Chapter 1

It was 104°F outside, and my husband had left our three-year-old daughter alone in the car.

He did it just so he could meet his mistress at a café.

My daughter got heatstroke and dehydrated, and she was rushed to the hospital.

But my husband didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse. He just scrolled through videos on his phone with a look of utter indifference, like none of this was his problem.

He scoffed, "It's not like she died. A little heat, probably good for killing germs."

It wasn't until afterwards that I found out the shocking truth—my husband wasn't just cheating on me. He was actually sleeping with my own sister.

Later, for my daughter's sake and revenge, I made sure he paid for every tear my little girl shed.

I left him to bake out there under the blazing sun—watching him struggle and beg for mercy, half-dead from the heat.

With a cold laugh, I spat back his own words, "Well, you're not dead, are you? A little heat, maybe it'll kill some germs, right?"

*****

By the time I got the call, my daughter, Lily, was already being rushed into the hospital's emergency room.

When I rushed to the hospital, the cop lectured me, "Leaving a child alone in a car in this kind of heat could've killed her. Good thing a passerby noticed, or who knows what could've happened."

He was dead serious, sternly pointing out the danger.

I was so flustered that my face was burning red. I couldn't even get a full sentence out, just kept gripping the cop's hand and thanking him over and over.

I couldn't even bring myself to imagine what would've happened if things had gone any worse.

Meanwhile, my husband, Ryan, was kicking back in a waiting-room chair, messing around on his phone as if nothing were happening—totally lost in his own world.

Whenever he stumbled across something funny, he'd even let out a chuckle, not a single bit of concern showing.

It was only when my voice reached him that he finally moved, standing up slowly and acting like he couldn't care less.

He said, "Don't stress, babe. The doctor said it's nothing serious. Lily will be alright.

"It's just a bit of heat, no big deal. They always say high temperatures kill germs, right? So Lily is gonna turn out super healthy."

I stormed up to him and slapped him hard across the face.

I yelled, "Ryan, do you even have a shred of humanity left? Look at Lily—she's in the hospital because of you, and you're still talking like it's no big deal. How could you leave her trapped in that overheated car?"

Ryan rubbed his cheek, looking a bit embarrassed. He shot back, "I just stepped out for a drink, didn't think she'd have such a hard time in the car for a few minutes.

"Loads of people leave their kids in the car, nothing ever really happens.

"Lily is just spoiled, never had to deal with anything tough. A few more hardships will do her good."

I couldn't believe how he brushed it all off like it was nothing—I shot him the dirtiest look I could muster, seething with rage. I swore to myself that if Lily got hurt because of this, I'd make him regret the day he was born.

I snatched Ryan's phone and started flipping through his recent activity, not caring how pissed he'd get.

Didn't take long to find a café transaction—he'd bought not one, but two Orange Americanos.

But Lily was allergic to oranges, so no way those drinks were for her.

Meaning he was definitely sharing them with someone else.

Ryan caught me scrolling through his phone for a while and reached right over, snatching it out of my hands. He said, "There's nothing worth looking at. Lily will be out soon anyway, just go sit down and chill."

My gut was screaming at me—there was definitely more to this than Ryan was letting on.

But now wasn't the time to push for answers—right then, the doors swung open and a doctor appeared, guiding Lily's bed out into the hallway. My heart almost leapt right out of my chest.

"She's stable now, but you folks need to pay a lot more attention as parents," the doctor said sternly.

I broke into the entertainment world at twenty, and by twenty-four, I'd earned the title of Best Actress.

Then I bought into the whole love fantasy and married Ryan, who was just some nobody in showbiz back then.

I really thought we'd be happy forever, just like he always swore we would. But look at us—only five years married, and it was already all coming apart.

I sat by Lily's hospital bed, shooting glances at Ryan from the corner of my eye. The regret gnawed at me—I hated myself for not seeing his true colors from the start.

When I stayed silent for so long, Ryan just made a bored face, got up, and pushed open the door to leave the room.