Rebecca had always been an enigma to me.

Since marrying Dad, she had been nothing but kind, yet there was an air of secrecy about her, a shadow that seemed to follow her every move.

I had never questioned it, chalking it up to the complexities of blending families. But now, faced with her reaction to Lily’s presence here, my mind raced with possibilities.

“Lily,” I called gently, stepping closer to the coffin. My voice wavered slightly, caught between the need to comfort my sister and the growing unease that something was terribly wrong.

Lily turned her head towards me, her eyes wide and bright in the dim light. “He’s not gone, you know. He’s just… away. But he’s trying to come back.”