Emily's POV

Sabrina walked toward me, smug and slow, holding the vial of antivenom between two perfectly manicured fingers.

Just as I reached out to take it, she let go.

The glass hit the floor and shattered instantly.

I stood frozen, staring in disbelief. But Sabrina leaned in, lowering her voice to a venomous whisper right beside my ear.

"Stupid woman. Why would I save your daughter? She should've died a long time ago. If she hadn't, how else would my baby be the only heir to Davidson Group?"

Whatever hope I had left was gone and snuffed out in a breath.

Something inside me snapped.

I lunged at her, knocking her onto the bed. My hands wrapped around her throat with a force I didn't know I had.

"You killed my daughter!" I screamed. "You're going to pay for it!"

She clawed at me, her eyes going wide, starting to roll back.

I used every ounce of strength, ignoring Gideon's furious shouts behind me, watching Sabrina's eyes roll back as she gasped for air.

She struggled and pleaded for help, but my mind was filled only with the image of my daughter in despair—Rosie's helpless, fading face.

All I could feel was rage, and my grip only tightened.

Then, a blast of electricity tore through me.

My body seized violently, collapsing to the ground as fresh pain erupted across my already gashed skin. The glass wounds from earlier open wider, now leaking yellow pus with the shock's flow.

I twitched on the cold floor, vision swimming.

When I looked up, Gideon was standing over me, anger in his eyes and holding an electric baton.

"Emily," he snapped, "you've lost your damn mind. You really tried to hurt Sabrina? Right in front of me? If anything happens to that baby, I swear to God I won't let you live!"

I laughed so hard my chest shook, until it felt cracked and hollow.

Through my tears, I pointed at him and choked out, "I am insane! You drove me insane! Gideon, you let our daughter die for the baby she's carrying!"

His face twisted, frowning like I'd insulted his intelligence.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'd never hurt my daughter. I told you that those snakes were fake!"

Just then, my phone rang.

I scrambled to answer it. The screen flashed with the hospital's number. I picked up immediately.

"Ma'am," the voice on the other end said, urgent and grim, "Your daughter is in full organ failure. She only has one breath left. You need to come quickly…"

The rest faded into static.

It felt like someone had carved a hole in my chest. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't even think.

I turned and bolted for the door.

Then I heard Sabrina scream. "Help!"

She turned to Gideon and yelled, "Gideon, she's coming at me with a knife!"

Before I could react, Gideon shouted, "Stop her!"

In seconds, several of his security men charged in and slammed me to the floor.

I kicked, thrashed, clawed like a wild animal, screaming from the depths of my soul, "Let me go! Let me go! I need to see my daughter. Rosie's waiting for me! She's waiting!"

Tears poured uncontrollably down my face, but all I saw was Gideon's look of pure disgust.

He walked to the tray, grabbed a syringe, and stepped toward me.

"No, please don't!" I begged, shaking my head in horror.

But the needle plunged into my arm before I could stop it. The chill of the sedative spread instantly, making the world around me blur at the edges.

As my body went limp, I heard Gideon's voice.

"She's completely lost it. Send her to the psych ward."

...

I had a dream. A long one. One that felt too soft to be real.

In the dream, I had just found out I was pregnant.

Gideon's face lit up with the pure joy of becoming a father. He pulled me into his arms, practically glowing.

"Emily, this is amazing," he said. "We're finally having a baby! Don't worry. From now on, I'll protect both of you. I won't let anything harm you ever."

Ten months later, I gave birth to our daughter.

Back then, Gideon's world revolved around us. He came home early from work every night just to cook for us. He canceled every meeting and dinner, just to be there to rock Rosie to sleep.

One time, if I had a tiny hangnail or if Rosie cried once in the middle of the night, he'd be distressed for hours.

Emily's POV

But everything changed when Sabrina showed up.

Gideon stopped being the loving husband who cherished me, stopped being the doting father who adored Rosie.

The dream shifted abruptly.

I heard Rosie's voice echo, pained and weak. “Mommy, it hurts so much… help me… please, help me…”

I reached out frantically, searching for her, but my hands grasped only emptiness. I suddenly woke up, the sharp scent of disinfectant burning in my nose.

As clarity returned, I tore the blanket off and stumbled out of bed, legs barely holding me upright, and ran straight for the emergency room.

I searched desperately—every bed, every corner—calling her name. But Rosie was nowhere to be found.

Lost and desperate, I didn't know what to do until I heard the nurses whispering behind the nurses' station.

"That little girl who got bitten by the venomous snake yesterday… what a shame. She could've been saved. All she needed was the antivenom."

"But in the end, she was dragged out too long. Died right there. Her face was black by the time she went…"

My heart plummeted into my stomach.

I turned and grabbed a nurse, my hands trembling violently.

"Where is she? Where's my daughter?"

The nurse jumped, clearly startled.

She hesitated, then stammered, "S-she was supposed to be in the morgue, but Mr. Davidson saw her body and said it was disgusting. He said it would bring bad luck to his wife's unborn baby, so he had her taken to the crematorium. Out back, behind the mountain…"

It was like ice filled my veins all at once.

I bolted, panic driving my feet faster than thought, sprinting for the back of the hospital, toward the mountain.

Images of Rosie's smile—bright, warm, alive—flashed through my mind. I begged for a miracle, for something, anything to still be possible.

But then, I saw her. That small, familiar body lying atop a mound of dirt.

My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the ground.

"Rosie!"

I crawled toward her, pulled her into my arms, and held her tight.

My hands shook as I reached to touch her face—her sweet little face, now so changed, barely resembling mine at all.

I couldn't stop it anymore. A mouthful of blood rose and spilled from my lips.

She was mine. My baby. Ten months inside me. My own flesh and blood.

How could this not rip me apart?

And just like that, she'd been killed. By her own father.

How utterly ridiculous. Cruel beyond comprehension.

I didn't know how long I stayed like that. Eventually, I wiped my tears and finished arranging her funeral by myself.

Once it was done, with nothing left inside me but a void, I made a call.

A number I'd memorized long ago.

"Hello. You've always wanted to bring Gideon Davidson down, haven't you? I can help you. But you have to promise me one thing..."

The call ended.

I held Rosie's ashes close as I took a cab back to the villa.

...

When I opened the door, the first thing I saw was the swing Rosie had loved most. Or what was left of it—shattered, dismantled, tossed aside like trash.

In its place stood a massive spinning pinwheel.

My chest heaved painfully as I clung to the death certificate, my fingers sore from gripping it so tightly.

In a haze, my mind drifted back to Rosie's first birthday party. Gideon had stayed up three nights in a row building that swing for us. He'd said he wanted to be the one to push us always.

But now, it was all gone. Now everything had changed.

I couldn't look at it anymore.

All right, I rushed into Rosie's room and selected a few of her favorite toys. I put them into the fire basin and arranged the brazier.

As I dropped each toy inside, I prayed they would bring her even a sliver of happiness on the other side.

Since her life here had been filled with nothing but pain, I was just about to burn the last toy when the door suddenly slammed open.

Sabrina stormed in and kicked over the brazier, scattering ash and embers across the floor with a single stomp.

"Look what we have here," Sabrina scoffed.

She glanced at Rosie's photo and then sneered, a sly smile spreading across her face.

"Well," Sabrina said, smug, "she's finally dead. Guess my little lie about using antivenom for scar prevention wasn't for nothing after all."

"Oh, right," she added, flipping her hair casually. "Did you know your daughter didn't even close her eyes when she died? Gideon was going to see her. But I faked a stomachache, and he had her body thrown out instead!"

She grinned at me maniacally and said, "Isn't that hilarious?"

Sabrina then clapped her hands, seemingly celebrating my daughter's death.

Emily's POV

A sharp, searing pain tore through my abdomen like every organ inside me was being shredded apart.

My vision blurred red.

I snapped.

Grabbing Sabrina by the hair, I repeatedly slammed her head into the wall without mercy.

Blood streamed down her face.

But she didn't cry. She didn't scream. She smiled, her face gleaming with sick satisfaction.

"Did you really think this would avenge your daughter?" she sneered. "Let me tell you something. It's far from over. This is only the beginning."

With a flick of her wrist, she pulled out a small doll from her pocket. Its cloth body was pierced with needles, and she tossed it into the nearby fire basin.

Then, like flipping a switch, she dropped to her knees in front of me and whimpered.

Her voice trembling with false guilt as she said, "Emily, I'm sorry… please don't hurt my unborn child… he's innocent…"

I hadn't even processed what she meant when a heavy boot crashed into my back.

The impact hurled me forward. My head cracked against the edge of the bed. Blood gushed down my forehead.

Dazed, I looked up to see Gideon crouched beside her, holding Sabrina close. She looked shaken, her face pale and eyes glassy, as if she was seconds from passing out.

"Emily," she cried out, gushing with fake tears, "I don't care if you hate me… but how could you be so cruel? Hurting my baby like this?"

Before I could say a word, Gideon came and hurled the doll straight at my face.

"Emily, how dare you!"

That's when I noticed it. The doll had Sabrina's birth date and time scribbled across it, along with a crudely drawn image of an infant.

I let out a dry, bitter laugh.

What a pathetic setup.

But of course, Gideon didn't even question it. He condemned me on the spot. Seeing the look on my face, he stepped toward me again, fists clenched, ready to strike.

But then, out of the corner of his eye, Gideon caught sight of Rosie's memorial photo and the still-smoking toys in the brazier.

His mood shifted in an instant. His face twisted with disgust and fury.

"What the hell is this supposed to mean?!" he barked. "Seriously, you bleached Rosie's picture out of jealousy? Emily, you don't deserve to be a mother!"

The second he mentioned Rosie, my chest heaved.

My hands curled into fists as my vision went red again.

"Gideon," I said, voice shaking with grief and fury, "don't you dare speak of her. You're a murderer!"

My pain must have finally registered, because for a fleeting moment, his face faltered.

Gideon's lips parted like he might actually say something.

But Sabrina pressed her face into his chest, trembling. "Gideon… that photo scares me. I think the baby's scared too…"

And just like that, whatever doubt had flickered vanished.

The warmth in his expression froze over.

He picked up Rosie's photo, his hand curling around it like a claw.

"No, don't!" I cried out, lunging forward. "Gideon, that's the only thing I have left of her—"

But I couldn't stop him. He tore the photo clean down the middle.

I stared at my daughter's image, now split in two, just as my heart was.

Tears spilled over, blurring everything.

I looked up at him, my voice hollow and raw. "Gideon, one day… you're going to regret this. I swear I'll be here to see it."

Gideon scoffed, his lips curling into a sneer. "It's just a photo. I'll never regret it."

But before the smugness could even settle on his face, Sabrina suddenly screamed.

"Ahhh, what is this thing? It feels so… heavy with death. The baby can't breathe!"

I turned sharply.

Sabrina was pointing at Rosie's urn.

Without thinking, I rushed forward to take it back. But Gideon shoved me to the floor hard. He grabbed the urn and pried it open.

The moment he saw the ashes inside, his rage boiled over.

"Emily, you did this on purpose, didn't you? You brought this nasty thing in here just to freak Sabrina out, so that she'd lose the baby! How the hell did I not see before how cruel you really are?"

I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood. I swallowed the scream rising in my throat.

"Gideon, just give her back to me," I said quietly. "I'll leave this house. I'll never bother you again."

His brow furrowed. "What the hell does that mean? Leave? What do you mean by leave?"

Emily's POV

"And Rosie? Why hasn't she come out to greet me?" Gideon asked.

I let out a cold, humorless laugh.

He still had the audacity to mention our daughter. But before I could even respond, Sabrina took the urn from his hands and extended it toward me. I rushed forward to take it, but in the very next second, she loosened her grip.

The urn slipped from her fingers and dropped directly into the fire basin. It vanished in an instant, swallowed by flames.

"No!"

My scream tore through the air.

Without a second thought, I plunged my hands into the fire. Blisters erupted instantly, burns of every size boiling across my skin.

But I didn't stop.

I dug frantically and desperately until the pain was unbearable. Still, I couldn't find even a single trace of my daughter's ashes.

I collapsed onto the floor, crumpling around the space where she used to be, wailing in pure anguish.

Behind me, Gideon looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

Then, as if none of it had mattered, he turned and walked away with Sabrina in his arms.

Just before he really left, he said, "I'll pretend none of this ever happened today. Tomorrow, bring Rosie to the company celebration. I'll publicly announce her as the Davidson Group's primary heir. That should satisfy you."

I said nothing.

I just clung to the empty wooden box like it was the only thing holding me together.

...

Gideon's POV

At the company celebration, I stood front and center, trying to hold it together while tension gnawed at my gut. Every second that passed without a glimpse of Emily or Rosie made it harder to stay calm.

I've already told her that I would make the public announcement she wanted from the beginning, but she wasn't here on the crucial day.

After a few long minutes, I couldn't take it anymore.

I turned sharply to my assistant and barked, "Where the hell are they? Why haven't you found them yet?!"

The guy flinched like I'd hit him, his face pale and mouth halfway open to respond when his phone rang.

He glanced down at the screen.

"It's the private investigator," he muttered.

"Put it on speaker," I said, without hesitation.

I figured it was good news that they'd finally tracked them down.

But the voice on the other end was shaky, almost too scared to speak.

"Sir Gideon, I've just finished a full investigation. And… I discovered that your daughter actually passed away two days ago."