My Business Trip Ended, Time To Ditch Her Deadbeat Dad

Synopsis

After picking up an odd tone in my daughter's voice over the phone, I cut my business trip short and rushed home, only to find my key wouldn't turn in the lock. I immediately called a locksmith to come over. Once the locksmith forced the door open, I found my five-year-old daughter in the bathroom. I scooped her up in a panic. Her whole body was burning with fever, her forehead split open, and her arms wrapped tight in plastic wrap. Beneath the plastic wrap were blisters from scalding hot water. She heard my voice and struggled to open her eyes. "Mommy, I've been such a good girl. I didn't bother Daddy even once these past few days," she said. "Daddy said people hate kids who cry. So I didn't cry at all." I sprinted to the hospital holding her tight. Meanwhile, my husband's social media post popped up on my phone. The photo showed him holding hands with a little girl in a red dress by the sea. His first love Emily left a caption: "Thank you, Mr. Carter, for taking Sophie to see the ocean." But my own Sophie had just woken up from a coma. My husband finally answered my call, sounding irritable. "The kid's just a little hurt. Do you really have to blow this out of proportion?" "Don't forget, Claire. She's a Carter." I stared at my daughter shaking all over in the hospital bed and quietly hung up the phone. Starting this very moment, she could get a new dad.