Lily was sitting at the dinner table, but her body was not fully present in that moment.
Her fingers were moving anxiously around the spoon, taking a little rice and then returning it, eating at an irregular speed as if she were trying to hide her confusion within small movements that no one would notice.
Sweat was gathering on her forehead despite the calmness of the room, and her breath came intermittently.
Her eyes were moving between her plate and the silent faces around the table.
“Adam…
Adam…” Lily continued repeating Adam’s name, as if it were an idea stuck in her mind more than a word she said out loud.
There was no conversation.
Mr.
Antoine sits at the head of the table, with his rigid features and sharp gaze whose weight Lily was accustomed to feeling.
A successful man and a well-known architect in France, but inside the house he carried a coldness that made every individual think before speaking.
Beside him sat Madame Margaret, quiet and silent, observing more than speaking.
As for Nicholas, he was sitting without making a sound, occupied with his food, as if silence had become an unwritten law among them.
And suddenly…
“Lily.” Her father’s voice came.
It was not loud, but it was enough to stop everything inside her.
Her hand froze for a moment above the plate.
Confusion vanished from her face gradually, as if another person had awakened behind her eyes.
She raised her head slowly.
In just one second she changed.
The tense girl who was eating heedlessly disappeared, and in her place came a completely different presence; calculated calm, a faint smile at the right time, and a stable look that revealed no fear.
She set the spoon aside with a calm and deliberate movement, sat up straight, and adjusted the position of her shoulders as if she suddenly remembered the rules she had to abide by.
“Yes, Father?” Her voice came out soft and confident.
Her movements were no longer random; every gesture became perfect.
The way she sat, the way she looked, even the way she held the glass seemed as if she had trained on it for years.
Lily suddenly appeared as a completely different character: an elegant, balanced girl who knows how to speak and how to choose her words, showing no trace of the anxiety that was dominating her moments ago.
Mr.
Antoine looked at her in silence.
He did not know what happened inside her before he called her, but he saw only the result.
The perfect daughter he wants.
As for Lily, she maintained her calm smile, hiding behind it all the tension that had disappeared only from the outside…
and had not disappeared from the inside.
Silence prevailed over the table once again after Lily regained her complete composure.
It was difficult for anyone looking at her now to imagine that just moments ago she was tense, evading with her eyes, and trying to hide the trembling of her hands.
She had become a completely different version of herself; the version her father knows and always wants to see.
Mr.
Antoine sat in his place, watching her for moments with his sharp eyes, then said in his quiet, cold voice: “Lily…
how are your affairs going at the university?” She did not move quickly this time.
She knew that the answer required not only the right words, but the right way to say them.
She raised her gaze to him calmly, then placed her hand on the edge of the table with a soft and organized movement.
There was no extra movement; her fingers were steady, her back straight, and her facial features carried a precise blend of confidence and respect.
She smiled a small smile, neither wide nor artificial, but to the extent that suited the situation.
“My affairs are going very well, Father.” She paused for a short second, as if carefully organizing her thoughts before speaking.
“I obtained full marks in all subjects this semester.” She did not say it with excessive pride, nor did she try to appear arrogant.
She said it in a calm manner, as if excellence for her was a natural matter that needed no show.
She continued: “In advanced mathematics I got the full mark, as well as in engineering physics.
As for the programming and engineering analysis subjects, they were also stable, and I was able to finish the required projects before the specified deadlines.” Every word was coming out in its place.
No rush.
No hesitation.
No mistake.
Even her pronunciation of names and terminology was precise, as if she had reviewed the sentence in advance in her mind before pronouncing it.
Mr.
Antoine watched her in silence.
As for Lily, she continued with the same composure.
She moved her hand slightly to adjust the position of the glass in front of her, a simple yet calculated movement, then returned her hand to its place.
She was not only answering her father’s question, but presenting a complete picture of herself; a successful, organized, responsible student who does not allow any aspect of her life to show a deficiency.
“I always try to maintain my level,” she said in a balanced tone.
“Because I believe that commitment and continuity are more important than temporary success.” She chose her words very carefully.
Even the last sentence was not ordinary; it was the sentence she knew would find acceptance with her father.
She did not look at her mother to ask for support, nor did she wait for a comment from Nicholas.
Her eyes were fixed only toward Mr.
Antoine.
Everything about her was perfect.
Her posture.
The tone of her voice.
Her faint smile.
The way she moved her hands.
Even the silence between sentences was calculated.
Lily at that moment was like a perfect picture she had painted with great care; a superior, calm, elegant daughter who does not make mistakes.
But behind this apparent perfection, there was a small part of her that still remembered her confusion just minutes ago…
that part which disappeared as soon as she heard her father’s voice call her name.