Chapter 149

DAHLIA

A diary.

My mother had a diary.

I stared at the soft brown cover for a long moment, my fingers tracing the worn edges like they were the edges of her voice. Mom never mentioned having one. Not once. She’d told me so many stories about her life… always with humour, always light… but never this. Never something she kept tucked away like a secret.

I sat cross-legged on the dusty floor, the box still open beside me, and opened the diary.

Her handwriting was exactly how I remembered it… neat cursive, soft and elegant, like she wrote with patience. The first page was dated decades ago.

Hillcrest Orphanage — Age 14

Today, Caroline braided my hair so tight I think my scalp is filing for divorce…

I snorted.

Of course Mom would start a diary entry with nonsense.

I turned the page.

Caroline Brown, Kendrick McCoy, and I survived Mrs. Henley’s math test today. Ken says he’s sure he got all the answers right because “genius