Chapter 48

Emma’s eyes lit up the moment she saw her. “Did Mr. Lane come looking for you?”
Emily bent down to change her shoes, her tone cool and distant. “He’s probably busy being all lovey-dovey with Isabella right now.”
Emma’s smile faltered, her voice edged with bitterness. “Did you ask him? Beg him to let us go back? We can’t just keep living like this forever.”
Shoes on, Emily straightened and fixed Emma with a clear, steady gaze.
“Do you really have to keep banging your head against the wall before you’ll finally wake up?”
Emma’s heart pinched at the sight of her face-she couldn’t help but feel a pang of
sorrow.
At the start, she never wanted Emily to marry into the Lane family. All she’d wished for was a quiet, ordinary life.
But after Emily’s father died saving Kevin Lane, eight-year-old Emily was taken in by the Lanes, raised alongside their children.
As a little girl, Emily had been pretty as a porcelain doll. The older she grew, the more striking she became, her bright eyes and delicate features turning heads. Raised under the Lanes’ roof, she carried herself with a poise that rivaled any true- born heiress.
Even when Amelia Lane and Isabella stood beside her, they only made Emily shine brighter by comparison.
She would have made a perfect society hostess-more than enough to fit the part.
The thought of marrying Emily into the family only truly took root the day Emily came down with a sudden, high fever, too weak to stand. Andrew Lane had scooped her into his arms and rushed to call a doctor.
Back then, Emily and Andrew were close; there was an easy warmth between them, filled with laughter and gentle teasing.
Emma had seen it-how Emily looked at Andrew, the way love quietly bloomed in her eyes.
But after Isabella returned, everything changed. The air between Emily and Andrew turned cold and tense, bristling with unspoken arguments.
Remembering it now, Emma could only wring her hands in regret.
She’d thought Andrew felt the same about Emily. She’d been wrong-he’d never seen her as anything but a sister.
Emily glanced toward the kitchen and dining table. It was obvious Emma hadn’t bothered preparing dinner tonight.
She’d expected as much.
Emily unpacked the takeout she’d brought home and set it on the table. Her voice was calm and even. “It’s late. Let’s eat.”
Emma sat across from her, face drawn and miserable, while Emily regarded her in silence.
In her previous life, Emma, doomed to play the role of the villain’s mother, had met a tragic end.
The last few months before she died, Emma’s mind had unraveled. The Lane family had locked her away in their private psychiatric hospital, where she was kept out of sight and out of reach. Emily never learned what happened to her there.
All she knew was that, in the end, Emma escaped-she fled down the street, hair wild, clothes in tatters, so gaunt she seemed swallowed by her hospital gown, little more than a living ghost.
She’d only wanted to find Emily and Daisy.
It was Isabella who’d sent someone after her, and Emma was struck and killed on the road.
Just like Daisy, there was no one to claim her body, no grave to mark her passing.
A sudden rush of bitterness stung Emily’s nose and eyes. She dropped her head quickly, fists clenched tight in her lap.
Emma might have been foolish, but she’d genuinely cared-right up to the end, worrying over Emily and Daisy, never finding peace even in death.
Given a second chance, Emily silently vowed she would never let it end that way again.
They ate in silence, the meal stretching on. When Emily finished, she wiped her mouth and stood.
“I’m going to study. Please clear the table and toss out the trash-I’ll take it out in the morning.”
Emma nodded, chewing mechanically, as if the food had lost all flavor.
No sooner had Emily stepped into her room than her phone rang. The caller ID showed her school.
“Emily, are you studying right now?”
The gentle voice belonged to Ms. Carter, her piano teacher-a young woman in her early twenties, fresh out of college, always kind and soft-spoken. Emily had attended a handful of her lessons.
Ms. Carter was one of the few teachers Emily genuinely liked, and among the rare ones who didn’t believe the gossip swirling around her.
“No, not right now. Did you need something, Ms. Carter?”