Aria’s POV
I turned slowly. My body moved before my brain could catch up.
And there she was.
Lilith.
She stood about twenty feet away. Near the school gates. Alone.
Three years since I’d seen that face. Those silver eyes—my eyes—staring back at me.
But she was different now.
She’d grown taller. Lost some of the baby fat in her cheeks. Her features were sharper. More defined.
Her hair was a mess. Tangled. Matted in places. Like no one had brushed it in days. Maybe weeks.
Her uniform was wrinkled. Stained. The hem was coming undone on one side.
And she was thin.
The round, healthy child I remembered was gone. In her place stood this... this ghost. This shadow of the daughter I’d once known.
"Mommy?" Her voice cracked. Tears were already streaming down her face. "Is that really you?"
I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move.
*"You’re evil! You’re an evil mommy! I wish you were dead!"*
Those words. Those horrible, devastating words that had echoed in my head for three years.
"MOMMY!"
Lilith started running toward me.
Her thin legs pumped frantically. Her arms stretched out. Reaching for me like a drowning person reaching for a lifeline.
I stepped back. The movement was instinctive. Automatic. My body reacting before my brain could process what was happening.
Lilith stumbled. Her momentum carried her forward. But I wasn’t there to catch her.
She stopped just short of where I’d been standing. Her arms dropped to her sides. Her eyes went wide.
"Mommy?" Her voice was tiny now. Confused. "Why did you... why did you move away?"
I stared at her.
This child who had broken my heart. Who had chosen Celestia over me. Who had called me evil and ugly and wished me dead.
She was looking at me now like I was the one who’d abandoned her.
"Don’t you recognize me?" Lilith’s bottom lip trembled. "It’s me. It’s Lilith. Your daughter."
Something cold settled in my chest.
"I know who you are."
My voice came out flat. Distant. Like I was speaking to a stranger.
Lilith flinched. Actually flinched. Like my words had physically hurt her.
"Then why..." She took a shaky step forward. "Why won’t you hug me? I missed you so much, Mommy. I missed you every single day."


She froze.
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Sold to Bastard Alpha after My Divorce!