Chapter3

I reached out to hug her, but she took a half-step back.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, pulled a credit card from my bag, and handed it to the cafeteria worker. "Swipe this. Clear her five-dollar negative balance. Then, pre-load two thousand."

The worker froze, glancing from the card to me, before frantically tapping the screen. Beep—Approved.

Lily stared at the new balance popping up on the screen. "What are you doing?" she asked, her knuckles white around her red asthma inhaler. "Aunt Chloe said you only throw money around when you’re fighting with Dad, or when you want to show off in front of people."

The cafeteria worker looked between me and Lily. "You must be Lily's mom? Her account has been overdrawn four times this semester. Every time, Mark tells us, 'I'll cover it in a couple of days.'"

Lily averted her face. "Leave it alone. Dad will figure it out."

I didn't rush to explain. Instead, my gaze fell on the inhaler in her hand. "Where is the new antibody inhaler that just came out last week?"

She kept her face turned away. "Dad said there was an issue with the medical insurance card. He said the regular one works fine, and told me not to be so high-maintenance."

"A regular inhaler doesn't even give you enough air to breathe through an attack, and he calls that high-maintenance?"

Her eyes turned red. "What do you know?"

Just then, a sharp whistle pierced the far end of the hallway. Two girls glanced our way, and one of them covered her mouth, giggling. "Lily, mooching food again? The whole school saw your sandwich get tossed back earlier."

The other girl shook her head. "Forget it. She even has to rely on that little red bottle to breathe between classes. Why even go to a private high school if she's that broke?"

Lily didn't turn around, but her entire body went rigid.

I watched her. In my previous life, Mark had assured me that Lily was doing perfectly fine—she was just going through a moody teenage phase and didn't want to video-call me. He had claimed that it was normal for girls to keep to themselves and told me to stop trying to buy her affection. And I had believed him.

I grabbed her wrist. "Let's go."

"Where?"

"To your college counselor's office."

Mr. Davies was sitting at his computer sipping coffee. When he saw me push the door open, a look of bewilderment crossed his face. "Mrs. Evans? What brings you in today? Mark told me just last week that you were out of town on business, and that we shouldn't bother you with school matters under any circumstances."

I tossed my snow-dampened coat over the back of a chair. "From this day forward, all of Lily's bills, exam notices, and college-prep emails must be CC'd to me. And my signature is the only one you accept."

Mr. Davies cast a hesitant glance at Lily before clicking into his system. "Well, since you're here, perhaps we can settle last month's past-due fees." He turned the monitor toward me. "I honestly feel terrible for Lily."

Rows of red alerts popped up on the screen:

[Fall East Coast Ivy League College Tour — CANCELLED]

[AP Calculus and History Advanced Boot Camp — CANCELLED]

[National AP Exam Registration Eligibility — EXPIRED]

I stared at the word "EXPIRED". "How much was the AP exam registration fee?"

"A hundred and fifty dollars." Mr. Davies sighed. "Lily is a straight-A student, our prime candidate for the Ivy Leagues. I called Mark no less than five times last month..."

"And how did he respond?"

Mr. Davies pulled up an email. On the screen was Mark's reply:

“Mr. Davies, it is unfortunate, but Lily's mother believes that spending a fortune on an elite private school is a waste of money. Please do not add any more financial strain to this family.”

I turned around. Lily stood by the desk, tears welling in her eyes as she bit down on her lower lip.

"Isn't that exactly what you think?" her voice trembled. "That day I wanted to pay the registration fee, Dad said you refused to give the money. Aunt Chloe said you spent it all on designer bags. You don't care about me at all."

Lily frantically yanked out the red inhaler, shoved it between her lips, and pressed down.

Mr. Davies stood up awkwardly. "Perhaps you two need a moment to—"

"No need." I walked over to Lily and crouched down to meet her at eye level.

"I have never stopped loving you."

Her eyes stayed red, but she refused to let the tears fall. "But I don't even have money for school."

"Because I didn't know."

"There's a lot you don't know."

I nodded. "Yes. I've been absent from your life for far too long." I didn't make any excuses for myself.

I took out my phone, logged into my mobile banking app, and held the screen up in front of her. "Look closely. This is the third of last month: fifteen thousand. This is March fifteenth: twenty thousand. This was early fall when you needed to switch asthma medications: a full ten thousand."

I swiped down, transaction by transaction. Monthly transfers. Every single one was a five-figure sum.

She stared down at the screen: Lily's meal plan. Lily's insurance. Lily's AP prep. Lily's birthday. Lily's college fund.

She froze, her lips parting as she tried to process it. "Then... where did the money go?"

I kept my voice soft. "That's why Mom came back. We're going to find out together."