Gemotions

The scent of lavender wafted from the old photo album, a familiar perfume that usually comforted Eliza. Now, it made her stomach churn. Her mother, recently diagnosed with a serious illness, had asked her to go through the family archives.

She flipped through the pages, each picture a knife twist to the heart. Her mother, the paragon of strength, of unwavering devotion to the family, was revealed in the photos.

A photo of her mother, arms linked with a man who was not her father. They were laughing, eyes shining with a joy that had been missing from Eliza's childhood. A sudden chill swept through her. The comfortable world she lived in was suddenly a thin veneer.