Husband With Benefits

"Mom? What are you doing here?"

Her mother’s eyes blazed with fury as she stepped closer. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here, Lily?" she spat, her voice rising, filled with accusation.

Lily flinched, her mind scrambling to find an explanation, but the words felt trapped in her throat. She opened her mouth, trying to make sense of the situation, but all she managed was a stammered, "I... I wasn’t doing anything wrong..."

Her mother scoffed, her expression filled with disbelief. "Not doing anything wrong? Is that what you’re telling me right now?" She stepped closer, her voice dropping dangerously low. "What did you say when you left us, Lily? That you were tired of living in Jasmine’s shadow? That even though Jasmine was gone, we wished it had been you? That you were sick of being her replacement?"

Lily’s heart clenched painfully at the mention of her older sister, Jasmine. The wounds of the past were ripped open in an instant. She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to hold herself together.

Her mother wasn’t done. She jabbed a finger toward her, her voice sharp and venomous. "And now look at you. Look at what you’re doing just now! That was Caius Frost, wasn’t it? Jasmine’s boyfriend!" Her mother’s voice dripped with disgust. "How could you—your own sister’s boyfriend—go out with him and then make out like some shameless girl in the streets? Is this how you honor your sister’s memory?"

Lily’s heart pounded in her chest. The guilt, the anger, the pain—it all surged up at once. She could feel her pulse in her throat, her mind whirling with everything her mother had thrown at her.

Her voice wavered as she finally found the strength to snap back. "Jasmine’s gone, Mom! She’s been dead for years!" She glared at her mother, the weight of those words choking her. "I didn’t go out with Cai when Jasmine was alive. She is dead! He’s moved on—and so have I!"

For a brief moment, silence hung in the air, thick and tense. But her mother just laughed—a cold, hollow sound that cut through the night air like ice. She turned to Lily’s father, her lips curling in a cruel smile. "Do you hear this, Richard? Do you hear how she’s talking about her sister now?"

Her father simply continued to stare at her, silently agreeing with her mother. She felt broken then. He had always been like this! Never standing up against her mother, even if he thought she was wrong. But she had never blamed him. However, today, when even now, he refused to stand up for her, she could only stand there and defend herself.