842 Days in the Asylum: My Family’s Gift Chapter 07
Lyra’s POV
“This year, Lily became old enough to know the truth,” Papa continued. “So your mother and I finally told her. She accepted it well. We thought it was time to bring you home and tell you the truth too.”
He let out a long sigh and fell silent.
Mama immediately picked up where he left off.
“See, Lyra?” Tears shimmered in her eyes. “We are your real family. Baby, come here. I’m so happy I can finally tell you the truth.”
Her lips kept moving. But I couldn’t hear another word.
“We are your real family.”
Then why? Why? Why!!!!?
Just because they wanted Aunt Alice’s daughter to grow up happy, they had decided it was acceptable to
sacrifice me?
“Lyra, you’re blaming me, aren’t you?” Mama’s eyes reddened. “You have to understand. Alice was more than my sister. She was like a mother to me. Her dying wish was for her daughter to have a happy life.
We had to…”
She opened her arms toward me, smiling. It was a relieved, almost self-congratulatory smile, as if she believed everything had turned out exactly as planned.
“But it’s okay now,” she said softly. “I don’t have to keep this secret anymore. I can finally focus on you too. Lily grew up happy, and I didn’t fail Alice. Everything worked out perfectly.”
Perfectly…
Papa moved to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Lily leaned against her other side.
Matteo stood beside them, watching me with an unreadable expression.
The four of them looked like a family portrait. And somehow, they expected me to be grateful.
How dare they say everything worked out perfectly? How dare they look at me with those proud
expressions, as if they had done something noble?
A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “Worked out perfectly?”
My whole body felt cold.
For years, I had survived on one tiny piece of hope.
I told myself that if I just endured a little longer, I would find my real family someday. They would love
- They would choose me.
Just like Papa and Mama chose Lily.
But it had all been a lie.
My real family had been right in front of me the entire time.
I had spent years watching my own parents shower another girl with love while leaving their biological daughter in the dark.
They let me believe I was unwanted. They let me starve, freeze, be beaten. And when it became convenient, they threw me into an asylum where I was tied to beds, drugged, and treated like an animal.
A laugh broke from my throat. At the same time, tears spilled down my face.
Mama saw the tears and misunderstood immediately. She thought I was happy.
Before anyone could stop her, she rushed toward me and threw her arms around me.
“You’re happy too, aren’t you, Lyra?” she cried. “You have no idea how-”
Before she could finish, I shoved her away hard. She stumbled backward several steps, her arms flailing slightly as shock spread across her face.
Papa immediately rushed to catch her. “What the hell are you doing?” he barked. “Is that any way to treat
your own mother?”
“It’s okay,” Mama said softly before I could answer. She steadied herself and walked back toward me.
She took my hands rather gently. I no longer had the strength to push her away again, so I simply stood
there and let her.
“Come,” she said. “You must be hungry. We can talk after dinner, okay? Eat first.”
She guided me toward the dining room and pulled out a chair.
I stared silently at the table. Not a single dish on the table was something I liked. Yet somehow, they all
called this a dinner to welcome me home.
“You are our real daughter.” Papa’s words echoed in my head.
“Everything worked out perfectly.” Mama’s voice followed, soft and satisfied.
“We are your family.” Matteo’s was the last voice to join them.
The words circled inside my head like a cruel joke.
I stared at the table, wondering if I was still trapped in that asylum.
Maybe none of this was real. Maybe this was just another nightmare.
My head throbbed, too many emotions crashed into me at once.
Grief. Anger. Humiliation. Confusion.
If I had always been their daughter, then what had I been to them all these years?
A sacrifice? A tool to help Mama fulfill Aunt Alice’s dying wish? A prop that allowed Papa to play the role
of a noble man?
“Come on.” Mama gently pushed me into the chair. “Let’s celebrate properly. Today is the day our family is finally whole again.”
The scars on my arms and back suddenly began to itch, as if the memories themselves were crawling
beneath my skin.
Mama raised her glass with a bright smile. “To Lyra finally coming home. May we have nothing but happiness from now on.”
Papa raised his glass. Matteo and Lily did too.
I didn’t move.
Lily glanced at me, standing up. “Lyra probably wants something lighter,” she said sweetly.
She poured a glass of juice and held it out to me.
“She just got out of the asylum. I heard they mostly eat vegetables and chicken there. They probably don’t even let patients drink much.”
The moment she mentioned the asylum, the way she smiled, the way she casually brought it up, my
stomach twisted.
“That’s very considerate of you, Lily,” Papa said proudly.
Then he noticed that I hadn’t taken the glass. His expression darkened immediately.
“Aren’t you going to take it?” Papa asked sharply. “Lily poured that herself.”
Lily smiled and gently placed the glass beside my hand before sitting back down. “She’s probably still adjusting to being home,” she said softly.
“Alright.” Papa immediately picked up where she left off. “Lyra, listen, now that you’re back, you, Lily, and Matteo need to look after each other. Lily is the oldest, so she’s your big sister. If you want to return to the casino someday, you can learn from her while you get used to-”
The ringing in my ears returned. Papa’s voice slowly faded into meaningless noise.
I picked up the glass and drank the juice in one swallow. The sour taste lingered on my tongue.
I laughed. A cold, bitter sound.
“Learn from her?” I sneered. “You mean learn from the shameless parasite who took my place in this family and shot someone, yet somehow walked away without consequences?”
Lily immediately went pale. “Lyra, I-”
“Don’t bring it up again!” Papa snapped. “Lily didn’t mean for that to happen. It was an accident.”
I slowly looked up at him. “So it was my fault?”
The room went silent.
“Was I the right person to throw into that asylum?” I asked quietly. “Was I the right person to lose three years of my life?”
