Chapter 22 - THE SISTERS
Evelyn met Lily when they were six.
Not because Julian asked.
He was still under restrictions.
Chloe and I spent years deciding.
Therapists.
Boundaries.
No family press.
No Vance event.
A children’s museum.
Lily had dark curls.
Evelyn straight brown hair.
Same eyes.
Julian’s.
That hit me harder than expected.
The girls did not care.
“Do you like dinosaurs?” Evelyn asked.
“Yes.”
Done.
They became occasional friends.
Not inseparable.
Different schools.
Different mothers.
Different homes.
At eight, they learned they shared a biological father.
Age-appropriate.
At fourteen, fuller history.
No secret waiting until adulthood.
No trauma dump at six.
Chloe and I never became best friends.
We became cooperative.
That was enough.
She once said:
“I used to think you hated me because I took Julian.”
I answered:
“He was not stolen property.”
She laughed.
May you like
Then cried.
Growth is weird.
