I love you, Mom 💝"
That was Lili's most frequently used phrase—yet never spoken to the woman who raised her in peace and pain.
"My frequently used phrase to start a conversation with my mother… Docesse."
"I was meant to tell you this when I was a kid. I wish I could go back to those days and tell you this many times."
But those words remained trapped in silence.
Lili was a charismatic teenage girl with a sharp mind and an even sharper tongue. Yet beneath her charm lived a deep resentment toward her mother, Docesse. She often despised her mother's appearance and personality, believing she was unworthy of her affection as a child.
Influenced heavily by her aunt, Stephanie, Lili gradually distanced herself from her mother. She began to see Docesse not as a source of love, but as the reason for her misfortunes. In her mind, her mother had brought her "bad luck"—a belief planted and reinforced over time.
She had never met her father.
All she knew was that Mr. Steph, her father, had died in a fatal accident shortly after her birth. The story was never clear—only fragments of rumors whispered through the family and strangers alike. It was not until she turned ten that Stephanie revealed the details to her.
From that moment, something inside Lili shifted.
Docesse
Docesse was a gentle, motherly woman who had lost her husband at a very young age. After his death, she became a shadow of suspicion within her in-laws' home. Some even believed she carried misfortune—an unjust label that followed her silently like a curse.
Despite everything, she always smiled.
Her smile was not ignorance—it was endurance. A fragile attempt to hold her broken world together. But what hurt her most was not the judgment of others—it was her daughter's rejection.
Lili, her only child, had grown to despise her.
Docesse tried repeatedly to reach her daughter's heart, to correct the false narratives and heal the emotional distance. But every attempt was swallowed by resistance. Lili refused to listen.
Still, Docesse smiled.
Even when ignored. Even when broken.
Stephanie
Stephanie, Mr. Steph's elder sister, was a young woman in her early thirties—intelligent, calculating, and deeply resentful. From the beginning, she had disapproved of her brother's marriage to Docesse. When Mr. Steph was chosen to manage the family business instead of her, jealousy took root.
After her brother's sudden death, that resentment hardened into something darker.
She subtly positioned herself as a guiding force in Lili's life, carefully shaping the girl's thoughts over time. Through manipulation disguised as care, she slowly turned Lili against her mother.
Her goal was not just influence—it was control.
Behind her composed and virtuous image, which everyone admired, Stephanie was a puppeteer. Only Docesse saw through her carefully constructed mask.
But no one believed her.
Even Mr. Steph, before his death, often praised his sister's "noble character," further strengthening her public image.
The Steph Family
The Steph family was a middle-class household with a single business, once managed by Mr. Steph—the second son of the family. His death left a vacuum, not only in leadership but also in trust.
Stephanie had always desired control over the business, believing it should have been hers from the start. His death intensified her ambition and stripped away any remaining compassion.
To her, Lili was not just a niece.
She was a tool.
A tool to reclaim what she believed was rightfully hers—and to remove Docesse from the family entirely, along with the assets left behind by her brother.
Lili's Belief
"My mother is bad luck."
That was Lili's usual statement whenever Docesse's name was mentioned.
She avoided her mother, rejected her presence, and even denied her identity in front of friends. The bond between them weakened further as Lili aligned herself with her aunt's influence, unknowingly participating in her mother's emotional isolation.
Docesse endured it all.
She endured the coldness.
She endured the rumors.
She endured her daughter's hatred.
And still, she never stopped hoping.
The Silent Truth
Only Docesse understood the truth behind Stephanie's smile. Only she saw the manipulation behind her kindness. But every attempt to speak out was dismissed as jealousy or paranoia.
Stephanie remained untouchable—admired, trusted, believed.
And Docesse remained silent—misunderstood, blamed, and broken.
Yet somewhere inside her, she still held onto one fragile hope:
That one day, Lili would see through the illusion… and call her "Mom" with love, not hate.