Chapter 10
Imogen wanted to see Lila.
I said no.
She cried.
Still no.
“Luca, I raised her.”
That sentence enraged me.
Also true in part.
For three years, Imogen dressed her.
Read to her.
Comforted fevers.
Knew which songs helped her sleep.
Reality is cruel that way.
Someone can betray you and still have genuinely cared for the person they controlled.
“What do you want from her?”
“To say goodbye.”
No.
Adults ask children for closure too often.
Lila did not exist to relieve Imogen’s grief.
Months later, Lila asked:
“Where Aunt Imogen?”
I told her:
“She’s away because she made choices that hurt you.”
Lila frowned.
“She love me?”
Hard.
“Yes.”
I believed that.
She looked confused.
“Then why lock?”
“Because loving someone does not automatically make every choice good.”
Three-year-old philosophy.
She accepted more easily than adults.
Later she asked to see Imogen.
That changed things.
Neutral garden.
Me present.
No Colin.
Imogen stopped six feet away.
Lila stared.
Then ran forward.
I almost stopped her.
Didn’t.
Her choice.
She hugged Imogen.
Imogen sobbed.
Lila did not.
After a few seconds, Lila pulled back.
“Why no Daddy?”
Imogen broke.
“I was wrong.”
“Why?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of Daddy?”
“Partly.”
Then:
“Of losing you.”
There.
The real answer.
Lila thought.
“You lose me anyway.”
Imogen collapsed emotionally.
I looked away.
Children can be merciless without intending cruelty.
The meeting lasted ten minutes.
Lila asked to leave.
We left.
No promise of next time.
Imogen had loved her.
May you like
She also stole three years.
Both truths remained.
