Chapter 23 - THE CONFESSION
Lily froze. The rotary tool slipped from her hand, clattering against the concrete floor.
Under the harsh fluorescent light, she looked incredibly small. She didn't try to hide the brace. She didn't make an excuse. She just looked at her father, her eyes filling with a devastating, ancient sorrow that no teenager should possess.
“Lily,” David said, his voice breaking. “Why?”
Lily looked down at her bare, atrophied leg. “Dr. Evans said I was healing too fast.”
“What?” David stepped closer. “When did he say that?”
“Three years ago,” Lily whispered, a tear finally spilling over her cheek. “Right after the accident. I was listening outside the kitchen window. You and Mom were crying at the table. The shop was going bankrupt. The bank was threatening foreclosure. Mom said we were going to lose the house, and you said Grandpa was going to be moved to the state ward because we couldn't afford Cedar Mountain.”
David felt his knees go weak. He remembered that night. It was the lowest point of his life.
“Then the insurance lawyer called,” Lily continued, her voice trembling. “He told you that as long as my leg was structurally compromised, the trust would pay out six thousand dollars a month. You told Mom it was a miracle. You said my broken leg was the only thing keeping this family alive.”
David grabbed the edge of the workbench to keep from falling.
“So you made sure it stayed broken,” he breathed.
May you like
Lily nodded, wiping her eyes with the grease-stained sleeve of her hoodie. “I figured out how the hinge worked. If I shaved the pin, the joint would force my knee to hyperextend. It kept the muscle from reattaching properly. As long as I couldn't walk... we didn't lose the house. Grandpa got to stay in his nice room.”
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