CHAPTER 1: The Bedtime Story That Was Never Meant to Be Read
Every night at exactly 8:00 p.m., seven-year-old Lily curled up in the oversized leather chair by the living room window with the same picture book her mother had given her on her birthday.
It wasn't an expensive gift.
It wasn't magical.
It was simply called "The Rainbow House."
Her parents smiled every time she asked them to read it.
"This was your favorite," her mother would whisper.
But there was one strange rule.
Lily was never allowed to turn the last page.
Whenever she got close, her father would gently close the book.
"That's enough for tonight."
At first, she thought nothing of it.
Parents had strange rules.
But as the years passed, the mystery grew.
One rainy afternoon, while her parents were arguing upstairs, Lily quietly opened the book by herself.
She flipped through colorful drawings of smiling families, rainbows, tiny horses, and children laughing in sunny gardens.
Everything looked perfectly normal...
...until she reached the page her parents always hid.
Only...
The page wasn't there anymore.
Someone had carefully torn it out.
Her tiny fingers traced the rough paper edge.
"Why would someone remove just one page?"
Curious, Lily held the book toward the sunlight pouring through the window.
That's when she noticed something hidden inside the book's spine.
A folded envelope.
Yellow with age.
Her name was written across it.
"To Lily—Only Open If You Ever Wonder Who You Really Are."
Her heartbeat froze.
The handwriting wasn't her mother's.
It wasn't her father's either.
She slowly unfolded the letter.
Inside was a photograph.
A younger woman...
Holding a newborn baby.
On the back were only seven handwritten words.
"They promised they'd protect you... but they lied."
Just then...
Footsteps thundered down the stairs.
"LILY!"
Her father snatched the photo from her hands.
His face turned completely white.
For the first time in her life...
She saw fear in his eyes.
May you like
Not anger.
Fear.
