Beyond Her Cruelest Lie

pajamas, his softest blanket, the worn teddy bear he couldn' t sleep without. My movements were mechanical, a desp

ow, back in the house that suddenly felt cavernous and cold, the reality crashed down on me. Every corner held a memory

her name, a fresh wave of rage washing ove

hia is dead is a new low, even for you. I' m

verse revolved so completely around her that even her child' s death must be a ploy for attent

ief and exhaustion. The reflection seemed to waver and distort, the edges of my own face blurring with the face of the man I used

d out to me. On his palm was a small, smooth stone, one that Sophia had painted like a ladybug last week. He looked fro

sed her. He was trying to share

stone pressed into my palm. We stayed like that, two broken pieces

r opened and

st called me, screaming like a lunatic! He f

kins was right behind her, a smug, proprietary arm around her waist. They loo

my arms and her

on about this? Where' s Sophia? Hid

Hayes appeared behind them, his face like a

, Olivia," Richard said, h

isbelieving sound. "Dad, you too? What ha

left them in a storm at an amusement park that you insisted they go to. A ride malfu

at Mark, who had the decency t

s furious face to my dead-eyed stare. The reality began to s

er head. "No. It was an acciden

isgrace to this family. You are a disgrace as a mother. As of this moment, you are cut off. You get noth

hter was an abstract concept to her, but the loss of her fo

," she stammered.

"is the one who would never have left her children. You are just a sel