Due to my husband’s negligence, my daughter was locked in a car in the middle of summer and died of heatstroke.

I was devastated by my daughter’s death, but my husband remained nowhere to be seen.

Later, I saw a photo of the him and his childhood sweetheart embracing each other in a loving embrace on her WhatsApp status.

The message in her WhatsApp status included a line: [There was this annoying little girl who was disobedient, so I locked her in the car as a minor punishment. Unexpectedly, there was an accident. Fortunately, my childhood sweetheart took care of everything, so it didn’t affect my successful promotion to a full-time position at the Walton Group.]

It turned out that my daughter hadn’t refused to get out of the car. Instead, she had been locked in the car and suffocated to death.

I took a screenshot of my husband’s childhood sweetheart’s WhatsApp status and filed a lawsuit against her.

My husband was completely devastated when he learned of this. “I’ve already said my daughter’s death was an accident. Why are you suing Rowena? Even if my daughter’s death was tragic, it was her destiny.”

“This is a critical moment for Rowena’s official promotion at the company. She must not have any stain left on her. You must withdraw the lawsuit immediately, or you’ll ruin her life. Otherwise, I will divorce you and leave you a loveless woman for the rest of your life.”

I said without hesitation, “Divorce is necessary. Everything the Walton Family has given you over the years must be taken back from me. If your childhood sweetheart is found to be involved in my daughter’s death, she will be severely punished by law!”

——

Thinking of Skye, my heart ached. My daughter had been sweet and sensible since she was little.

She had inherited our family’s innate gentle nature. She had never complained about my husband not spending her birthdays with her all those years.

Instead, she repeatedly advised me that Dad was busy with work, which was why he was often away from home.

I also didn’t think a well-behaved girl like her would suddenly lose her temper and refuse to leave the car.

It turned out that she was forcibly locked in the car by the female vice president my husband had just hired, which led to the accident.

Thinking of my husband’s bossy demeanor on the phone, I found it a little amusing.

Howell used to be a country bumpkin with nothing. Because I fell in love with him, so I married him despite my parents’ objections and handed over the management of the family company to him. This was how he rose to prominence.

In recent years, the company’s performance had deteriorated. The market value was less than a quarter of what it was when we first got married.

My husband, who saw the company shrinking, confidently claimed that it was the market downturn in recent years, not his own incompetence.

When I was just starting my internship, in just two years, he had tripled the size of the family company.

So, my husband’s explanation was completely untenable. My parents, out of consideration for my face, didn’t make a fuss.

My unconditional love for my husband only gave him leverage over me. He had been away from home for years, even refusing to come home for our daughter’s birthday.

Instead, he brought his childhood sweetheart to the company and quickly promoted her to the position of Vice President.

Rowena and my husband had always been extremely close. Those who didn’t know them might have thought they were a real couple.

My husband’s indifference to our daughter’s death completely disillusioned me with him.

The Maybach I bought for my husband had internal security cameras. So I got in the car, determined to find out what happened on the day our daughter died.

After checking, I realized that all the security footage from that day had been deleted. Why did this have to happen?

Why did my husband and Rowena delete the only surveillance video?

I could find a technician to restore the video from that day so I could see for myself what happened to my daughter that day.

After I finished all that, my husband and his childhood sweetheart came home, hugging each other intimately.

My husband hadn’t been home for over six months. After my daughter died, he never even came back to see her.

Just because I wanted to sue an outsider with no connection to this family, he came to my house for this.

Howell had just walked in and launched into a barrage of insults.

“Camilla, you dared to sue Rowena? Am I being too generous to you?”

“Howell, tell me, who was being too generous to you, between us, over the years?” I glared at my husband without backing down.

After so long in the background, Howell had actually taken to himself the true owner of the company, even shouting at my largest shareholder.

Howell was stunned and was seemingly unable to accept my tone. “I’ve been working hard outside to support our family, while you’ve been pampered at home, doing nothing. Not only do you not understand my hard work, but you even dare to yell at me. Compared to the virtuous and sensible Rowena, you’re a far cry from me.”

I sneered at Rowena. Her face was full of seductive charm. “Is that your reason for having an affair with this vixen? She killed our daughter and you still don’t care. Instead, you came home to confront me because I sued her?”

“It’s only been a few years since I handed over our Walton Family company and it’s already on the verge of bankruptcy. Is this what you’re getting at me for all your years of hard work? You say I did nothing, but who raised our daughter all these years? Howell, ask yourself, have you ever given me a penny in all these years of marriage? Isn’t it my parents who support me every month?”

“You’re reluctant to spend a penny on your own wife, yet you use our company’s money to buy Rowena millions of dollars worth of luxury goods and designer bags. Is this what you call working yourself to death for this family?”

Howell was at a loss for words, but he still insisted, “You’re from a wealthy family and you’re not short of money. Of course, I don’t need to give you money. As for Rowena, she grew up in the countryside and has endured countless hardships. What’s wrong with me buying her a little gift? You already own the world. Why are you so jealous just because I buy Rowena a little gift?”

“Because I’m your wife and Rowena has nothing to do with you. She’s even responsible for your daughter’s death.”

Rowena looked at me with a flash of anger in her eyes, then she said pitifully, “Howell, Skye was naughty and didn’t want to get out of the car, so I left her there. Later, I was getting my hair done at the salon and forgot Skye was in the car. I’m partly to blame.”

“But Skye had her phone with her. If she felt uncomfortable, she could have called me anytime, but she did nothing. Skye got into trouble and Camilla put all the blame on me. Why don’t you just send me to the police station and put me in jail for life?”

Of course, Rowena didn’t want to go to jail. She said this knowing my husband wouldn't want to.

Howell was truly heartbroken. He tightly shielded Rowena behind him and yelled at me, “You made Rowena cry. Are you happy now? I didn’t expect you to be such a vicious woman.”

“My daughter died of heatstroke in the car. It was her fate. Why were other children fine in cars, but she died sitting there? Skye was spoiled by you since she was little. Even when she wasn’t feeling well, she didn’t even bother calling anyone. She died in the car entirely on her own initiative. It had nothing to do with Rowena…”

Women were inherently weak, while a mother was strong.

Before my husband could finish his words, I slapped him hard in the face.

“Howell, are you talking nonsense? Skye is not only my daughter, but yours too. After she died, not only did you not return to see her, but you were so cold-blooded and heartless. I was blinded to fall in love with you.”

“Hmph!” Howell’s teeth chattered. “Since you say that, let’s get a divorce. I’ve brought the divorce agreement. If you don’t admit your mistake, I don’t want you anymore.”

A flicker of joy crossed Rowena’s brows. She quickly feigned understanding and said, “Howell, it’s not right for you to divorce Camilla for me. If outsiders knew, they might say I ruined your marriage.”

“What does this have to do with you? We were already very close before I even met Camilla. If there’s a marriage ruined, it’s Camilla who ruined our childhood sweetheart relationship. This is simply her betrayal of you.”

I didn’t expect Howell to come up with such a bizarre theory. Back then, in order to join a wealthy family, he knelt at our doorstep for three days and three nights.

Only then did my parents reluctantly agree to this marriage. It was clearly Howell who pursued me.

In the end, I became the third party who broke up his relationship with his mistress. But Howell’s shamelessness didn’t stop there.

He said to Rowena in a domineering tone, “Don’t worry. Camilla can’t live without my love. Even if I told her to eat dog shit, she would still do it to stay by my side.”

Howell looked at me with disdain and continued, “It’s not that I can’t give you a chance. As long as you apologize to Rowena and find a way to earn her forgiveness, I won’t retract my decision to divorce you.”

I was amused by Howell’s narcissism. I did love him back then. In the years after we got married, when he stayed out all night, my feelings for him had long since worn out.

The reason I hadn’t divorced yet was that I didn’t want my daughter to be mocked by other children for being fatherless.

My daughter was gone now. The last bond between us was gone. He actually still thought he could manipulate me as he did in the past.

“Don’t you want a divorce? I’ll sign it now. The agreement you brought doesn’t comply with domestic law at all. Although you manage the Walton Group, the ownership belongs to the Walton Family.”

“The company is our pre-marital property. Even the car you drive now, our house and every penny you’ve spent over the years all came from the Walton Group and are my personal property. Sign this divorce agreement and you can get out.”

Howell hadn’t expected me to actually agree to a divorce.

He looked flustered for a moment and said, “It’s not like there’s no way around it. You made Rowena cry, so why not apologize to her? Rowena is very concerned about her reputation. If you just kneel down and kowtow to her a few times, everything will be over…”