Chapter 2

The nurse looked at me with sympathy, then removed all the equipment and left, giving the space to a mother who had just lost her child.

The moment the operating room doors closed, all strength left my body. I collapsed to the floor, my eyes empty, as if all life had been drained from me.

Images of Mia kept flashing through my mind: the tiny newborn I once held, her first time calling me "Mommy," her first steps.

One memory after another surfaced, until they all froze on that final image of her pale face lying on the cold operating table.

Pain filled every corner of my body, yet not a single tear would come.

After an unknown amount of time, I slowly stood up and lifted Mia's cold body into my arms. I rocked her gently, just like I used to when she was little and needed help falling asleep.

"Mia, I'm taking you away."

My legs felt like they were made of lead. Every step was painfully heavy.

When I reached the door of the operating room, I ran straight into Gabriel, who had a faint smile on his face.

"Charlotte, Nathan made it out of surgery safely. I came to see Mia."

Safely?

I bit my lip so hard it nearly broke, my chest tightening until I could barely breathe.

His illegitimate son's safety had been paid for with Mia's life.

"Mia doesn't need a father who doesn't love her."

The smile on Gabriel's face froze, and a trace of pain appeared in his expression.

"Charlotte, how could I not love Mia? She's my most precious daughter, my little princess, I hold in the palm of my hand.

"If I could, I would take all the suffering in her place. I just want her to grow up happy and carefree."

He spoke with such sincerity that he looked every bit like a devoted father.

Then I let out a laugh, though it was filled with nothing but bitterness.

But Gabriel, the greatest pain in Mia's life was caused by you.

"Love? If you loved Mia, how could you have sent her to that operating table? You don't even know what you did."

She died still thinking she had done something wrong to be taken to the hospital. She even apologized to you.

The rest of my words caught in my throat, unable to come out.

Seeing my red eyes, Gabriel's heart tightened, and he hurriedly tried to explain.

"I promise, this is the first and last time. Nathan's condition couldn't wait for another match, and besides, they are blood siblings."

When his eyes fell on my increasingly pale face, he paused and quickly changed the subject.

"Is Mia still under anesthesia? Let me carry her. I'll take her to the ward and stay with her until she wakes up."

I tightened my hold on Mia without realizing it, grief wrapping around me like a giant web, making it hard to breathe.

Wake up?

He still did not know that Mia would never wake up again.

Just as Gabriel was about to reach out and touch Mia, a bodyguard rushed over in a hurry.

"Mr. Price, Nathan has woken up. He's crying and demanding to see you. He said he'll pull out his IV if he doesn't see you, and even Ms. Shaw can't calm him down."

"He just had surgery. How can he be acting up like this?" Gabriel scolded him, but his eyes were already filled with urgency.

He pulled his hand back from midair and looked at me with a trace of apology.

"Charlotte, can you stay with Mia for now? I'll go calm Nathan down and come right back."

"Gabriel," I said in a completely steady voice, "this is your last chance."

If he walked away now, he would never get the chance to see Mia again in his lifetime.

But Gabriel misunderstood me. He thought I had already forgiven what happened today, and instead of hesitation, he actually looked relieved.

"Once Nathan recovers and is discharged, I'll make it up to you and Mia properly. We'll spend time together like before. We'll still be our happy family of three."

Holding Mia in my arms, I stood there and watched as Gabriel strode away without looking back. A bitter, mocking smile tugged at my lips.

The "happy family of three" from the past was gone for good starting today.

*****

I took Mia's body to the funeral home.

I watched with my own eyes as my daughter, once a lively little girl, was reduced to a small urn of ashes.

Through it all, I still did not shed a single tear. I felt like a walking corpse.

I asked the funeral director to place her ashes into a small container and turn it into a necklace I could wear around my neck.

Rather than being left alone underground, my Mia would have wanted to stay with me at all times.

After leaving the funeral home, I went straight to a law firm.

"I want to sign the divorce agreement from four years ago."

The day after Gabriel slept with Sophie, he personally drafted a divorce agreement and signed his name in front of me.

He told me, "Charlotte, if I ever betray you again, sign this and divorce me. Leave me forever."

I had thought I would never see that agreement again in my life.

I never expected that just five years later, it would be placed in front of me once more.

I took the document and signed my name carefully, stroke by stroke.