The day my husband chose to save his secretary's dog over our daughter in a fire—the day my little girl burned alive with no one coming for her—was the day everything changed.

People in our circle noticed it almost immediately. I stopped obsessing over where Garry Sanchez was every hour of the day. Stopped showing up at his office with home-cooked meals to mark my territory. Stopped paying reporters to run puff pieces about our perfect marriage.

Even when his secretary came to our door for the tenth time to provoke me, I just sat there, eyes fixed on my daughter's portrait. "Do whatever you want."

Garry scoffed. "Should've learned your place a long time ago."

What he didn't know was that in three days, I'd be on a flight to start a new life abroad. I wasn't being obedient. I'd simply stopped loving him.

——

Kayla Coleman swept the dishes I'd just prepared off the table, her shrill voice cutting through the room. "Ida Swanson, if you know what's good for you, you'll get away from Garry. Otherwise you'll end up just like that worthless daughter of yours—dead before your time!"

My pupils contracted.

Ever since Lily Abbott died in the fire, every servant in the house had walked on eggshells. No one dared mention her, terrified of setting me off.

But Kayla planted her hands on her hips and kept going. "You don't know this, do you? I was standing right there at the door that day. I saw everything. Your little girl—she'd barely learned to talk—was screaming and crying, calling out for her daddy, begging someone to save her. The blood from her hands stained the window glass red. And Garry still chose to save my dog."

"Shut your mouth!" My expression went dark, and I slapped her so hard she hit the floor.

Kayla wasn't angry. If anything, she looked triumphant, casting a deliberate glance over her shoulder.

Right on cue, Garry stormed in, not bothering to ask what happened. "Ida, if you have a problem, take it up with me. Why do you always have to go after Kayla?"

A wave of revulsion rose inside me. This scene was so familiar—an echo of every time Garry had taken her side over mine.

Garry and I had grown up together. Our families were equally wealthy, and our parents had arranged our marriage when we were children.

But life had other plans. My parents died in an accident, and the Swanson family declared bankruptcy overnight. The Sanchezes refused to honor the engagement. It took Garry kneeling outside their front door for three straight days and nights—kneeling until his knees became so infected the doctors warned of amputation—before his family finally relented.

After the wedding, I was happier than I'd ever been. Garry was attentive to every detail of my life. When doctors discovered I couldn't conceive due to a cold womb, he told his family he was impotent—a man with that much pride, lying to protect me from their pressure.

When the Sanchezes pushed me to try IVF, Garry was so worried about what I'd have to endure that the very next day, he made a show of scheduling a vasectomy.

I was the one who dragged him out of the operating room. I'd been so moved I could barely speak. "Garry, I want to have a child with you. Willingly. Happily."

All of that happiness ended the moment a female secretary appeared at his side.

Garry offered little explanation. He said Kayla Coleman had once saved his life, and he owed her a debt. So he traveled the world with her. Strolled with her through candlelit evenings. Walked with her in the rain.

I lost my mind. I became hysterical, paranoid, suffocating. And all it earned me was Garry siding with her, again and again and again.

Then, last week, the fire broke out. Lily was trapped in her bedroom. Garry charged into the blaze and was about to wrench open her door when Kayla appeared out of nowhere.

"Garry, our puppy is still inside!" Tears streamed down her face like rain on white petals. "He's the only family I have left. I can't lose him. Please, forget about the baby for now!"

I wanted to wrap my hands around her throat. "A dog or a human life—which one matters more? Garry, save our Lily! She's your own flesh and blood!"

"Garry, you promised our puppy was the most precious thing in the world. You can't just abandon him!"

The fire raged, and Garry stood frozen between two doors, paralyzed by indecision.

I blacked out from sheer fury. When I came to, I saw him sitting beside my hospital bed, cradling that little dog in one arm while he murmured softly to Kayla, whose cheeks were flushed with color. "Lily dying in the fire was just bad luck. Don't blame yourself. Look how worried our little pup is about you!"

In that moment, something inside me turned to ash.

After I was discharged, I did three things.

I buried Lily.

I hired a lawyer and filed for divorce.

And I called back an old college friend. The job offer overseas—I accepted it.

"Ida, I know you've been under a lot of stress lately, but there's no reason to take it out on Kayla." Garry's tone was weary, almost pleading. "She saved my life once. If nothing else, do it for me. Stop making things difficult for her, okay?"

I lifted my head. My voice came out flat and cold. "Your savior. What does that have to do with me?"

"Listen to yourself." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "We're husband and wife. What's mine is yours, remember?"

"Garry, let's get a divorce."

The words left my mouth without preamble.

I'd always imagined I would feel grief when I finally said them. Regret, maybe. But now that the moment had arrived, all I felt was relief.

The smile vanished from his face. His hand shot out and locked around my wrist, his fingers trembling. Even his voice shook. "Ida, don't you dare talk nonsense."

"I'm serious."

I closed my eyes, too exhausted to keep them open. "Garry, this is over."

"Ida, is this still about Lily?" His voice cracked with urgency, guilt swimming in his eyes. "I'm heartbroken about Lily too, but you can't throw a tantrum over something like this."

"Kayla saved my life once. She has no family, no one. I treat her like a little sister. That dog is the only family she has. How could I let her down?"

"Ida, you understand, don't you?"

I pried his fingers off my wrist. "All I understand is that you let my daughter burn to death for the sake of an animal."

"But Garry chose to save that animal over your daughter." Kayla's gaze slid to me, sharp with provocation. One hand stroked the dog in her lap. "Doesn't that mean your daughter was worth less than an animal?" She smiled, pressing her cheek against the dog's fur. "My sweet baby is the lucky one. So many people love her."

"Shut your mouth!" Rage surged through me. I lunged toward her, but Garry caught me and held me back.

His brow furrowed into deep lines, his voice low and even. "Ida, the doctor said you need rest."

"Rest? How am I supposed to rest?" I threw myself against him, fists and feet striking wherever they could land, as if violence were the only language left for my pain. "My daughter burned alive, and you didn't lift a finger to save her. Now you stand there and let this woman spit on her memory!"

"Garry, I want a divorce. You don't deserve to be called Lily's father!"

Kayla shrank behind him, her expression crumpling into something pitiful and wounded. "Ida, I know you don't really want a divorce. You're only saying this to force Garry to push me away."

She dabbed at her reddened eyes and let out a bitter little laugh. "I know I need him. I really do. But if you're so heartless that you can't even tolerate me as a sister, then fine. I'll go."

"Kayla!" Garry's voice thundered through the room. He pulled her back to his side. "As long as I'm here, no one is making you leave."

He turned to me, jaw set. "Ida, let me make this perfectly clear. Divorce is not happening. And Kayla is not going anywhere."

Kayla gazed up at him, adoration and gratitude spilling from her eyes. "Garry..."

The two of them stood there, wrapped up in each other, when my voice cut through like a blade of ice.

"Garry, you don't get a say in this."

"I don't get a say?" Garry let out a cold laugh and planted himself right in front of me. "Ida, I think I've been too good to you. Without the title of Mrs. Sanchez, what do you even have?"

Even though hope had long since died inside me, his cutting words still sent a stab of pain through my chest.

"Garry, I have an idea." Kayla's smile dripped with malice as she laid out her little scheme. "The only reason she dares act this way is because she's been living comfortably with nothing to worry about, right? Just freeze her bank cards. Give it a few days and she'll come crawling back, begging to make nice."

"Fine. Freeze them."

Garry turned to me, his face dark as a storm. "You can still apologize. Do it now, and I might reconsider."

"Go ahead and freeze them." I lifted my chin, a bitter smile on my lips. I wanted to see him try.

"Unbelievable." This time Garry didn't hesitate. He dialed the bank immediately. "I have several cards under my name. Shut them all down."

The bank representative verified the information several times before responding in an odd tone. "Mr. Sanchez, are you sure you want to freeze these particular cards?"

"Yes!" Garry's voice was clipped with impatience. "How many times do I have to say it?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sanchez, but these cards have had a zero balance for quite some time. There hasn't been a single transaction in six months."

Garry froze. He stared at me, bewildered. "No living expenses? How have you been surviving these past six months? I transferred money to you every month..."

I laughed, hollow and self-mocking. "How generous of you to remember. Six months ago, you told me Kayla was frugal and responsible while I did nothing but blow money buying press coverage to flaunt our relationship. So you cut off my allowance yourself. Ring any bells?"

A tangle of emotions crossed his face. He stood there in silence for a long time, until the customer service representative's voice pulled him back. "Mr. Sanchez? Would you still like to proceed with freezing the cards?"

"No..."

"Of course he would." Kayla snatched the phone from his hand. "Garry, don't let her fool you. Even if her allowance was cut, she still has shares in the Sanchezes. The monthly dividends alone are a fortune."

"Right. You almost slipped that past me." Garry placed the phone firmly in Kayla's palm, a sharp glint in his eyes as he looked at me. "When did you get so calculating, Ida? From now on, Kayla decides how much you spend."

I met the contempt in his gaze without flinching. My expression gave away nothing.

Shares in the Sanchezes? The family had taken those back the day after our wedding, citing one excuse or another.

A message lit up my phone screen.

Ida, your flight in three days is confirmed. Will you be ready to leave on schedule?

I replied yes and started packing.

Before I left, I wanted to visit Lily's grave one last time. I didn't want to be overseas, aching with the regret of not having said goodbye.

I'd hired someone to find the perfect resting place for her. Rolling green hills, clear water, beautiful scenery. Lily would have loved it.

I set the fruit and flowers down in front of the headstone in silence, and only when I lifted my head did my eyes betray me, red and burning. "Lily, I promise you, Mommy will make them pay. Just wait for me a little longer, okay?"

Then I saw the photograph.

My pupils contracted.

That wasn't Lily. It was a stranger. A middle-aged man I had never seen before.

My blood ran cold. Who did this?

I tore through the cemetery in a frenzy, making trip after trip until I finally tracked down the manager. "Where is my daughter? What did you do with my daughter?"

The manager looked completely baffled. "Ms. Swanson, didn't you come in yesterday when the payment was due and say you wouldn't be renewing? You said you had your own arrangements for the ashes."

"What are you talking about? I never received a payment reminder. Who did you call?" My voice cracked, tears choking the words in my throat. Who had done this to my baby girl?