He had gotten skinnier since I last saw him, his face worn and tired.
He looked nothing like the high–and–mighty Mr. Hoffman. He was more like an insurance agent who had not hit his targets and
got the boot.
When I did not say anything, Simon blurted out, “You’re really going to stay with your folks? They’re going to ruin you! Comé
back with me. We need to talk this out.”
He reached for me, but I stepped back, dodging his hand.
I stared at him, confused, as if he were a stranger.
“Simon, what are you even saying? You think I’d go back with you?”
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Simon’s face turned tomato red, and it took him a moment to stammer, “I’m sorry, Lily. I know I messed up. I’ve kicked Ella out.
Please come back with me, Lily. I can’t live without you. You’re the only one I want on my marriage certificate.”
I could not help but laugh, almost feeling sorry for him.
“Simon, what makes you think I’d ever go back to you? Also, who says I wanted my name anywhere near yours on a marriage
certificate?”
I laughed so hard I cried, shaking my head.
“No way, Simon. Just the thought of my name next to yours makes me sick.”
Simon stood there, stunned, as if he could not believe what he was hearing.
“Lily… What are you saying? You’re lying to me, right? I get it, you’re still mad. Go ahead, hit me, yell at me, but you’re coming
back with me!”
He reached out to grab me, but the heighbors stepped in and stopped him.
Out of options, he pulled out the bracelet, hoping it would stir something inside me.
“Lily, I need to give this back to you.”
I snatched the bracelet and hurled it to the ground, shattering it.
“Simon, everything you give me, even your love, feels so cheap.”
I sneered at his pale, defeated face. “You can be cheap, but I won’t let myself be devalued.”
He whispered in disbelief, “This can’t be… You’re not my Lily. Give her back to me.”
With a laugh, I pulled out a string of bells I had pocketed on my way out.
“Your Lily’s gone, Simon. She’s dead and gone.”
I gave the bells a shake, and they chimed sharply.
Simon crumpled to the ground, his eyes searching wildly until they landed on Nicole’s picture. He clung to it like a lifeline.
“Nicole! Our daughter-”
I cut him off sharply, “My daughter. My daughter, Nicole Scott, has nothing to do with you.”
A tear slid down Simon’s face, but it left me unmoved.
I turned back, slammed the door, and left him outside without a single step inside.
In the end, Nicole never saw Simon. He fled the place in a desperate scramble, and by the time Nicole was in her grandmother’s
arms, he was nowhere to be seen.
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“Mom, I don’t hold it against you,” Nicole said, her voice gentle, as if she understood the turmoil inside me.
Nicole offered comfort with wisdom beyond her years. “As long as I have you, Mom, I’m the luckiest girl in the whole wide
world.”
I blinked back tears and pulled her close, enveloping her in a warm embrace. “With you here, sweetheart, I’m the luckiest mom.”
Time marched on, and I found myself learning more each day, becoming a real help in my parents‘ business. Things were looking
- up.
Then, one day, Julia showed up on my doorstep, her eyes brimming with tears, asking to bring Nicole back into the Hoffman
family.
Tears streamed down her face, and every trace of her former harshness had vanished.
She spilled the tragic tale of Simon’s life since he had left.
His first move was to force Ella to get an abortion. Ella resisted, but Simon was relentless. The procedure, done so late into her
pregnancy, nearly killed her. She survived, but her love for Simon curdled into deep–seated hatred.
Their home turned into a house of horrors, with both of them losing their minds, their lives a constant turmoil. Out of options,
Julia had them committed.
However, their story ended in tragedy–they took their own lives, one after the other.
Nicole, my sweet Nicole, was the only piece of Simon left in this world.
I turned Julia away, just as I had Simon, once upon a time. The Hoffmans, with hardly a relative to speak of, were left to fill the
void with a child from an orphanage.
However, that was their path to walk, not ours.
Nicole and I had each other, and in that, we found our happiness.
