"Paul, please… can you put away all these photos of the child? They scare me too much…"

Hailee’s plea made my chest tighten.

I gripped the phone until my knuckles whitened, my voice trembling. "Photos of the child? Where are you right now?"

Paul’s voice came back, edged with frustration.

"Where do you think? We’re at home! Because of you, the place is surrounded by insane netizens. If we’re not here, where else would we be?"

Then came the sharp, sudden crash of breaking glass from the other end. "Paul, the photo frame just fell by itself… I swear it wasn’t me…"

"It’s fine, it’s fine. She’s already gone. A photo frame won’t bring her back. Hailee, don’t be frightened…"

My legs buckled, and I clung to the doorframe to keep from collapsing.

From the other end of the line came Hailee’s syrupy, teasing voice once more.

I ended the call and tore home like a madwoman.

I had pictured thousands of possible, unforgivable scenes in my mind. Yet, the moment I pushed open the door, my chest still caved in completely.

Every one of my daughter’s photo frames lay shattered, her pictures strewn in chaos across the floor.

The grand family portrait in the living room was hidden under a thick black cloth, its presence smothered.

In my daughter’s bedroom, Hailee was digging through drawers, flinging their contents to the floor as she complained.

"Paul, why did your daughter have such outdated anime? She’s so young and already has awful taste. This is all garbage!"

Paul’s voice came from the kitchen, gentle yet dismissive as he tended to the stove.

"If you don’t like it, throw it away. From now on, that room is yours to handle…"

A dizzy spell gripped me, and I clenched my fists so hard my nails broke skin. The sharp pain was the only thing keeping me grounded.

With all my strength, I slammed the door and charged toward my daughter’s room.

The loud noise instantly caught Hailee and Paul’s attention.

Hailee turned just as I grabbed her by the hair and yanked her out of the room.

Then I slapped her hard.

“You filthy bitch! Do you think you have the right to enter my daughter’s room whenever you want?”

Hailee froze from the blow, but one slap wouldn’t satisfy me.

I fixed my gaze on her and raised my hand again.

Before it fell, Paul grabbed my wrist and, gathering all his force, kicked me hard in the stomach.

The searing pain forced me to curl into a trembling ball before I collapsed to the floor.

My back slammed hard against the corner of a table, and warm blood trickled slowly down my spine.

Paul gently stroked Hailee’s cheek with one hand, then stormed forward, bent down sharply, and grabbed me by the collar.

Bloodshot eyes blazing, he roared, “Claire! What the hell is wrong with you? You posted those videos online and caused so much trouble for Hailee, and I haven’t even made you apologize! Instead, you’re hitting people? Where are your manners?”

Two hot tears slipped from the corners of my eyes.

Meeting his fierce gaze, I pointed toward my daughter’s room, my voice trembling as I said, “Paul, our daughter just passed away, and you let this woman trample over her belongings. Do you even deserve to be called a father? Seeing your daughter’s photos crushed beneath that woman’s feet, don’t you feel even a flicker of sadness or guilt?”

An unreadable emotion flickered in Paul’s gaze.

He turned toward the shoe-stained photos and dropped into a heavy silence.

After a long silence, just as he was about to speak, a soft moan broke the tension beside him.

“Claire, I know you’re grieving because the child is gone, but you can’t unleash this burning anger on Paul. You were the one who took the child to summer camp. You can’t blame me, and now you’re blaming Paul too…”

Hailee’s words twisted the unease in Paul’s eyes into something cold and cruel.

He spun back and grabbed my neck with harsh strength.

“Hailee’s right. It was you, you wretched woman, who killed our daughter. How dare you have the nerve to question me! My issues can wait, but today you will apologize to Hailee!”

My face turned blue and purple as the air escaped me.

I struggled desperately in Paul’s grip, biting my lip hard and shouting with every ounce of strength I had.

“You shameless pair of dogs! Why should I apologize to her? She’s the one who tricked you away, leading to our daughter’s tragic death! I won’t just refuse to apologize, I want her buried alongside my daughter!”

Those words sent Paul into a furious rage.

He yanked me up and slammed my head hard against the wall behind me.

Then he slapped me sharply across the face.

“Claire! You used your family’s ruthless ways to bully me for half my life, and now you want to bully Hailee? Your father has long since crossed the ocean. Stop living in a dream!”

“A woman like you makes me sick just to look at. Get out! Get out of my house!”

With a forceful shove, Paul slammed me onto the dining table behind me.

He rose, looping an arm around Hailee’s slender waist, and strode toward the kitchen.

I fought back dry heaves, staring at the two of them clinging to each other.

Summoning all my strength to stay upright, I gathered my daughter’s precious keepsakes and staggered out.

Just before closing the door, my phone buzzed with a message from a familiar number.

“Paul, tomorrow is our daughter’s funeral. You, as her father…”

“Of course I’ll attend. And I expect you to admit your mistake to Hailee in front of our daughter!”

Receiving the reply I longed for, a fragile peace settled over me, and I finally walked away.

Tomorrow’s fate would no longer be in the hands of that shameless pair.

At midnight, my phone jolted me awake with a vibrating alarm.

The monitor in my daughter’s room had triggered an intrusion alert.

Opening the app, the sickening sight of a man and woman entwined made me retch instantly.

On my daughter’s Snow White bed, Hailee buried her head against Paul’s chest, her voice dripping with false sweetness, “Paul, I want to give you a child right here, on this very bed…”

Paul hooked her nose with a finger, his indulgent smile barely hiding the hunger in his eyes.

“Alright, right here on this big bed…”

Then came the nauseating sounds from the phone.

I snatched it up and hurled it against the wall with a shattering crash.

Those two whores, I vowed to make sure they would suffer and die in misery.

.…

My daughter had loved peace and quiet, so I invited only close friends to the funeral.

But when I arrived, I was met with a sea of reporters, their lenses flashing endlessly.

Paul had his arm wrapped possessively around Hailee, both dressed in glaring red, like a newlywed couple basking in the spotlight, giving an interview.

“A few days ago, that video Claire reposted online was clearly fake to anyone with eyes. After the funeral, Claire will personally issue a statement. The pain of losing her daughter made her lose her manners, and we hope everyone will understand.”

The vivid red of Paul’s suit and the dark marks on his neck made my heart race wildly with anger.

He seemed to catch the hostility burning in my eyes, pushed through the reporters, and strode toward me.

Before the press could catch up, he grabbed my wrist with a firm grip.

He bent down, his breath hot against my ear. “Claire, if you don’t want your daughter’s funeral to be ruined, you’d better obediently clear up that video today and publicly apologize to Hailee.”

As reporters surged toward me like a tidal wave, a crushing wave of hatred rose inside my chest.

The man before me felt like a stranger, so twisted, so despicable.

When had he become this person, using my daughter’s funeral as a weapon to threaten me, all to please another woman?

My fury shook my entire body uncontrollably.

“Claire, apologize! Don’t force my hand, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect Hailee’s innocence!”

The crowd closed in, hundreds of microphones thrust in my face in an instant.

“Mrs. Hiddleston, that video you reposted was fake, wasn’t it? Why have you been at odds with Miss Norman all this time?”

“Mrs. Hiddleston, today is your daughter’s funeral. Can you give the public an honest explanation about her death?”

Paul’s threatening gaze pierced me like a razor-sharp blade.

Slowly, I reached out and took the microphone from the reporter’s hand, my bloodshot eyes locked on Paul’s.

“I will give everyone an explanation. From start to finish, my daughter’s death was a cold, calculated conspiracy!”

“The person who killed my daughter was Hailee. It was outright murder. And I have the proof!”

Seeing the shock flash across Paul’s face and the panic flicker in Hailee’s eyes, I allowed a cruel smile to curl at the corner of my lips.

The show was about to begin.