One month before the wedding, my daughter Lily was bitten by a dog and hospitalized, remaining in a coma. The dog’s owner was Daniel Walker’s assistant.

Daniel arrived at the hospital with his assistant, his face full of impatience.

“She was too careless,” he said. “So young and already causing trouble. She had to tease the dog, so she deserved to get bitten.”

His assistant, Olivia Brooks, put on a false look of apology, but her eyes flashed with provocation at me.

My anger burned. Lily was the victim, yet in Daniel’s mouth she became the culprit.

“Children can’t be spoiled. A painful lesson teaches them to be careful next time. I have to fly abroad for a project. Watch her closely after she’s discharged and don’t let her tease dogs again!”

I looked at Daniel, my gaze frighteningly calm.

“Lily needs her father. Can’t you stay?”

“Of course not!”

“Stop using Lily as an excuse. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in time to give you the grand wedding I promised.”

“Anything else?”

“No.”

Nothing more would ever happen between us. He could marry his assistant.

An hour after Daniel left with Olivia, Lily’s condition suddenly worsened. She didn’t survive.

She was gone forever.

Looking at her small body covered in dozens of bloody tears and gashes, I couldn’t understand—how could a dog attack her so viciously? This wasn’t an accident.

I texted Daniel immediately, but there was no reply.

After that, I moved like a puppet on strings, numb, arranging Lily’s funeral step by step.

A parent burying a child—my poor girl was only five. She never got to see the beauty of the world, only its cruelty.

Just days earlier, she had been eagerly waiting for our wedding, excited to finally have a father in name as well as in life. Now she would never see it.

At the funeral, I fainted from grief several times, while my parents cursed Daniel bitterly.

We had a child before marriage and were about to wed, yet even then, with Lily dead, Daniel should have come.

I had texted and called him, but my messages went unanswered, my calls never connected.

I consoled myself: he was busy with a project, he would come as soon as he could.

But the funeral ended. The first day passed. Then the second. I stayed by Lily’s grave, unwilling to leave, just wanting to be close to my baby.

Then my phone buzzed. I opened it and saw Olivia’s new post on social media.

In the video, Daniel was dressed in a suit, holding flowers, kneeling before Olivia’s skirt. A lavish birthday cake sat beside them, the atmosphere festive and warm.

The sight struck me like lightning. My chest felt crushed, suffocated.

So his trip abroad for a “project” had really been to celebrate Olivia’s birthday, while my daughter lay in ashes.

Life and death—what a cruel contrast.

I was a fool. Still making excuses for him.

It had always been one-sided. I had knelt too long, forgotten how to stand.

“Lily, it’s over between me and Daniel. A man like him doesn’t deserve to be your father.”

Before she died, Lily had called for her daddy in her coma, but he never came.

Daniel wasn’t worth it.

After graduation, I joined the Walker Group, his family’s corporation. He was the CEO; I was just a small-town girl from Ohio.

I always felt inferior before him.

But he pursued me relentlessly, swearing he would marry me even if it cost him his position.

We fell into a secret relationship. I got pregnant.

To spare him pressure from his parents, I agreed to keep our marriage secret and had the baby quietly.

Afterward, I entrusted Lily to my parents’ care and worked myself to the bone, determined to be worthy of Daniel’s status.

All-nighters became routine. To secure a contract, I endured harassment from clients, drank until I vomited blood—anything to win the deal.

But I thought it was worth it.

I wanted to prove I wasn’t just a pretty face, but a partner with real strength, someone who could fight by his side and silence his family’s doubts.

I succeeded.

In just three years, I rose from an entry-level employee to Vice President of Sales at the Walker Group.

Daniel was proud of me.

At the company’s Corporate Anniversary Gala, he pulled me onto the main stage and loudly declared our relationship.

In that moment, his eyes shone.

I cried with joy. Despite my suffering, the one who suffered most was Lily.

From birth, we had been apart more than together. She often fell asleep in tears, crying for her parents.

Other children had both parents; she had no one. She was like a left-behind child.

Even so, she still couldn’t stay in this world.

As the company expanded, Daniel hired a young assistant named Olivia Brooks.

Olivia was his distant cousin, spoiled since childhood. Her joining as his assistant was no coincidence—some in the Walker family had ulterior motives.

Daniel treated Olivia exceptionally well—so well I grew jealous.

I told myself it was nothing, just family closeness.

Whenever I was jealous, he would hug me. “You’re jealous? That’s cute.”

“Relax. Olivia’s my cousin. My relatives asked me to take care of her. How could I refuse?”

I couldn’t tell if he meant it or if it was an excuse. I had heard the same words countless times.

And in fact, there was no blood relation between them at all.

Every time he coaxed me, he compensated Olivia even more. He spent more time with her than with me.

Soon, his social media was filled with photos of the two of them.

His friends jokingly called Olivia “the little wife.”

At Lily’s one and only birthday party, he stayed for just a minute before rushing off after receiving a message from Olivia.

Lily tugged at his sleeve, begging him to stay longer. Impatient, he slapped her and left.

Even then, Lily, tears in her eyes, said Daddy must just be busy with work.

I wept bitterly, filled with guilt toward her.

Later, he came back, apologized, and coaxed her. She forgave him, saying he was the best daddy in the world.

Though he always had a perfect excuse, the shadow in my heart grew.

But my love for him—and my desire not to let Lily lose her father—made me suppress the cracks inside me.

Her death was the final straw.

It opened my eyes to reality.

To care more for a “cousin” than for a longtime lover? It was just lies.

If he had changed, why should I hold on?

And Lily’s death could not go unpunished. Her killer must pay.

I saw Daniel again two weeks later.

At the company entrance, he smiled. “Didn’t I tell you? Our wedding won’t be delayed. I keep my word.”

“Mm.” I answered flatly.

I glanced at Daniel’s side, where Olivia stood holding the vicious dog, Rocky.

Olivia shot me a defiant look, then bent down to stroke the dog’s fur.

Sensing my hatred, Rocky bared his teeth at me, snarling.

Olivia put on a pitiful look. “Emily, you’re scaring him.”

“Get out of my way!”

Daniel glared at me, anger flashing across his face. He shoved me aside and crouched down, holding Olivia’s hand as they petted the dog together.

Less than human, less than a dog.

The sight darkened my eyes.

“Anyway,” Daniel said, standing, “Lily is still a child. Whether or not she teased the dog, the fact is she got bitten. As Rocky’s owner, Olivia owes her an apology.”

“So you waited here to take me so she can apologize to Lily?” I asked calmly.

“Not just her. I said some harsh things at the hospital too. I should apologize as well.”

He lifted his chin, as if granting me a favor.

“This isn’t that simple. Lily has always been afraid of dogs. She avoids them. How could she have gone up to it?”

At this, Olivia’s eyes flickered with panic. She snapped, “What are you implying?”

“My Rocky is the sweetest. I love him more than anything. He never bites unless provoked. Your daughter must have bothered him—he had no choice!”

I sneered. “If you love that mutt so much, why are you always clinging to my fiancé?”

“You—!” Olivia’s face flushed red.

“Emily, you’re going too far,” Daniel said coldly. “Olivia already admitted her mistake and sincerely wants to apologize. Lily wasn’t even hurt that badly. Why can’t you let it go?”

“And Rocky is usually well-behaved. Lily must have provoked him. He was only defending himself.”

The words stabbed at my heart.

Even if Lily had survived, was I not allowed to vent my anger at the dog’s owner?

Why, in his eyes, was I the guilty one?

Olivia’s place in his heart was higher than even my daughter’s life—even higher than a dog’s.

“Daniel,” Olivia said tearfully, “if Emily won’t forgive me and just wants to make trouble, then maybe I shouldn’t bother apologizing.”

She turned to leave.

“Apologize to Olivia,” Daniel barked at me, his gaze colder than I had ever seen.

“Now!”

“In your dreams.”

“Emily Carter!” he roared, furious. For the first time, he called me by my full name.

“Why have you become so unreasonable? When someone says the wrong thing, shouldn’t they apologize?”

“If Olivia caused a death, shouldn’t she pay with her life?”

Daniel froze. “What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

I turned and walked into the building, resignation letter already in my pocket.

The resignation went smoothly. As Vice President, I signed it myself.

The next day, I went to the police department to file a report.

The day Lily was bitten, Olivia had picked her up from my parents, saying she wanted to buy her some clothes.

Less than half an hour later, mall security called the police—Lily had been mauled by Rocky. They drove the dog away, but she was already critically injured and unconscious.