Lily's Return

Lily is in a small room at the back of the house. She’s old now—her hair is gray, her skin is wrinkled, her body is marked by decades of service. She’s completely naked, a simple collar around her neck.

She kneels when we enter, her head bowed.

“Lily,” Mr. Harrison says. “This woman has come for you. She wants to take you home.”

Lily looks up. Her eyes meet mine. And then she starts to cry.

“Ruth,” she whispers. “Little Ruth. You’ve grown so much.”

I fell to my knees before her. “Lily. I’ve found you. I’ve finally found you.”

She takes my face in her hands. “You look so much like your father. So much like Edward.”

I start to cry. “I’ve come to take you home. To bring you back to the estate. To finish what he started.”

She nods, tears streaming down her face. “Yes. Yes, I want to go home. I’ve been waiting for this my whole life.”

The paperwork is signed. The money is transferred. Lily is mine.

I take her back to the estate. She’s quiet during the journey, her eyes fixed on the passing landscape.

“It’s so different,” she whispers. “Everything has changed.”

“Some things haven’t,” I say. “The estate is still there. The library is still there. Everything is just as Father left it.”

She looks at me, tears in her eyes. “He left it for me?”

“He left everything for you. He never stopped loving you. He died of a broken heart.”