On the day my daughter was assaulted, she called Barnaby Farley three times.

The first time, she told him some thugs were following her, that she was scared.

She asked if he could come pick her up.

Barnaby ignored it.

The second time, she said they were almost on her.

She asked if he could think of something, anything to help.

Barnaby ignored that too.

The third time, her voice was ragged.

"Dad, someone's hurting me. Can you please help me?"

That time, he sent back a single line.

"Don't bother me while I'm working."

The daughter who read that reply jumped from the window.

I only learned all of this when the police found me.

The scene was less than two kilometers from Barnaby's law firm.

But he was busy driving his little assistant home, ignoring his own daughter's cries for help, again and again and again.

Today, they won their case.

And whatever was left between us finally reached its end.

——

In her hospital bed, Faye Abbott looked like a terrified fawn.

Even footsteps passing in the hall set her whole body trembling.

Watching her like that, I couldn't hold back the grief and fury surging inside me.

I gritted my teeth and stormed into Barnaby's office.

"Barnaby, Faye called you last night. Why didn't you answer?"

A muscle twitched between his brows.

But he still forced reason down over the anger underneath.

"Cora Henson, watch yourself."

"This is my office. It's not somewhere you get to throw a fit."

I grabbed the tie at his chest and forced his head up.

"I don't want to hear your high-minded speeches. I just want to know why you didn't answer when Faye called you last night!"

"Someone hurt her... she was hurt last night, do you understand that!"

His brow stayed knotted.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"We live in a society with laws. If something happens, you go to the police, you file a complaint. You don't interrupt me during working hours."

"Fine, Faye's young and doesn't know better. But you're her mother. Are you really this senseless too?"

The Barnaby who once gave up his own dream and switched to law, all to fight my case.

That same man now thought a mother demanding justice for her daughter was just making a scene.

He let out an irritated sigh.

Then he tapped his watch and, without a word, showed me the door.

I went back to the hospital with no choice, and my sleeping daughter suddenly jolted awake, eyes wide with terror.

When she saw it was me, the tears came pouring out.

"Mom... I'm so scared. What happened last night, I'm so scared..."

Her nails dug into my skin, but it was nothing next to the ache in my heart.

I held her tight against me and stroked her back over and over.

"It's okay. Mom's here. Mom will protect you."

I don't know which word touched the memory that hurt her.

She suddenly started screaming again.

She curled into the corner, shaking her head without stopping.

"You can't, Mom. Those people are strong, they have powerful connections. You can't protect me."

Then she gripped my hand hard.

"Mom, can you not tell Dad about this?"

"I don't want to disappoint him..."

That was what she said.

But I knew she was hoping Barnaby would step forward and stand up for her.

Her lawyer father had always been the invincible pride of her heart.

It was just that this time, Barnaby was the one who let her down.

I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth.

Once I'd coaxed her back to sleep, I went to the police station alone.

The officer handling the case was very patient.

"The attacker tried to silence her for good, and to save herself she had no choice but to jump from the window."

"By the time we reached the scene, she was covered in injuries and barely lucid."

"But she was still clutching this good-luck charm in her hand, saying she wanted to give it to her dad."

"Such a bright, good girl. It breaks your heart."

"Don't worry, though. We'll do everything we can to catch the man who did this."

To assist the investigation, the police asked me to confirm the evidence from the scene.

The moment they laid it out, the tears came before I could stop them.

Under a heap of torn clothing lay a small good-luck charm.

Faye had gone up the mountain last year to get it.

Back then she'd presented it to Barnaby like some precious treasure, only to be scolded for wasting her time on nonsense and embarrassing the Farley name.

After that, she pushed herself twice as hard, all so she could get into his old university.

Yesterday she'd received her acceptance letter and couldn't wait to bring him the good news.

Who could have known she'd nearly not come back at all.

I pressed the charm to my chest.

The tears I'd held back for so long finally fell.

For the next few days, I stayed by my daughter's side.

With the therapist's help, she no longer had the thoughts of ending her life that she'd had at first.

She even forced smiles to comfort me.

"My dad is a great lawyer. I have to be strong. I can't let him down."

But that great-lawyer father of hers never came to see her. Not once.

She said nothing about it, yet I couldn't bear to watch her ache.

So I kept calling Barnaby.

When the agreed-upon day came, my girl deliberately changed into long sleeves.

We waited together from dawn until dark, and only then did Barnaby finally show up, dragged there against his will.

He was on the phone, frowning at me.

"The firm just took on a difficult case. Whatever it is, make it quick."

Faye was about to lift the acceptance letter in her hand.

Barnaby suddenly turned to his assistant Maxine Pruitt behind him.

"Did you find the surveillance footage from the scene?"

"Time is money. We can't waste a second."

The smile on my daughter's face faltered, but she gathered her courage and spoke anyway.

"Dad, I got into Weston University."

Barnaby ignored her.

He just went on discussing the case with Maxine as if Faye weren't there.

"But don't worry too much. Since he's your relative, I'll give it everything I've got."

"Besides, I've always despised those shameless little girls who go around sleeping with people at such a young age."

The color drained completely from my daughter's face.

She kept rubbing at the wounds beneath her clothes, the smile on her face uglier than any crying.

My heart clenched tight.

I was about to step forward and cut them off when a knock sounded at the door.

Maxine glanced over, and her expression suddenly turned eager.

"Barnaby, this is that distant cousin of mine I mentioned, the one who wanted your help with a case."

"He's just a country boy, doesn't know much about anything. He'd barely gotten to the city when he got caught in a badger game."

"Please, come look with me. I'm afraid he's so young, what if he does something desperate…"

The moment he heard that, Barnaby dropped my daughter and walked out without a backward glance.

Worried she'd be hurt, I hurried over to comfort her.

Before I could reach her, she started trembling.

"Mom."

Faye clenched her teeth.

"That night, the man who knocked me out. That's him."

"What!"

I shot to my feet.

But my daughter grabbed my hand and held on.

In the dead of summer, her hands were terrifyingly cold.

Every word she spoke carried a fear that had sunk into her bones.

"Why is Daddy defending a man like that?"

"Does he hate me? Doesn't he want me as his daughter anymore?"

"I'm not a good child. I disappointed Daddy, and now Daddy doesn't want me…"

I kept shaking my head, trying to calm her.

But she was like something possessed, calling out the same words over and over.

"Daddy doesn't want me."

"Daddy doesn't want me…"

There was nothing I could do.

I could only chase after Barnaby to make him understand the truth.

He heard the whole story out, then shook my hand off, impatient.

"Cora, could you at least think before you lie?"

"Faye is my daughter. In this city, who would dare lay a hand on her?"

"If she didn't do well on her exams, she can just tell me. There's no need to make up a lie like this to win sympathy!"

I froze, lifting my head in disbelief.

"That's your own daughter. You won't trust her, but you'll trust an outsider?"

Barnaby gave a cold laugh.

"I'm a lawyer. I go by evidence."

"If she can't produce hard, solid proof, then don't blame me for not claiming a daughter who's full of lies!"

"Dad."

My daughter's faint voice came from behind us.

She was wearing the loose hospital gown.

Her thin little hand was still clutching that acceptance letter she'd been so proud of.

"I didn't lie. I really did get into Weston…"

Before she could finish, Barnaby's phone rang.

He glanced at the name on the screen and answered without a moment's hesitation, his voice going soft and soothing.

"Maxine, don't worry. I'm coming right now."

"I'm here. You don't have to worry about anything."

The last bit of light in my daughter's eyes went dark.

The acceptance letter slipped from her hand and drifted off on the wind.

She looked like an old woman at the end of her days, her back bent, her steps unsteady.

All that was left was a soft murmur under her breath.

"So Daddy just doesn't like me after all."

My heart was breaking.

I rushed forward and grabbed Barnaby, trying to force him to go back and apologize to his daughter.

All I got in return was the same impatience on his face.

"Cora, would you stop making a scene?"

Barnaby took out his phone and opened a video.

"I already checked the surveillance."

"Last night, Faye stayed home the whole time. She never went out."

"How could she have been hurt or attacked while she was at home?"

"I know you don't like how close Maxine Pruitt and I have gotten, but you don't have to put our daughter up to slandering an innocent boy!"

An experienced, top-tier lawyer, and he didn't know surveillance footage could be faked?

Barnaby, who'd built his reputation on being objective and thorough, had lost every ounce of his judgment the moment Maxine Pruitt came into his life.

I looked at him and felt, all at once, a deep helplessness.

"Barnaby, back when we married, you said something to me."

"You said no matter what happened later, you would believe in me without wavering, and face it all with me."

"And now? Look at what you've done."

Barnaby smiled, and the smile was full of contempt.

"And what about you? Are you still the Cora you used to be?"

"Suspicious and jealous all day long was bad enough, and now you've raised our daughter into this!"

Faye was wonderful. She was my pride.

Early in his career, Barnaby's stubborn temper had offended plenty of people, and he'd nearly been blacklisted by a group of them.

It was me, carrying our daughter, who went door to door to apologize.