

“Lily, Mommy missed you so much! Why won’t you call me Mommy?”

I stared at her in confusion.

“Ma’am, I think you have the wrong person.”

Under her stunned gaze, I broke free from her grip and ran back to my adoptive parents, hiding behind them as though I had been frightened.

Evelyn looked utterly devastated.

“How can you not recognize your own mother? Lily, look at me! I’m your mom! We got separated during the flood two years ago!”

I frowned slightly, looking at her with nothing but unfamiliarity and displeasure.

“You really have the wrong person, ma’am. My parents are right here.”

Evelyn froze.

She looked at the four of us standing together and shook her head in disbelief.

No...

She couldn’t understand how her daughter, whom she had once had all to herself, had somehow become someone else’s child.

Why was her daughter calling another couple Mom and Dad?

The parents and students nearby were all startled by her frantic behavior.

My adoptive parents exchanged a glance.

They immediately realized that this woman must be my biological mother.

Grace looked at me questioningly.

I quietly shook my head, silently asking her not to reveal the truth.

Grace didn’t understand why I was pretending not to know the woman, but she chose to protect me anyway.

“Ma’am, you’ve really mistaken my daughter for someone else. She’s Emma Whitaker, not your daughter, Lily Hayes.”

Just then, Richard arrived and overheard the entire conversation.

The moment he saw me, he froze.

The hope in his eyes slowly faded into confusion as he stared at me.

“Whitaker? Why does she look so much like my Lily?”

Ms. Rachel stepped forward to calm everyone down.

“Mrs. Hayes, you really have the wrong child. Emma Whitaker was one of my students.”

With everyone staring at me, I felt embarrassed.

“Mom, please get up.”

Everyone assumed it was simply a case of mistaken identity. They thought Mrs. Hayes had lost her daughter and, in her desperation, mistaken another girl for her.

Some of the parents even tried to comfort her.

I was just beginning to relax when Evelyn suddenly lunged at me and grabbed at my clothes.

“Lily has a red birthmark on her stomach! Let me check!”

I screamed in fright.

Grace and Michael immediately rushed forward to shield me.

“Are you out of your mind?! How dare you tear at a girl’s clothes in front of everyone? Back off, or I’m calling the police!”

The scene descended into chaos.

Then Evelyn suddenly screamed,

“She has a birthmark! She’s my daughter!”

My heart sank.

She had seen it.