#Chapter 70: A Free Drink

Ella The restaurant was cozy and warm, with soft lighting that made everything feel intimate and comfortable. We got a table by the window, and I could see people walking by on the street outside, laughing and holding hands and swinging their shopping bags. Real families. Real couples. “I’m sorry,” I said to Lilith as soon as we’d ordered our food. “I didn’t mean to pry about your past. That was rude of me.” Lilith shook her head. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it. It’s just… complicated.” I waited, not wanting to push again but hoping she’d continue. “The truth is,” she said, looking down at her hands, “I do view you as a daughter. More than that, actually. You are a daughter to me, Ella. The daughter I never got to raise.” She sniffled and hesitated for a long moment, then whispered, “I did have a child. A little girl.” My eyebrows shot up. This was the first time I had ever heard of Lilith having a child. I’d always wondered, but