Spoiled by Eight Uncles (Lily)

"Lilly! Lilly!" A familiar voice echoed in Lilly's ears.

Who is that? Why did they keep calling me, yet I couldn't remember it at all?

She opened her tired eyes, and the iron gate that had been keeping her imprisoned was still within her sight.

Outside the iron gate, the leaves had turned yellow and fell from the tree.

She looked down at herself, and her discovery surprised her. She was unaware that she had changed into the clothes of the children's home, and her arms were covered in scars. Somewhat confused, she took her time to recall the events that had transpired.

Her family had abandoned her, and the man in black from the police station had put her in the car that brought her to her welfare institution.

Then, a season had passed in the blink of an eye. She vaguely remembered being bullied by the other children in the institution.

The older children would steal her food and make her do their laundry. Yet, she refused to back down. Unwilling to endure the treatment, she fought back. "You're just a kid! How could you fight with others at the age of four?" The director slammed the table in anger. "Besides, you're a girl! Why can't you behave?"

She hung her head low and kept her lips sealed when the director questioned her in the director's office.

In the end, the director had no choice but to let the teacher take her away with the older children. To teach her a lesson, she was made to stand in punishment with them. Spring and summer passed uneventfully, and the autumn leaves fell abundantly. At the same time, new scars could be found on her arms, face, and the corners of her eyes.

Lilly sat on the stairs with her arms crossed as she watched the falling leaves in the distance.

She remembered the dream she had in the snow when she was on the verge of death.

In her dream, she was so powerful. Not only could she catch ghosts and fight them, but she could even chase away the beasts several times her size.

Those beasts cried out in fear at the sight of her, and in the end, she made them her food.

The aroma... Lilly took a deep breath as if she could smell the delicious food.

But with a blink of her eyes, she was thrown back to reality. All she saw were the falling leaves, and she was still alone.

Of course the imaginary me would be powerful. But sadly, I'm not powerful at all.....

Her parents, her eight uncles, her grandparents, and her master were never there.

She had never met her cousins, Polly, Bellflower, Squeaky, and Speedy.

Grace, Ivan, Fortune, and Lucky, whom she met along the way, were also her imaginary friends.

Nobody. She had nobody at all.

She felt her eyes dry, and it was stinging.

I won't cry anymore. Still, I miss Dad so much. Why did he abandon me? He was just right there! So close!

"Lilly,"

"the teacher called her.

She stood with a blank face and turned to look at the adult.

"You'll go to school with the others starting tomorrow."

The teacher mumbled to herself, "She needs to be taught, or else her future is ruined."

Lilly responded expressionlessly, "Okay."

Then, she turned to look at the iron gate again. Does it mean I can finally leave?

The next day, she ran into a familiar face on her way to school.

The pregnant woman was holding a child's hand as she gently admonished, "Josh, remember to listen to the teacher at school."

People around her praised her, "What a kind woman you are, Mrs. Crawford."

"It's not easy to be a stepmother, but Josh is even more attached to her than to his dad. The Crawford family made the right choice choosing her as their daughter-in-law!"

Lilly was shocked. Did I hear 'Josh' and 'Crawford'? The woman here is none other than my stepmother, who had framed me! How did a woman like her end up joining the Crawford family?

She directed her gaze to the roadside in shock as a car stopped. Bettany stepped out of the car. "You should also be careful, Debbie."

Bettany and Josh both turned to look at Lilly as she stepped into their path, their faces puzzled for a moment before they quickly looked away.

They don't seem to recognize me at all! Shocked, Lilly stumbled backward. Something's wrong. This isn't right. Even if I didn't exist and all of this was just a dream, there's no way she could get married into the Crawford family. The Crawfords I know are wise people. A woman like her couldn't deceive them. Let's say she married into the Crawford family; then why is my Hatcher dad still in jail? With the power of the Crawford family, they could've easily gotten him out of prison. If he had targeted the Crawford family from the get-go, he would've offered her to Uncle Anthony. If Uncle Anthony had accepted the offer, my stepmother would've at least pleaded for Stephen to buy him some time. If Uncle Anthony had fallen for her in the process, things would have turned out differently.

Suddenly, the words her dad often taught her in her dreams struck her. 'Whenever you're stuck, strive to find the illogical aspects, and there you'll find the loophole.' Loophole, he said. It's right before my eyes!

For now, I'm just a child from an orphanage. I can't possibly attend the same school as children from wealthy families like Josh. It doesn't make sense!

Besides, she remembered Polly in a flash.

Polly existed in both her dreams and reality.

Polly had always been her good friend and had been there for her when she was staying with the Hatcher family. But now, there was no sign of Polly, as if Polly was an extremely insignificant supporting character of the story from the very beginning, long forgotten by the director.

Her eyes widened in shock as it hit her. If that's the case, could it be that I'm not dreaming at all?

Someone had deliberately made this up for me. They wanted to convince me that this was real and coerce me into accepting it. So, what I think is real is a dream!

Her heartbeat suddenly quickened at the thought. She turned abruptly and sprinted recklessly in one particular direction.

Polly, who exists both in and out of my dreams, is nowhere to be found now.

I'll find the answers to everything when I find Polly.