FLASHBACK 1

Among the memories flooding Emma’s mind, one stood out more painfully than all the others. the moment Olivia Smith lost all faith in the idea of familial love. --- [Flashback] “Bye, Olivia.” A woman in her late twenties spoke weakly. She lay on a hospital bed in a blue-and-white patient gown, her short cropped hair framing a face so pale she resembled a ghost from a horror film. Her lips were drained of color, her eyes barely able to open. Her breathing was shallow. She looked heartbreakingly fragile. This woman was Harry’s wife, Alicia’s mother who had been battling lung cancer since three years after giving birth. Her condition worsened daily, declining so rapidly that the doctors had told the family to prepare for the worst. Harry sat loyally at her bedside while Alicia had been taken out by Olivia’s parents earlier. Laura and Smith had scolded the couple that morning for making Alicia stay so long in the hospital. Harry refused to leave his wife’s side, and Alicia followed her fath