Joseph's face changed slightly. He wanted to say something, but I turned around and left for Emma's room.

I put her bunny doll into my backpack and picked up the urn of her ashes, ready to leave.

When I reached the living room door, I saw Joseph and Ashley drinking red wine.

Seeing that I was about to leave, he blocked my way with displeasure.

"Daphne, you are getting bolder now. How dare you ignore my words?"

"You haven't apologized to Ashley for the last incident, and today you dare to disregard what I say. You never want to see Emma again?"

Leaning on the crutch, I barely stayed steady on my feet and instinctively tightened my grip on the urn.

Joseph knew exactly what my weakness was.

He shamelessly used it to force me and hurt me again and again.

But now, my mother was dead, and so was Emma. My weakness was gone, and from now on, I would not compromise.

The moment my daughter died, the marriage between me and Joseph also came to an end.

Seeing that I was silent, he thought I once again gave in to him and disdainfully snorted at me.

"I thought you were tough, but it turns out you're just playing dirty tricks to get what you want."

"Go kneel in front of Ashley and kowtow three times, and I will forgive your rudeness last time."

"If you want to see Emma, take good care of me and Ashley for the next few days. Make us happy, and maybe we will bring her back to you!"

Emma?

Emma's ashes were in my hands now. Where else could he get me another daughter?

He looked indifferent when he mentioned Emma, and I hated his guts.

"Joseph, who the fuck do you think you are? I don't care about you!"

"As I just said, I want a divorce! Are you deaf?"

In the past, when my mother was sick, I begged him to buy imported medicine. Later, when I gave birth to Emma, I endured everything to give her a complete family.

For so many years, I had always spoken softly to him and never dared to throw a tantrum. When did I dare to openly contradict him like this?

Joseph's face had a look of surprise and then clouded over with anger.

"Daphne, don't test my patience!"

"If you're not clear about your identity, I don't mind making you see the reality!"

It had been five years since Ashley returned. Joseph had told me countless times how humble I was.

When my mother was hospitalized, I cooked a dish with a little bit of cilantro that my mother liked while Ashley disliked. Joseph called and stopped giving my mother imported medicine.

It wasn't until I knelt on the ground and finished the plate of mangoes Joseph brought me, covered in a rash, that he let me go.

On the day when my water broke, I begged him to take me to the hospital.

But he frowned impatiently and said, "Women have a duty to have children. Can't you stop being so dramatic?"

Then he hurriedly went to a concert with Ashley, afraid of missing the exciting parts.

As long as Ashley asked for something from him, he would unconditionally satisfy her and abandon me and hurt me again and again without hesitation.

I grew up in a single-parent family and envied those who grew up with parents.

To make sure that Emma grew up with her parents, I endured everything.

Ashley hopped and bounced over, leaning on Joseph as if she had no bones.

"Daphne, even if you don't want to greet me as a guest, there's no need to ask Joseph for a divorce!"

"In marriage, the taboo thing is to use divorce as a threat. Only Joseph can tolerate your tantrums. You should count your blessings."

As I watched her lips part and then close, a lot of pent-up resentments crashed over me.

"Who are you to judge me?"

"Joseph's married, but as his childhood sweetheart, you're clinging to him like his mistress. What are you to swagger here?"

Ashley blushed and bit her lip in frustration, snuggling up against Joseph's shoulder.

"Daphne, I am doing this for your own good. I didn't expect you to get me wrong."

"It's my fault. How about I apologize to you on my knees?"

Ashley was hypocritical. I looked at her face coldly. "Get down on your knees then."

Tears welled up in her eyes instantly as if she had suffered a great grievance.

Joseph, however, felt sorry for her and suddenly slapped me.

He exerted all his strength and, being caught off guard, I lost my balance and fell to the ground with a broken leg.

The urn slipped from my hand and the ashes scattered all over the floor.

"No."

I went crazy trying to collect the scattered ashes.

"Emma, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Ashley stepped on Emma's ashes in high heels.

"Daphne, how careless you are! What is this? It looks like laundry detergent. Why are you looking so sad?"

There was a hint of malice in Ashley's eyes, and I instantly became furious and pushed her hard.

She slumped down on the ground and held her ankle, whimpering in pain.

"Daphne, if you're unhappy with me, just say it. Why did you have to resort to violence?"

Joseph nervously approached and carefully examined her injury. Seeing that she was unharmed, he turned around and stared at me fiercely.

"Daphne, how dare you push Ashley?"

I ignored him and collected the ashes on the ground.

He angrily kicked away the ashes that I had painstakingly gathered and then picked up the red wine from the table.

Sensing his intention, I crawled over and tugged on his trouser leg, begging him.

"Joseph, please don't! I beg you, don't do this. This is our daughter's ashes!"

"Daphne, how could you lie about your daughter?"

"Emma is clearly fine. The caretaker reported to us today that she was clamoring to eat McDonald's. Why did you say she's dead?"

"You are her biological mother, but you curse your own child just to compete for attention. What kind of a human being are you?"

Joseph's face darkened at this. He kicked me in the chest and sent me flying far away.

And he poured the bottle of red wine onto the ashes.

"Don't, Joseph. That's Emma! God will strike you down!"

"Really? I'll wait and see then."

Joseph sneered and ground the ashes with his foot.

"Apologize to Ashley and I will return this pile of laundry detergent to you!"

"You said this is Emma, right? As a mother, you can't bear to watch this, right?"

"Or is all of this your sinister plot? Just to attract my attention?"

I stared blankly at the ashes on the ground and a pain slashed at my heart.

It was my fault for not protecting my daughter.

Seeing me holding the fragments of the urn motionless, Joseph came forward and grabbed my hair.

"Say something. You want me to force you?"

As he spoke, he reached out to snatch the urn from my hand.

Suddenly, I slapped his hand and looked at him with hatred and resentment in my eyes.

Joseph seemed frightened by the fierceness in my eyes for a moment, subconsciously stepped back, and straightened himself up.

"Joseph, I am Emma's mother. You know I'm nice to her. Do you think I would curse her to get your attention?"

"Don't flatter yourself!"

"Joseph, I really regret knowing you and marrying you!"

Joseph was shocked by my resolution and subconsciously reached out his hand to pull me.

"Joseph, it seems like my ankle hurts much more!"

Ashley behind me stopped him.

The hesitation on Joseph's face was replaced by anger and annoyance because of Ashley's painful cry.

"Daphne, is it because I'm in a good mood today that you dare to repeatedly ignore my words?"

"You don't want to see Emma anymore?"

"Well, since you curse her like this, I won't let you see her! You're a bad influence on her!"

I held the urn, tears blurring my vision.

"I want to see her so badly that my heart is breaking."

Joseph smiled a triumphant smile.

"Then you kneel and apologize to Ashley. I'll have my secretary send the child over right now!"

I cried and laughed.

Joseph was stunned by my reaction. "What are you laughing at? I don't like your laugh. Are you mourning?"

I nodded. I was mourning indeed.

"Joseph, you're a piece of shit! You don't care about your own daughter!"

"Emma was so young and well-behaved, and she was running a fever. How could you bear to let her go alone?"

"Why didn't I see your real face earlier? If I had known that you were such a heartless person, I would have taken Emma and left! I'd rather be a single mom than see her die!"

Joseph looked at me coldly.

"Daphne, that's enough! Stop cursing my daughter!"

"Today, I'll let Emma see for herself how selfish and despicable you are!"

"To compete for attention, you even curse her to death!"

Joseph took out his mobile phone and dialed his assistant's number.

To prove it to me, he even put her on speaker.

"Sofia, let Emma answer the phone."

Sofia stammered over the phone and it took a long time for her to finish a sentence.

"Mr. Bell, I haven't been able to reach you these days."

"Miss Bell is gone."

Joseph instinctively tightened his grip on his phone, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes.

"What do you mean she's gone? Is she playing outside or did she get lost?"

Sofia's voice trembled.

"No, Mr. Bell. The night you asked me to bring her back, she woke up in the middle of the night and sneaked out. She was hit by a passing truck."

"She died that day. I heard today is the day of her cremation, and you're back just in time to say goodbye to her."