“You little brat.”
He was ten. He should never have needed to defend his sister from an adult.
“Are you sure?”
He nodded.
Vanessa moved toward the living room.
“You won’t show anyone anything.”
I blocked her path.
“Noah, show us.”
“Are you sure?”
He connected my laptop to the television.
The first photo showed 11-year-old Nora standing beside Mom at a birthday party.
Vanessa’s version appeared next to it.
Nora was gone.
The next showed Nora at a holiday dinner, but Vanessa’s copy ended at Dad’s shoulder.
Nora was gone.
More followed: a picnic, a birthday, and another vacation. They showed years of Nora standing in family photos before Vanessa cut her away.
Nora stared at the screen.
Her face crumpled.
Vanessa lunged for the cable.
I stepped in front of her.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Those are my pictures.”
“Move.”
“They’re pictures of my daughter.”
“You’re enjoying this, Audrey. You’re enjoying being the victim, aren’t you?”
“You sat at my table and told my daughter she ruined our family pictures.”
I pointed at the screen.
“You’re going to look at what you did to them.”
“I was protecting our family image.”
“You’re enjoying this, Audrey.”
Don’t miss
“That isn’t true,” Lily said.
Her voice was quiet, but everyone heard it.
Vanessa turned.
“Stay out of this, Lily!”
“You made me retake my birthday picture because Nora’s sleeve moved.”
“Lily.”
Vanessa turned.
“You said people would stare at her birthmarks instead of looking at me.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“I never thought they were ugly. When I was little, I thought they looked like lily pads.”
Mom reached for Nora’s hand.
“There has never been a family picture you didn’t belong in, my darling girl.”
Dad looked at Vanessa.
“I thought they looked like lily pads.”
“Audrey gave you a chance to stop.”
I faced my sister.
“You need to leave.”
Vanessa stared at me.
“You’re throwing me out over pictures?”
“No.”
I opened the front door.
