Chapter 1

When Lilith died in a car accident, Darian was driving his first love's daughter, Grace, home from school.

As she lay dying, Lilith called him, begging for help, but Darian brushed her off and hung up impatiently.

"You got into a car accident? Then why aren't you dead yet?" he snapped.

Darian thought it was just another stunt Lilith pulled to get his attention.

But when he saw Lilith's urn, he completely lost it.

*****

My daughter died on Christmas Eve, the same day as her birthday.

The moment I answered the call, my mind went blank.

Someone said, "Are you her family? She was just in a car accident. Please come as soon as you can..."

My head was buzzing, and I wondered if I'd misheard everything.

"Oh god, this poor kid... She's lost so much blood."

"She's not breathing. Quick, start CPR."

I was shaking uncontrollably, stumbling my way to the scene, not even sure how I got there.

My breath caught in my throat at the sight of the crash. I went numb, nearly blacking out.

Lilith lay motionless by the roadside, her small body soaked in blood, a white sheet pulled over her.

I collapsed to the ground, clutching her cold, lifeless hand, my heart shattering into a million pieces.

I asked, "Lilith, why are you lying here on the street? Please, open your eyes and look at Mommy, okay?"

I heard the driver explaining to the police, "I was driving just fine, and then this kid suddenly ran out from the side of the road. I..."

I scanned the crowd, but Darian was nowhere to be seen.

I was usually the one who picked Lilith up from school, but today, something urgent came up at work, so I had to stay an extra half hour.

Then I messaged Darian and asked him to pick her up. But where was he?

My hands shaking, I fumbled for my phone and kept calling him. After more than ten tries, he finally picked up.

Darian shouted, "Fiora, are you out of your mind? Why are you calling me so many times? Can't you just leave a message?"

I could clearly hear a little girl's lively voice in the background, calling him "Darian."

I was on the verge of losing it. "Didn't I ask you to pick up Lilith from school? Why are you with Grace?"

Grace was Lilith's classmate, but more importantly, she was the daughter of Darian's first love, Cassandra Sutton.

Ever since Cassandra and Grace came back to the country six months ago, Darian had been running over to their place almost every other day.

I'd confronted him about it before, but he just mocked me without a shred of sympathy. "People with dirty minds see everything as dirty.

"I'm just trying to help out a single mom and her kid. Don't go thinking everyone's as disgusting and twisted as you are."

Back then, I could tolerate it. But now, of all times, when Lilith needed him most, hen was still with Cassandra and Grace.

I screamed at him, my voice breaking, "Darian, do you even realize that Lilith—"

Darian shot back, "Fiora, are you out of your mind? What are you yelling about?

"Lilith wants me to pick her up from school? She actually has the guts to ask me for a ride with grades like hers? What a joke.

"That idiot just called, pretending she was dying or something. Seriously, Fiora, if she wants to die so bad, she should just throw herself in front of a car and stop bothering everyone."

The moment he hung up, I felt like my heart was being shredded. I was overwhelmed by a tidal wave of grief and fury.

I dropped to my knees, staring at Lilith's pale, lifeless face, and broke down, sobbing my heart out.

Could a father really say something like that to his own kid?

I used to think Darian was tough on Lilith because he wanted her to succeed, that he just expected too much from her.

But now, I finally realized just how wrong I'd been.

At school, he was the golden teacher everyone loved, but at home, he was the source of all Lilith's pain.

Whenever Lilith was around Darian, she always cowered, barely daring to speak.

I'd begged Darian so many times to go easy on Lilith, to stop yelling and hitting her over nothing.

But he never cared. He'd just brush me off, saying, "Kids need a beating. If you don't hit them, they'll never learn."

But when it came to Grace, Darian was always so gentle, patient, and considerate with her.

Every ounce of fatherly love he had went straight to Grace. Not a shred was left for his own daughter.

Someone cleaning up the scene handed me a bloodstained smartwatch.

I tapped open the last call record. It was labeled "Dad."

Lilith's sobs came in ragged bursts through the phone, desperate and weak. "Dad, a car... crashed into me. It hurts, Dad, it hurts so bad.

"Dad, please... help me..."

Darian answered, his voice dripping with contempt, "Stop calling me Dad. I'm not your father.

"You couldn't even crack the top three in your class this time. You're nothing but a disgrace."

Lilith replied, "Dad, I'm sorry. I promise I'll study harder. Dad, it hurts, it hurts so muchP please, save me. I think I'm dying."

"If you want to die, then just do it. If you're gone, I'll just have another kid, one who's actually smart, like Grace," Darian said coldly.

The call was cut off, and Lilith's desperate pleas were silenced in an instant.

I was so devastated I could barely breathe, my whole body numb. My finger slipped and I tried to call again, but the line wouldn't even connect.

Darian had completely blocked Lilith's number.