The secret of the family photo
Chapter One
It all started with a drawing my daughter, Lily, made – a family portrait.
My husband, Charles’s, adopted sister, Chloe, saw it. She had a full-blown panic attack, ran up to the roof, and threatened to jump. Charles, in a fit of rage, sent Lily to that hellhole – “The Bad Girls’ Academy.”
Lily cried until her throat was raw. I begged Charles, I fell to my knees, pleaded with him not to send her to that place. He just sneered.
“Actions have consequences,” he spat. “Lily deliberately drew that disgusting picture, causing Chloe’s panic attack. You spoiled her rotten!”
He was adamant. Two weeks later, I got the news. Lily was dead.
Charles? He was busy at an auction, showering Chloe with gifts, bidding on a ridiculously expensive necklace she’d had her eye on. He even posted on social media: “Anything for you, Chloe. Even the moon.”
I found a desperate note in Lily’s things, a cry for help. I confronted Charles, only to see his latest social media update.
At the funeral, Charles’s family showed up. His mother, Grandma Evelyn, wept and tried to comfort me. My heart shattered. Kneeling by Lily’s ashes, I bowed my head three times.
“Grandma,” I choked out, “Lily doesn’t belong here. Please, let me take her away from this family.”
…
I’d just heard about Lily’s death. The drive here was a blur; I’d crashed my car, my body bruised and bleeding. My clothes were ripped, blood staining the fabric.
Grandma Evelyn looked at me with such pity.
“Life’s cruel, ain’t it? Who could have ever imagined this? Honey, please, get up.”
I was numb, empty. The tears had long since dried.
Grandma Evelyn sighed, her eyes red-rimmed. “What happened? Lily was such a sweet child. Why was she sent to that awful place?”
My hands trembled as I pulled out Lily’s drawing. It was abstract, childlike, but clear enough: Lily and me holding hands, Charles looming over Chloe.
My face went white. Chloe had flipped out, a full-blown panic attack, threatening suicide. Charles had rushed to the roof, comforting her.
“Chloe, don’t! I’ll punish her!” he’d shouted.
Back inside, Lily was sobbing. Charles didn’t let her off. He made her stand in the sun, called her vicious, spiteful. She didn’t understand, begging for forgiveness.
“Daddy, I’m sorry! Please don’t hit me!”
Within hours, he’d enrolled her in “The Bad Girls’ Academy.” I begged him, knelt at his feet. “Lily didn’t do anything wrong!”
He was furious, his face twisted with anger. “Consequences! That horrible drawing caused Chloe’s attack! You’ve spoiled her rotten!”
“If it weren’t for that dirty picture, Chloe wouldn’t have even fallen! She deserved it!”
“She’s shameless! What’s she gonna be like when she grows up? Running off with some loser, disgracing the family name?!”
I shook my head. It wasn’t like that. Lily hadn’t lied. She’d just seen…everything.
Chloe’s birthday party. Charles had brought her home. We were in the living room, and they… disappeared into the bedroom.
Lily had been going to deliver Chloe’s birthday cake. The door wasn’t quite closed. She saw it all.
I found her later, confused. “Mommy, what were Daddy and Aunt Chloe doing? Were they playing a game?”
I’d choked back my tears, hugged her. “Maybe. Let’s not bother them, sweetie. Let’s go upstairs.”
I wanted to slap myself. My words made Lily think it was a game. And Chloe saw the drawing, assumed I’d made Lily do it, a mockery of their affair. That’s why she’d tried to kill herself.
Something Chloe said afterward must have pushed Charles over the edge. He sent Lily away.
Clutching Lily’s ashes, I continued to plead with Grandma Evelyn.
“I know you never liked Chloe, wanted me to stay, to break things off with Charles. But you can’t force a relationship. They’re in love. And over a drawing, they killed Lily…”
“I can’t live with the people who murdered my daughter. Please, let us leave.”
Grandma Evelyn, knowing the truth, wept. Her cane thumped against the floor.
“It’s a damn shame! I should never have adopted Chloe. It cost me my precious granddaughter…”
She was close to fainting. “Call Charles! Tell him to drop whatever he’s doing and get here for the funeral!”
The butler called, but Charles ignored it. I’d called him countless times since Lily died—all unanswered. While I mourned, he was at an auction, buying Chloe a necklace. I showed Grandma Evelyn his social media post; she was livid.
“Mindy, when did you find out about them?” she asked, gripping my hand.
I just gave a bitter laugh. When? Maybe even before Lily was born. At first, I just thought Chloe was his adopted sister. Then came the late nights, the perfume, the lipstick on his collars…
I suspected an affair, checked his phone, his car’s dashcam. I found footage of Charles and Chloe kissing in the car.
Chloe was flirting with him. “Charles, does this dress look good?”
“Beautiful.”
“You didn’t even look! Stop the car and look properly.”
The seatbelt clicked. The sounds…
Charles, his voice husky: “Chloe, I love you.”
Nobody knew. In his study, in the second drawer, was a picture of Chloe in a bikini, taken at the beach. He never touched me after Lily was born. He just stared at that photo.
Then I understood. He’d married me to cover up their affair.
My friend had asked many times: “You haven’t had sex in five years. How have you endured it?”
I choked it down, didn’t want Lily to lose her father. But now… Lily was dead.
The butler kept calling, but Charles didn’t answer until Grandma Evelyn texted him, ordering him to come. Finally, his call came, filled with anger.
“Mindy, why are you calling while I’m with Chloe? She’s having a panic attack, she needs me! What’s wrong with you, are you trying to curse Lily?”
He sneered. “You’re using this lie to manipulate everyone! You can’t live without a man, can you?”
“Lily’s dead. Believe it or not, if you don’t come, I’ll never forgive you.”
He thought I was just trying to get attention.
“Don’t try to deceive me. Chloe needs me, I can’t come. You made this mess, clean it up.”
The call ended. My rage and despair choked me.
At the funeral, I broke down, wailing by Lily’s ashes. Grandma Evelyn, heartbroken, finally relented.
“Mindy, we failed you. We wronged you.”
She gave me keys to a house, a bank card. “Fifty million dollars, and a beachfront villa. Consider it your new home. Anything you need, just ask.”
“I want you to be happy.”
Grandma Evelyn had always been kind. My parents died when I was young, and my relatives shunned me. Only she accepted me. I’d dreamt of a happy family, of Charles coming to his senses. But he shattered those dreams.
I didn’t take the keys. I wanted nothing more to do with the family. But I needed answers. “I want to know who killed Lily at that academy.”
I didn’t believe the academy’s story – that Lily had accidentally electrocuted herself.
Grandma Evelyn nodded sadly. “Don’t worry, I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
I kept Lily’s ashes. Three days later, Grandma Evelyn sent me a video. The parents of another girl at the academy, drowned there, had been secretly gathering evidence. They’d even worked there undercover. The academy was secretive; successful graduates were perfectly behaved. But this video… Lily crying, begging for forgiveness, repeatedly punished because she didn’t confess to something she didn’t do.
My Lily, only five… She’d cried out, “Mommy, Daddy, help me! I didn’t hurt Aunt Chloe…”
Until her cries faded…
Holding Lily’s photo, I wept. Then, the nanny: “Sir, Miss Chloe, you’re back?”
My gaze locked onto Charles, holding a bouquet of roses, Chloe’s favorite.
“Charles, why did you send Lily to that place?! You killed her!”
I was beside myself. Chloe screamed.
“Ah! Uncle, a ghost!”
“Sister-in-law, why are you dressed in white? That photo, it’s terrifying! Are you trying to scare me?”
Chloe was terrified, feigning a panic attack. Charles shielded her.
“Mindy, enough!”
I threw the video at him. “She’s dead! Watch this!”
Charles’s face fell. “What’s going on?”
Chloe clung to Charles, “Uncle, this is fake! Look at the editing! Sister-in-law, why are you lying?”
“Sister-in-law, I know Lily’s at the academy. If you have a problem, just say it! We’re family!”
Charles relaxed. “It’s a pathetic video. If it were real, wouldn’t you be more frantic?”
“You claim Lily is your life. If something really happened, wouldn’t you be devastated?”
He sneered. “The academy was Chloe’s idea. She practically runs the place. The staff know she’s Chloe’s niece; they’d take extra care…”
Lightning struck.
“…What did you say?”
“Chloe started that academy?”
It clicked. Why the intense focus on Lily? Chloe had never liked Lily. When Lily was three, I came home to find Lily bruised. Chloe had abused her. The nanny stopped it just in time.
“Chloe!” I screamed. “You killed my daughter! I’ll kill you!”
I grabbed a knife, lunging for her. Chloe hid behind Charles.
“Uncle, save me! She’s crazy!”
“Enough!” Charles grabbed my wrist, took the knife. “Mindy, if you hurt Chloe, you’ll pay.”
I laughed, tears streaming down my face. “You’re in this together!”
“That place is a death trap! You two killed her… I’m calling the police!”
Charles’ face darkened. “Don’t even try. She’s my life.”
He paused. “There have been deaths at the academy, but it wasn’t Chloe’s fault. It’s the staff’s negligence.”
“Don’t threaten Chloe. And stop cursing your daughter. If you call the police, I’ll make sure you never leave this house.”
He locked me in the basement for a week. The nanny tormented me daily.
“Still want to go after Chloe?”
“No.”
A week later, I was released, gaunt and defeated. I overheard Charles and Chloe.
“Uncle, why don’t you divorce her?” Chloe purred, nestled in his lap. “We’re not related! Marry me.”
He sighed. “I dream of marrying you, but Grandma… I need to work on her.”
“You’re an adopted daughter. Grandma sees you as her granddaughter. If I’m patient, maybe she’ll agree.”
I closed my eyes, tears welling up. Then, a cold rage filled me. Let them have their moment. I would get revenge for Lily, even if it killed me.
Three days later, I faked a business trip, escaped my guards, and went to The Bad Girls’ Academy. Charles and Chloe returned to the family mansion. Charles knelt before Grandma Evelyn, proposing to Chloe. She slapped him.
“You monster! Lily is dead! How dare you propose?”
