The following morning, I learned how wrong I had been.
The Visitor at Six in the Morning
The doorbell rang shortly after sunrise.
When I opened the door, I found Annie standing beside her mother, Marissa. Annie was wearing Lily’s blue cardigan.
Marissa looked exhausted and distressed.
“Is Lily home?” she asked.
“She’s upstairs. What’s happened?”
Marissa hesitated before answering.
“You think you know your daughter,” she said quietly. “But there is something you need to understand.”
She handed me a small box containing a flash drive.
My stomach tightened.
Marissa explained that the recording showed something Lily had done at school. She urged me to watch it before speaking to my daughter.
I invited them inside, opened my laptop, and played the video.
Within moments, the pride I had felt while watching Lily sew the dress was replaced by disbelief.
The recording showed Lily with several other students, mocking Annie. The girls laughed at her clothes, humiliated her in front of others, and made cruel remarks about her mother’s job.
