The Will Left By My Mother

I held up the cherished photo with both hands.

"Look! This is my mom, and this is my dad! Mom told me my dad lives right here."

In the photo, Mom was leaning against Dad's shoulder. They were both smiling like they owned the world.

That photo was taken six years ago.

Not long after, Mom left Dad while she was already pregnant with me.

Fearing he wouldn't believe me, I pulled out an envelope.

On it, Mom had written in her own handwriting.

[To Ethan Wright.]

I had already memorized the address written on the front.

"Mom wrote a letter to Dad, and I have to deliver it here!"

The security guard looked down at my red cheeks and led me inside to Dad.

"Mr. Wright, this little girl says she's looking for you."

Dad looked down, scanning me with cold eyes.

"What kind of trick is your mother playing now? She's using a kid this time? Where is she? Hiding outside waiting for money?"

Thinking of Mom, tears streamed down my face.

"Mom became a star."

He froze for a second, but then let out a cold laugh.

"Teaching a kid this young to pull scams for her. Like mother, like daughter."

"Ethan, do we have a guest?" A woman in a light blue dress walked down the stairs."

Dad didn't even turn his head. "It's nothing, Chloe. Go back upstairs."

Her smile stiffened, but she quickly recovered.

"What a cute little girl. What's your name, sweetheart?"

I answered softly, "Lily Wright."

Lily.

Mom told me she named me that because I would be missing my dad.

Her face changed slightly. "Ethan, she shares your last name?"

Dad adjusted his cuffs impatiently.

"Just a coincidence. Where is your mother? Tell her to come out and face me herself."

I sniffled and brought out the greeting card I had carefully made.

"Mom became a star. My teacher said we should thank our dads on Father's Day. I made this card for you."

On the cover, I had glued glitter to spell out "DAD", surrounded by hand-drawn stars.

The biggest, brightest star was Mom.

It took me several nights to make it, and my fingers got stuck together by glue so many times.

Dad stared at the card with an unreadable expression.

Chloe's gaze grew even colder. "Ethan, kids nowadays have quite the imagination."

"Someone probably coached her to say that. You know how some people will resort to anything just to get close to you."

Dad's expression darkened even further.

"Did your mother teach you to say that? Playing the pity card stopped working six years ago."

I shook my head and pulled out the photo Mom and I cherished most.

"Look, this is you, and this is Mom. She kept this photo and looked at it every single day."

The edges of the photo were worn thin.

On countless nights, I would wake up to see Mom sitting by the window, staring at this picture under the moonlight and crying silently.

She would gather me into her arms and whisper, "Lily, this is your dad. He's gentle, the best dad in the world."

She told me that on the day they took this picture, they thought they would be together forever.

Dad's fingers gently brushed over Mom's smiling face in the photo.

Chloe reached out to see it, but Dad turned away, leaving her hands hanging in the air.

"Ethan?"

Dad's voice sounded raspy. "Your mom... kept this photo?"

I nodded frantically.

"She looked at it every day! She said it was her most precious treasure!"

Chloe turned pale. "What does a photo prove? Does it erase what she did back then?"

Dad's cold demeanor returned. "Her tricks haven't changed at all."

"She'd make up a story like this just for money."

I rushed forward to grab the photo back. "It's not a story!"

Dad cut me off impatiently. "Go back and tell your mother."

"Whatever we had ended six years ago. Tell her to stop playing these games."

Seeing that Dad still didn't believe me, I broke down crying hysterically.

"Mom is really dead! She was sick! It hurt so much, and she couldn't sleep at night!"

"But she never cried. She said if she cried, I would be even sadder!"

"Even at the end, she was holding this photo..."

Dad waved at the guard. "Enough. Take her out."

I struggled. "Give me back the photo!"

That was Mom's most precious thing. I couldn't leave it here.

Dad carelessly tossed the photo aside.

I instinctively dashed to catch it, tripped over my own feet, and slammed onto the ground.

My backpack popped open, spilling its contents all over the floor.

A pill bottle rolled across the floor, stopping right beside Dad's shoe.

Dad froze.