The Girl Who Came Back to Save Me

Six months ago, I found a little girl who blinked up at me and said,

So this was what you were like back when you were full of life.

Before I could understand what she meant, she dropped to her knees in front of me.

Please take me in. I don't have parents. I'm starving to death...

Looking at her face that resembled mine in some ways, my heart softened and I brought her home.

Strangely enough, she seemed to know all my habits, like she was my shadow.

"Serena, I love you more than anyone in this world... No, I only love you."

She always looked at me with bright eyes, but looked at my husband with eyes full of poison.

Until the day I got pregnant, she suddenly became a different person...

During the time my husband and I were trying to conceive, I found a girl downstairs.

She blinked at me cutely.

I was still hesitating about whether to take her to the police station when she suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me.

"Please take me in. I don't have parents. I'm starving to death..."

Looking at her face that resembled mine in some ways, my heart softened and I brought her home.

My husband Marcus woke up and came out of the bedroom rubbing his eyes.

When he saw the girl I was supporting, he froze for a moment, then showed a gentle smile.

"Is this your sister? You two look so alike."

I laughed. Taking a closer look at the girl, we really did look similar.

"Found her downstairs. She has a high fever," I said.

Marcus immediately came over to help. The moment his hand touched the girl's shoulder, she jerked away like she'd been shocked, staring at Marcus with eyes that made my back go cold.

"She's probably scared," Marcus said, withdrawing his hand. His smile looked a bit stiff. "I'll go get fever medicine."

I changed the girl into dry clothes.

She was very thin, with protruding collarbones and wrists so slender they looked like they might snap.

While drying her hair, I noticed a scar behind her ear that looked like an old wound.

For some reason, this made my heart clench, and I unconsciously softened my movements.

Marcus brought warm water and medicine, but the girl refused to drink.

I took the cup, and only then did she open her mouth, her eyes never leaving me.

"What's your name?" I asked gently.

"...Lily."

"And your last name?"

She was silent for a long time, then glanced up at me before quickly lowering her eyes again. Her voice was so soft I could barely hear it. "Whitmore."

Same as mine.

What a coincidence.

That night I slept in the guest room with her.

I don't know why, but facing this child of unknown origin, I couldn't muster much wariness. Instead, I felt a strange sense of closeness.

I woke up in the middle of the night to find her staring at me with eyes too complex for a child.

"Go to sleep." I tucked the blanket around her.

"You shouldn't have brought me back," she suddenly said.

"Why?"

"You'll regret it."

I didn't take it seriously, thinking she was delirious.

By morning, her fever had broken, but she insisted on not contacting family or going to the police station.

"I don't have any family," she said.

Marcus suggested at breakfast, "We should still contact the police. What if she ran away from home..."

"I'm not leaving." Lily cut him off, her voice cold.

The atmosphere became awkwardly tense. I tried to smooth things over. "Let her stay a few days. We can talk about it when she's better."

Marcus glanced at me with a look that made me uncomfortable.

But he quickly smiled. "Whatever you say."

He was always like this---gentle, considerate, always putting me first.

My colleagues all said I was lucky to marry such a perfect husband.

I thought so too, but Lily didn't seem to agree.

Lily settled into my home.

She was very quiet, so quiet she was almost like a shadow.

But I could feel her gaze always following me, watching me make coffee, watching me answer the phone, watching me stand on the balcony lost in thought.

On the third day, she did something that surprised me.

My migraine flared up and I was searching everywhere for medicine.

Lily silently walked over and handed me a box of ibuprofen and a glass of warm water.

"You usually keep it in the left second drawer," she said. "But you ran out last time. This is newly bought."

I froze.

The medicine was indeed in the left drawer, and I had indeed run out.

I hadn't had time to buy more yet.

"How did you know..."

"I guessed." She looked away.

Later I discovered she knew too many things.

She knew I only drank water at 131 degrees Fahrenheit, knew I had a back injury and couldn't sit for long, knew I bit my nails when stressed.

Once when I was cutting fruit and cut my hand, she rushed over with abnormal speed, grabbed my wrist to check the wound, her face frighteningly pale.

"It's fine, just a small cut." I tried to comfort her.

Her expression looked so fragile.

But Lily stared at the blood mark, her eyes vacant for a moment.

"...It was like this before too."

"What?"

"Nothing." She let go and walked away.

She was very good to me. Too good, even.

I had just moved my laptop to the dining table, preparing to handle a difficult work report.

Sunlight streamed through the window, making my eyes water. I instinctively squinted and raised my hand to shield them.

As I focused intently on the data on the screen, a figure approached silently.

Lily brought over a cup of freshly brewed green tea and gently set it by my hand---exactly the strength I preferred.

What made me freeze was that she reached out and smoothly adjusted the angle of the blinds behind me.

"This way, it won't be so bright."

She said softly, then retreated to the kitchen counter, picking up a book she was reading, as if she'd just done the most ordinary thing.

Looking at her, my heart suddenly felt so soft.

I didn't know why she was homeless, but at that moment, I really considered adopting her.

But toward Marcus, she was completely different.

When Marcus served her food, she wouldn't eat it.

When Marcus spoke, she kept her head down and stayed silent.

When Marcus tried to chat with her, she went straight to her room.

"Does that child hate me?" Marcus asked me one night, his tone aggrieved.

"She's just shy around strangers."

"It's not just that." Marcus hugged me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder. "Serena, I know you're kindhearted, but letting a child of unknown origin live in our house really isn't safe, and..."

He paused.

"And what?"

"The way she looks at me is wrong." Marcus's voice lowered. "I can't explain it, but... it's creepy."

I turned to look at him.

Under the lights, his face remained gentle, his brow slightly furrowed. He was genuinely worried.

At that moment I wavered.

Maybe Lily really did have problems? Maybe I should listen to Marcus?

But this thought was quickly dismissed.

Because the next day, I found Lily going through the trash.

She was squatting by the kitchen trash can, holding Marcus's vitamin bottle, examining it carefully against the light.

Hearing my footsteps, she whipped around, a flash of panic in her eyes.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't answer, hiding the bottle behind her back.

I walked over and held out my hand. "Give it to me."

After a few seconds of standoff, she handed over the bottle.

It was ordinary multivitamins. I watched Marcus take them every day.

"What's wrong with this?" I asked.

Lily bit her lip and only spoke after a long while. "Don't let him take these."

"Why?"

"There's... more than just vitamins inside."

I thought it was absurd. "Lily, these are from the hospital---"

"Then get them tested."

She looked up at me, her eyes stubbornly intense. "Find a trustworthy lab. Don't tell him. Test them secretly. If there's nothing wrong, I'll leave immediately and never bother you again."

Her tone was so serious, so serious that my heart trembled.

I didn't get them tested.

But I put the bottle away and didn't let Marcus continue taking them.

When Marcus asked about it, I said I accidentally knocked it over.

He smiled and said it was fine, then opened a new bottle.

That night, I couldn't sleep.

In the darkness, I kept replaying Lily's expression.

I turned to look at Marcus sleeping beside me. His breathing was steady, his lashes casting faint shadows beneath his eyes.

I'd looked at this face for seven years, kissed it countless times, once thought it was the most reassuring place in the world.

Now, I felt an inexplicable chill.

Two more weeks passed, and life seemingly returned to calm.

Lily remained silent but started helping with housework, even learning to cook dishes I liked.

Marcus kept his distance from her, but remained polite on the surface.

I thought things would continue peacefully like this.

Until I discovered I was pregnant.

Two clear lines on the pregnancy test.

I stared at it for a full minute, then rushed out to hug Marcus, crying and laughing.

"Really?!" Marcus's eyes lit up as he picked me up and spun me around. "I'm going to be a dad? Serena, we're having a baby!"

He immediately called his parents, then booked the best restaurant to celebrate.

All evening, he held my hand without letting go, his eyes full of light.

I was glowing too.

I felt like I had the whole world---a husband who loved me, a baby we'd been hoping for, a perfect life.

In the car on the way home, I touched my still-flat belly and suddenly thought of Lily.

"We should tell her," I said to Marcus. "She'll definitely be happy."

Marcus's smile faded slightly, but he quickly nodded. "Right, we should tell her."

I imagined Lily's surprised expression.

She was so good to me. She'd definitely be happy for me.

I was wrong.

When I handed Lily the ultrasound photo, she didn't take it.

The photo fluttered to the floor.

She stared at the black and white image, her face visibly paling, her lips beginning to tremble.

"You..." Her voice sounded forced. "You're pregnant with his child?"

"Yes," I picked up the photo, still immersed in joy. "Look, even though it's still small, the doctor said it's very healthy---"

"Get rid of it. Get rid of this baby right now!"

I froze. "What?"

"Get rid of this baby." Lily raised her head, her eyes frighteningly red. "Then leave him. Now. Immediately!"

I thought I'd heard wrong.

"Lily, do you know what you're saying---"

"I know!" She suddenly raised her voice, grabbing my wrist with painful force. "Serena, listen to me. You can't have this baby. He'll destroy you. He'll---"

"Enough!"

I shook off her hand, angry at her for the first time.

"I don't know what you've been through or why you hate Marcus so much, but we're complete strangers. He's my husband. I love him. This is our child. How can you say such things?!"

Lily took a step back, looking at me. Something shattered in her eyes.

"...You love him." She repeated, her voice as soft as a sigh. "Right, of course you love him. You always have..."

"Lily, I understand you might have issues with marriage because of family problems, but Marcus isn't like that. He's good to me. We---"

"It's all fake!"

She cut me off, tears falling, but her expression was cold. "He's good to you now because you're still useful. Once you have the baby, once you can't run away, he'll change. He'll control you, monitor you, hit you, and finally---"

"Shut up!"

I was shaking with anger.

Marcus heard the noise and rushed in. Seeing me crying, he immediately pulled me behind him.

"Lily, I understand you're upset, but you can't talk to Serena like this. She's pregnant and needs to stay emotionally stable."

He held me tightly, warmth spreading through my whole body.

Looking at Lily's face, I doubted for the first time whether I'd made a mistake.

I should have taken her to the police station from the start.

"Emotionally stable?" Lily laughed, the sound uglier than crying. "When he torments her to death, she'll be stable forever."

Marcus's face darkened. "You're still living here because Serena is kindhearted, but you keep cursing her!"

"You're no longer welcome here. Leave this house immediately!"

"You're the one who should leave," Lily stared at him, enunciating each word. "You don't deserve her. You'll only get her killed!"

"Enough!"

My voice came out shrill, startling even myself.

I pulled away from Marcus's embrace and stepped forward, my fingertip almost touching her nose.

"What exactly do you want? Since you appeared, you've done nothing but slander my husband, curse my marriage, and now you won't even spare my unborn child!"

"This is my home, this is my husband, this is my child!"

"Get out of my house right now!"