Chapter 3: The Real Princess Returns

9

Hearing that I could go see Mom, I was so happy I forgot everything else. I couldn’t wait to run out the door.

But as I turned around, a force yanked me back. Turning, I saw Marcus.

He stared at my face for a long moment. "Let’s go together."

I stopped, hand covering my right cheek. It was still swollen. Just now, Mom said I must be more beautiful now. Mom will be disappointed. I’m not beautiful at all right now.

Marcus seemed to notice, too. He had the housekeeper take me to bathe and change.

I refused. "No need."

Even if I’m not pretty now, I don’t want to deceive Mom. Especially not together with Marcus. I want Mom to know that all these years, I really haven’t been well. I also want Mom to know that Marcus slapped me.

Marcus was silent for a few seconds, then didn’t force me.

Before leaving, he glanced back at Savannah’s guests and frowned. He ordered them all to leave.

Immediately, Savannah’s face fell like a wilted cucumber. She pouted and walked over, blinking her bright eyes at Marcus.

"Dad, are you going out? My mom will come over later. She said your stomach isn’t good, so she made you a special dinner."

Hearing this, I almost rolled my eyes. A stomach-friendly dinner. Those two are stomach-friendly enough.

Savannah’s mom had been in a coma from a car accident, so Marcus adopted Savannah. A few years later, her mom woke up. Not only did she not take her daughter back, she often used visiting her daughter as an excuse to get close to Marcus.

Marcus grunted, still picked up the car keys handed over by the assistant, and looked at me. "Let’s go."

I watched him for a second, the car keys glinting under the chandelier. I could tell he was nervous. That made two of us.

10

Eager to see Mom, I could only follow Marcus. For so many years, this was the first time I sat in Marcus’s car.

I slid onto the leather seat, the AC blasting cold air that smelled faintly of vanilla air freshener. The funny thing was, in such a fancy Tesla, I didn’t even know how to open the door.

Seeing me stand there motionless, Marcus said nothing, just came over and opened the door for me.

I didn’t thank him.

After getting in, I took a twenty-dollar bill from my pocket and handed it to Marcus. "Fare."

It was scholarship money from school. I’d always been reluctant to spend it.

"...No need."

Marcus glanced at it, slightly stunned, but still started the car and drove off.

I knew he wanted to see Mom right away, too. But I still wanted to settle accounts with him.

I shoved the bill into the cupholder. Let him see I meant it.

"You’re not my dad anymore. I won’t ride in your car for free."

Marcus paused. Amid the speeding car, I heard his voice, word by word: "As long as you’re your mother’s child, I’ll always be your dad."

A dad like him?

Heh.

I couldn’t be bothered to argue.

...Twenty minutes later, the car stopped.

I looked out the window and saw blue sky, crowds, trains. This was our old home by the train station.

She stood by the old mailbox, waving, her plaid dress bright against the cracked sidewalk. The sound of a train whistle echoed in the distance.

It was Mom!

"Mom!"

I jumped out of the car and ran into her arms. She smelled like fresh laundry and strawberry ChapStick. For a moment, it was as if time rewound, and I was ten again.

11

Marcus got out too. He stood by the car, watching Natalie run into his wife’s arms. Everything felt so unreal.

He pinched his palm hard. Is this real? Is this not a dream? He was really afraid that once he woke up, Lillian would be gone again.

"Lilly."

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he called her name. Seeing her face, exactly the same as before. Young. Beautiful. Like the lilies that bloomed in his room every day.

She really came back.

Marcus looked at his palm, which was bleeding, and his heart finally settled. He couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

Lilly is back. His happiness is back too. He was no longer a walking corpse.

He could be like before, coming home every day to see the Lillian he missed day and night. When things went wrong outside, he could come home and hug her. Whenever he achieved anything, he’d immediately bring it home to share with her. They loved each other and raised their daughter together, a life even the angels envied.

But. His heart suddenly ached.

Looking up, seeing his wife and daughter holding each other tightly, he remembered how not long ago, he was going to send Natalie to foster care. These years, he had ignored Natalie.

Lilly—

Would she blame him?

He rubbed his eyes and looked away, suddenly wishing he could rewind the last decade and do it all over. Even the best tech CEOs can’t hack time.