Chapter 3

I shot Edward a cold glare and spat, "Why don't you ask your dear sister what she did to Lily? Get out of my way."

Before Edward could even react, I had already taken Lily downstairs.

Charlotte immediately burst into tears and tried to explain. "I just pushed Lily a little. I don't know why she suddenly started throwing up blood. I really didn't mean it..."

Edward couldn't bring himself to scold her. "You go home first. I'll go check on Lily at the hospital."

By the time Edward arrived, Lily had already been rushed into the emergency room. "How's Lily? She was perfectly fine—why did she suddenly start vomiting blood?"

I stared at the red light above the emergency room door, terrified that something might happen to her.

Edward frowned and snapped at me in frustration, "How did you take care of her? Yesterday her stomach hurt; today she's vomiting blood. What kind of mother is this irresponsible? I asked Charlotte. This has nothing to do with her. It's got to be you—you must've let Lily eat something nasty; that's why this happened—"

"Shut up!" I finally lost it and shouted at him. "What do you mean it has nothing to do with her? Just because she said so, it must be true? Lily's in the ER fighting for her life, and you're still defending the person who hurt her. Edward, you're not worthy of being Lily's dad."

Edward froze on the spot. Just as he was about to say something, the emergency room door opened.

I rushed over. "Doctor, how is Lily? Is she okay?"

The doctor pulled off his mask, clearly furious. "She's stable for now, but what kind of parents are you? At a time like this, you still let her suffer such serious injuries. This is outrageous."

Edward looked confused. "What time are you talking about? Can you be more clear?"

The doctor shot him a suspicious glance. "Are you her father? She has been sick for so long, and you didn't even know?"

Edward was momentarily speechless.

I ignored him and carried Lily into the hospital room.

Edward followed, reaching out to touch her head, but I slapped his hand away.

Edward got all worked up. "What's that supposed to mean? Just because I wasn't there for Lily when she got sick yesterday, now I'm not even allowed to touch my own daughter?"

I bit back the words about disinfecting his hands. "If that's how you see it, there's nothing I can do."

His face darkened instantly as he heard those familiar words. "Susan, I get that you're mad, but Lily's fine now, isn't she? Do you really have to—"

"Lily's dying." I cut him off, speaking the hard truth about our daughter's condition. "She's not 'fine.' She's so sick that even a little push could make her vomit blood."

Edward was shocked, and the next second, he accused me. "Susan, are you really making up stuff about Lily just to guilt-trip me? You'd go that far?"

I stayed calm, pulling out her medical records. "If you don't believe me, see for yourself."

Edward hesitated for a second, then snatched the records. Just as he was about to open them, his phone rang.

He answered, and Charlotte's terrified screams echoed through the hospital room. "Edward, help me! Some guys are after me—they're trying to assault me!"

The call was cut off abruptly, and Edward panicked. He dropped the medical records on the floor and rushed out.

Before leaving, he paused at the door and shot me a cold warning. "Susan, if you think you can fake medical records and pull this stunt, it's way too obvious. I'll let it go this once, but don't push your luck. There won't be a next time."

With that, he turned and left.

Lily had woken up at some point and had overheard everything. Tears streamed down her face. "Mom, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have asked you to be with Dad again.

"Mom, just divorce Dad. From now on, live only for yourself."