It is sad and much more realistic than might be expected from 3 chapters. I also was dissing Alex hard during the first two chapters as the "adult" taking advantage of his grief to project his wife onto his "daughter". Ugh. I am way over the 'treating someone as a substitute for the true love' hypocrisy. But that is not what was actually happening!!

The truth is that Lily, the real Lily, is the couple's recently stillborn infant. "Lily", the protagonist, is the split personality of Lydia, the grieving mother and actual wife of Alex. The "father" knows that Lily is Lydia. He is so haggard because in many ways he lost both his wife and daughter at the same time. Engaging in husband-wife activities was recommended by the doctor, though it is still a bit kinky and taboo. Alex truly believes his wife is herself again in those moments. I think he has to? She does seem to be truly herself for a moment when she calls him darling (right before the sunlight illuminates Lily's gravestone and she reverts to Lily), showing that this method may actually be working (although who knows if Alex's POV is completely reliable? He is going through the same thing if not worse than his wife.) As for realism, such a wild treatment is not that off-base for certain time periods considering the recognized treatment for another mental condition, Hysteria, was physical stimulation of the... :)

I admit I almost threw my phone or skipped to the end when "Lily" produced breast milk. I hate hate hate how many smuts do not recognize that producing breast milk without having a child is generally a sign of a significant health issue or a hormonal imbalance. This truth reveal shows that this way too common smut "trope" was actually used to its fullest as proper foreshadowing. "Lily" was producing breast milk because Lydia had given birth earlier that year. It is unusual she did not dry up naturally after half a year, but that likely has to do with her psychological state. She so strongly believes her daughter should be alive. If her daughter were, she would be nursing at Lily's real age. Other factors could have caused this too. The point is that it is at least in the realm of possibility for Lydia to produce breast milk compared to Lily. Every strange element that did not seem to fit Lily was actually a hint that something was off about the protagonist's self-perception. I had brushed it off as bad writing and skimmed past sections because of it if I am being honest. Somehow brushing it over for being smut nonsense made the reveal that much better?!

Hope you didn't read this to get the full experience yourself Nuffians. ;)