Two girls in court. One was our daughter. One was his first love’s daughter. As a lawyer, my husband chose to defend hers.
Later, his first love’s daughter, the defendant, walked free. Our daughter, the plaintiff, lay dying in a hospital bed.
Frantically, I kept calling him. He just hung up.
My daughter’s desperate voice echoed. “Mom, why doesn’t Dad believe me?”
I held my daughter’s lifeless body, sobbing uncontrollably. My heart shattered, I drafted the divorce papers.
“Mommy…it hurts so much. Everything hurts.”
My daughter’s face was a mask of agony. Her small body was a map of violence, bruises, torn nails, not an inch untouched.
“Lily, hold on. Please, just hold on.”
I stroked her hair, tears streaming down my face.
My heart was a fist clenched in a vise. I ached to crush her to me, but I was afraid of adding to her pain.
“Why won’t Daddy come? Why doesn’t he believe me? Is he mad at me? I didn’t bully anyone.”
I dialed David’s number. Disconnected. Again. Disconnected.
“Lily, don’t sleep. Daddy’s coming. He’s on his way. Stay with me!”
She managed a ghost of a smile, sweat shining on her brow. “Mommy, don’t cry.”
“Mommy… if I get better, I want to go… I want to go with… you and Daddy… to the amusement…”
Thud.
Her hand fell. A soft, final sound. The color drained from her face, leaving a terrible, lifeless purple. There was no hope left.
I couldn’t hold back any longer. A scream tore from my throat, raw and guttural, until my voice shattered. My face was a mask of tears and utter desolation.
I knew what Lily had meant to say. Four years ago, on her birthday, David had promised to take her to an amusement park. He never went. He was too busy with Rachel, his first love, and her daughter.
Four years. A whole four years!
He’d taken Rachel’s girl to every park, every place Lily had dreamed of.
Just then, My phone buzzed. A text from David popped up.
“What now? Your calls are disruptive. Rachel and Megan are still shaken from the trial. I’m with them. Can this wait?”
I stared at the screen. A numb, buzzing silence filled my head.
My daughter was dead.?And he was comforting the killer’s family?!
I called David the day Lily was bullied. I needed him to help us sue Rachel’s daughter, Megan.
Before I could even speak, he was ranting.
“Sarah, look what you’ve raised! She assaulted Megan! You’ve completely spoiled her! You should be on your knees thanking God Megan is fine, because if she weren’t, I’d make sure you both paid”
His lies twisted my stomach.
“You have it backwards! Lily is the victim! That little monster you’re coddling did this!”
Before I could finish, a girl’s hysterical sob erupted from his end.
“Mommy, I don’t want to live anymore.”
“Megan, sweetheart, I’ll protect you, okay? I won’t leave you!” David said, his voice soothing.
The line went dead, leaving me with nothing but the dial tone.
Desperate for justice, I hired another lawyer to take my daughter’s case.
I never expected to see David in court.
He stood beside Rachel, holding Megan’s hand, looking like a picture-perfect happy family.
Heartbroken, I rushed forward, grabbing David’s collar.
“David? You’re defending?them? She bullied?your daughter!”
He shook me off, his face contorted.
“Lily is a liar. You’ve spoiled her rotten. Look at Megan’s face! She won’t even apologize. And you have the audacity to sue? She’s arrogant and vicious, just like you”
His brow was deeply furrowed, his eyes filled with displeasure.
Arrogant? Vicious?
He used such hurtful words to describe his own daughter?
I thought of Lily fighting for breath in her hospital bed, and the hatred that shot through me was pure and cold.
“David, you’d better pray Lily makes it. Otherwise, I’ll haunt you even from the grave!”
David angrily started to say something, but Megan “timidly” spoke up from beside him. “Uncle David, I’m scared.”
David immediately shot me a displeased look. “Sarah, stop being so unreasonable. You’re frightening her. Get back to your seat.”
He turned and squatted down, his expression instantly transforming. His voice was so gentle it could melt butter.
“Don’t be scared, Megan. I will protect you, remember? Uncle David is your prince.”
Watching David patiently comfort Megan, my heart shattered.
He had never spoken to Lily like that.
Whenever Lily wanted to play with him, he would always sigh and say he was busy.
Now he treated someone else’s child like a treasure?
Inevitably, I lost the case.
David was Rockford City’s top lawyer. Because he refused to help, and time was short, I could only find a decent one.
But I never, ever thought David would stand on the defense side, helping Rachel and Megan.
I had thought that even if David mistakenly believed Lily was at fault, he was still Lily’s father; he wouldn’t actually appear against us.
But I never imagined he would be such an animal, helping Megan get off scot-free!
All sorts of sorrow, anger, and disappointment surged through me like a gale, shattering my heart into a million pieces. I couldn’t help but want to confront him, to make him understand.
But then, I received the news that my daughter was critically ill at the hospital.
Rachel was adopted into the Miller family as David’s younger sister.
When rumors of an improper relationship between them surfaced, Mrs. Miller moved quickly. To protect the family’s reputation, She sent Rachel abroad and arranged for David to meet me.
David, Rachel, and I had grown up together. Mrs. Miller was very fond of me and knew I had always liked David.
Unfortunately, David didn’t like me back then.
After Rachel went abroad, I stayed by David’s side, trying to cheer him up, and he slowly started to accept me.
For all those years, even if our marriage wasn’t full of passionate love, we at least lived with a quiet respect.
Until Rachel returned four years ago.
David said Rachel had gotten married abroad, but her life was miserable. Her husband had constantly abused her, and she had barely managed to escape.
David said he was her brother and should help and care for them, helping them through their tough times.
So, David bought them a house in Rockford City’s best neighborhood. And he slid Megan into the elite high school which Lily had to claw her way into.
I’d once asked David to buy a house near the school,?to secure Lily’s enrollment and take the pressure off her commute.
But what had David said then?
He shut it down without hesitation. “Monthly mortgage payments are too much pressure. And Lily should get into her dream school through her own efforts.”
Why did everything he said change when it was for someone else?
But I told myself we went way back, and they had seemed genuinely happy together at the time.
Even though I only got together with David after Rachel left, I felt a little guilty deep down.
I told myself it was just to compensate them.
But then, shortly after, the school called me, urging me to come immediately, saying Lily had been in a fight and was injured.
I was stunned. Lily had always been a sweet, quiet girl. How could she possibly get into a fight?
I rushed to the school and found my daughter, soaking wet, lying on the floor of the school bathroom…
Her fingernails had been ripped off, and her body was covered in bruises.
Standing nearby was a triumphant Megan, with several other scared girls hiding behind her.
Seeing this scene, there was nothing left to misunderstand.
Overwhelmed with grief, I quickly took Lily to the hospital.
On the way, my daughter woke up once, continuously muttering.
“Mommy, Megan… hit me… it hurts so much, Mommy, save me…”
My heart was twisted in a knot. I swore I would get revenge for my daughter!
When filing the lawsuit, I went to the school to get the surveillance footage.
The school insisted there were no cameras inside the bathroom.
But when I surveyed the school before Lily chose it, I saw that while there were no cameras inside the bathroom, there was one about a yard away. Given where my daughter was lying, it should have been able to show how Megan forced my daughter.
I knelt and begged them, but they claimed that camera was broken.
Even if the camera was broken, so many people were present, and those girls with Megan must have been involved. There had to be human witnesses.
I demanded the school hand over those girls. Several teachers, annoyed by my persistence and wanting to protect the school’s reputation, the principal found me and urged me to keep it quiet, to handle it discreetly.
Lily was gone. I aged a decade in a breath.
I forced myself to pull myself together, calling each family member one by one.
Soon, my parents and my brother, Daniel, arrived.
The sight of them broke me. The pain I’d forced down erupted all over again.
“Mom, Lily’s gone… Lily’s gone!”
The whole family gathered around Lily and me, their faces filled with grief.
Daniel carefully stroked Lily’s hand.
“Oh my God… who could have done such a monstrous thing?! Lily was only thirteen, how could anyone do this to her?”
Daniel’s eyes were bloodshot. “Where’s David? What kind of father is he?
I trembled all over, my eyes burning with bitter resentment. “Him? He’s too busy with Rachel, falling over himself to be a father to her daughter.”
“His own child is gone, and he’s with hers?” Daniel roared. “He’s not a father. He’s a monster!”
My parents were silent.?Their hands trembled.?No parent should face this.?No one.
My father forced strength into his step, his hand heavy on my shoulder.
“What are you going to do now?”
My parents knew how much I used to love David. They were so happy for me when I married him, but now…
I looked up, a surging tide of hatred threatening to drown me.
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