Brother, This April Fools’ Day Is the Last One Chapter 08

Brother, This April Fools’ Day Is the Last One Chapter 08

“Lily!” Emma Thompson came storming out of the back room before my mom or Lily could

process what was happening.

Emma knew everything, every detail of what I’d been through. She’d heard every word my mom and Lily had screamed, and she was furious.

She slapped Lily across the face. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Didn’t you tell Chloe to come home today? She never even showed up.”

“Every painting on these walls came out of Chloe’s life. Were you assaulted by that animal too?”

“Were you the one they called a freak because you couldn’t take a joke?” Every word landed on the

Vance family like a physical blow. “Were you the one they called a freak because you couldn’t take a joke?” Every word landed on the Vance family like a punch.

Reputation was the only thing the Vance family had ever truly protected. And right now, in this

room, it was falling apart.

Whenever I asked those questions, my parents called me ungrateful. They said building a business

from nothing was hard enough without me making everything worse.

They said keeping me with them would only have made me suffer. That leaving me behind was proof of their love.

I’d heard those excuses my entire life. As for Arthur, the only thing they ever admitted was that they hadn’t watched me closely enough.

They said the neglect had made me desperate for attention, made me unstable. It never occurred to them to actually love me. Or believe me. Not once. Hearing all of it from a stranger, in public, was a massive blow to their egos. Arthur, though, didn’t look shaken.

He pointed straight at Emma. “I’ll chalk that outburst up to your youth.”

“Take back what you just said. Tell everyone it was a lie. Do that, and I won’t sue you for

defamation.”

Emma walked right up to him and spat in his face.

“Not a chance. Go ahead, sue me. I dare you.”

“This show exists because of what was done to Chloe when she was eighteen. It’s here to tell every

person who walks through that door not to stop fighting for themselves.”

“Even if nobody believes you, fight. Your truth doesn’t need their permission.”

Emma turned to the crowd and started walking them through my paintings. More people kept coming in.

My parents were already edging toward the door when the police walked in.

Every head turned. Oliver and Lily were the only ones who flinched.

Lily wiped her palms on her skirt. She glanced up and caught my parents staring at her.

My dad’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do this time?”

So they weren’t completely blind after all. I’d always thought they genuinely believed Lily was innocent, but it wasn’t that. It was favoritism, plain and simple. They knew what she was, and they chose her anyway.

Every mistake she made was pinned on me. Even as a ghost, the weight of that knowledge crushed

Nothing in the world hurts more than knowing your parents don’t love you, and not being able to hate them for it. You keep waiting, keep hoping, even though you know it will never come.

The officers walked straight to Arthur. “Are you Arthur?”

“Let me guess, Chloe made another baseless accusation?”

“Is she ever going to stop?”