The ashes of lies

We were having a family dinner.

Six-year-old Lily suddenly plunged her hand into the scorching hot pot.

She was crying, begging me to stop.

Mommy, my hand is hurt! I can't do the videos anymore...

Please don't hit me anymore, Mommy! I'll be good, I promise.

Mark, my husband, went ballistic.

He snatched my phone.

He saw Lily's pictures everywhere.

He beat me black and blue.

He warned me that if I ever did anything like that again, hed kill me.

Later, he had to leave for a business trip.

Lily clung to his leg, sobbing.

"Daddy, don't go! If you go, Mommy will have me kidnapped. She'll break my legs and cut out my tongue!"

Everyone thought she was just rambling.

But later, Lily's legs were broken.

Her tongue was cut out.

She wrote something on the floor in blood: "Mommy did it. She wants to kill me."

Mark was beyond furious.

He almost beat me to death.

His parents finally convinced him to divorce me.

I got nothing.

I staggered out onto the streets, bleeding.

Wild dogs eventually tore me apart.

Then, I woke up.

I was back in that moment.

The moment Lily lied about me.

...

"Mommy, I want hot pot tonight!"

Lily's sweet, innocent voice rang in my ears.

I shuddered.

I met her eyes.

They were cold.

It was like a cat playing with a dying mouse.

And I?

I was the mouse.

Ice water filled my veins.

Last time, Id listened to her.

Id made hot pot.

That's what gave her the opportunity to hurt herself and blame me.

I remembered those dogs tearing me apart.

My whole body ached.

My heart hurt the worst.

She was my daughter.

Why would she lie like that?

Why would she want to hurt me so badly?

"My sweet girl wants hot pot? Grandma will go get it for you!"

My mother-in-law held Lily, showering her with affection.

I composed myself.

I forced a smile.

"Mom, Lily told me she had diarrhea at school today. Maybe something light for dinner tonight?"

That set Lily off.

She started screaming.

"Mommy's lying! She says I'm a burden! I don't deserve good food!"

"She said she's gonna break my legs and cut out my tongue! Waaah!"

She was sobbing now.

She buried herself in my mother-in-law's arms.

My father-in-law looked up from his newspaper.

"Your mom almost died giving birth to you! You little ingrate! What are you talking about?"

Lily clung tighter to Grandma's neck.

"Grandma, I'm not lying!"

"I don't want to be kidnapped! Grandma, help me!"

My mother-in-law was all over her.

"Don't worry, Grandma's here."

"Don't yell at the child, Paul. She doesn't know any better. We just won't take it seriously."

She turned to me.

"Okay, no hot pot. Why don't you go get the groceries, honey?"

I was about to agree.

Then I saw the smirk on Lily's face.

I remembered.

Last time, going out for groceries gave Lily the chance to set me up.

She cried that I was meeting with the kidnappers.

Then everyone found those strange phone numbers in my call history.

I grabbed my phone.

I ordered the groceries online.

"Mom, it's raining out. Let's just have the delivery guy bring them."

Disappointment flashed across Lily's face.

She bit her lip.

I smiled.

No hot pot.

No going out.

Let's see what she does this time.

That evening, Mark came home.

We all sat down for a nice family dinner.

Mark complimented my cooking.

His parents raved about it.

But I was watching Lily.

She kept glancing around, like she was planning something.

I checked the time.

Two minutes until she stuck her hand in the hot pot last time.

I checked my phone's photo gallery.

No weird pictures.

I relaxed a little.

I wasn't going to let her get away with it this time.

Then Lily threw her bowl on the floor.

She demanded hot pot.

I smirked inwardly.

I forced concern onto my face.

"But the teacher said you can't eat that stuff. Be good, okay?"

Lily shrieked.

"Mommy's lying! She's abusing me! She wants me dead! Daddy, call the police and arrest her!"

I looked at her, my face hardening.

"Fine. Call the police. Let's see who's lying!"

Lily froze.

Her eyes flickered with panic.

She probably hadn't expected me to react like that.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

I thought Id dodged a bullet.

Then Lily grabbed a fork off the table.

She started cutting her own face.

Everyone screamed.

She was covered in blood.

"Mommy, my face is hurt! I can't do the videos for the uncles anymore..."

"Please don't hit me anymore, Mommy! I'll be good, I promise!"

She was lying again!

Mark exploded.

He slapped me across the face.

"What the hell is going on here?! You drove your daughter to hurt herself!"

His parents were horrified.

They tried to calm him down.

Lily told them her story through sobs.

Mark snatched my phone.

He started searching for the "evidence."

Id checked it recently.

I had nothing to hide.

But the more Mark swiped, the darker his face got.

His parents saw him struggling to breathe.

They leaned in to look.

"Jennifer! How could you force your daughter to do this?!"

"What did we ever do to you? Why would you treat our granddaughter like this?"

My father-in-law was shaking with rage.

He stood up and flipped the table.

My mother-in-law cried and cried.

She said she understood why Lily said those things earlier.

Id been abusing Lily behind their backs!

I screamed that I hadn't!

Mark shoved the phone in my face.

"The evidence is right here! Still going to lie?!"

His voice was shaking.

He looked like he wanted to devour me.

I stared at my phone.

Dozens of new pictures.

Videos too.

Lily was wearing all kinds of cute outfits.

She was striking different poses.

Her eyes were full of innocence and fear.

"Please, uncles, give me lots of gifts. Or I'll get hurt..."

Lily begged the camera, tears in her eyes.

The comments were disgusting.

"Don't worry, Lily. I won't let you get hurt. Here's a gift..."

"Where are you, Lily? I'll bring you candy."

I was trembling.

Impossible!

Minutes ago, the phone was clean!

"I didn't make her do this! I don't know where these pictures and videos came from!"

I tried to stand my ground.

I tried to remember.

My phone had been in my pocket all day.

No one could have touched it.

"Slap!" Marks hand hit me.

"I can't believe you're capable of this, Jennifer! Forcing your own daughter to do these things!"

"You don't deserve to be a mother! You're evil!"

My ears were ringing.

My vision blurred.

I turned and saw Lilys eyes.

She was pale from the pain.

But there was a hint of satisfaction hiding there.

It was her!

I grabbed her shoulders.

"Lily, why are you lying? Why are you doing this to me?"

"I've always been good to you. Why do you want to hurt me?"

Lily started wailing.

She shrunk back.

Mark kicked me.

"You evil woman! You have the nerve to ask? You better hope our daughter is okay!"

"Or I swear, I'll kill you!"

His parents held him back.

I was sure he would have killed me on the spot.

"Let's get Lily to the hospital!"

His parents snapped him out of it.

He glared, then scooped up Lily and rushed to the hospital.

I went with them.

Lily's cuts weren't too bad.

They cleaned them up, bandaged them, and gave her some antibiotics.

It was the middle of the night.

Mark got a call about his business trip.

Lily started screaming.

"Daddy, don't go! Mommy will have me kidnapped! They'll break my legs and cut out my tongue!"

"She wants to kill me!"

Mark gave me a dark look.

I shook my head.

"No! Call the police if you don't believe me!"

Mark snatched my phone.

"Don't air our dirty laundry! Do you want to ruin our daughter's reputation?"

"Or do you want everyone to know you forced her to do those things?!"

"Lily, Daddy will have Grandma and Grandpa watch you. If she touches you, I'll kill her!"

His parents had calmed down a little.

"No mother would hurt her child."

"Especially not Jennifer. She almost died having Lily. Lily's her whole world. It's not possible!"

"Those pictures and videos are probably fake! AI is so advanced these days."

I nodded, grateful for their support.

Lily was quiet, but her eyes were full of mockery.

"Mommy, I want to watch cartoons!"

I opened the cartoon app on my phone and held it up for her.

Ever since she was born, I had dedicated my life to her.

I had quit my job to raise her.

I had tried to give her everything she ever wanted.

I just wanted her to be a good, kind person.

I couldnt understand why she was doing this.

After Mark left, his parents and I stayed with Lily.

I checked the time.

Two AM.

Last time, Lily disappeared from the hospital at 2:10.

If I could just get through the night, I could protect her.

Her lies would be useless!

I tried to stay awake, but at 2:00, Lily started crying.

She said she was hungry.

None of us had really eaten dinner.

I checked the delivery apps.

Everything around the hospital was closed.

I found a few options, but nothing Lily could eat.

My mother-in-law got up.

She said she would go get some soup.

My father-in-law was still there.

I nodded.

Three minutes until 2:10.

Lily started crying, saying her hand hurt.

We looked and the IV had come loose.

Her hand was swollen and bruised.

I pulled the needle out.

My father-in-law got up to find a nurse.

I stopped him.

"Just press the call button."

I pressed it, but no one came.

It was 2:10.

Lily was crying and struggling to breathe.

My father-in-law got more worried.

"I'll go get a nurse."

I stopped him again.

"It will be okay, the swelling just needs to come down, we don't need a nurse for that."

He was about to argue.

Then Lilys lips turned blue.

She threw up.

"It's a bad reaction! She needs help!"

My father-in-law panicked.

He pushed past me and ran out of the room.

"Mommy... I feel bad. I want water..."

Lily looked pale and frail.

She was still my daughter.

I couldn't let her suffer.

I turned to get her some water.

When I turned back, Lily was gone.

Her vomit was all that was left on the bed.

And my phone, playing cartoons.

My father-in-law rushed in with a nurse.

"Where's Lily? The nurse needs to see her!"

My heart sank.

"Didn't you see her leave?"

He looked confused.

"I just came from the front desk with the nurse. No one went by."

The front desk faced both elevators.

If anyone had left, they would have seen.

But my father-in-law and the nurse had seen no one get on or off the elevators.

We searched the room.

We searched the hallways.

Nothing.

We checked the fire escape.

Still nothing.

Six-year-old Lily had vanished.

My mother-in-law rushed back with soup.

She burst into tears.

I tried to stay calm.

If I didn't find Lily, she would end up just like last time.

I called the police.

The police checked the hospital's security cameras.

Nothing suspicious.

I begged them to check the cameras outside.

Still nothing.

At dawn, the police told us to be patient and left.

My in-laws and I went home, numb.

My mother-in-law called Mark, crying.

She told him Lily was gone.

Mark flew back that afternoon.

He heard that I was the last person with Lily.

He wanted to kill me.

"You said you'd have her kidnapped! You evil woman!"

"Where is she?!"

He grabbed a vase and smashed it over my face.

Pain exploded.

The shards of the vase cut my face.

The police told him to calm down.

My father-in-law tried to defend me.

"I was with Jennifer all night! We only left for a minute! I was right by the elevators! It couldn't have been her!"

"Then how did she disappear?! What the hell happened?!"

Mark glared at me, his eyes full of hate.

Before I could say anything, the police got a call.

Theyd found Lily!

Just like last time, she was on a deserted road outside town.

She was lying in a broken-down van, covered in blood.

She was whimpering.

She kept spitting up blood.

Her legs were twisted and broken.

Her tongue was cut out.

Mark scooped her up, sobbing.

Lily saw me.

She trembled.

She wrote something on the ground in blood.

"Mommy did it. She wants to kill me."

I couldn't breathe.

"Lily, why would you lie like this?"

Lily stared at me, terrified.

She grabbed my arm.

She started hitting her head against the ground, begging for forgiveness.

She went limp.

She passed out.

Mark tried to attack me, but the police stopped him.

Then I noticed something in my hand.

A bloody piece of paper.

Lily had given it to me.

In shaky letters, written in blood, were two words: "The phone."

My heart leaped into my throat.

I grabbed my phone.

When I saw the photos, I was stunned.

The truth had been right in front of me the whole time!

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