On my daughter’s birthday, her only wish was simple, she just wanted her mother to take her to the amusement park.

Unfortunately, her mother, Regina, had other plans. To impress her first love, she went as far as renting out the entire city’s amusement park just for him.

When I arrived with our daughter, her assistant ripped up our tickets and scoffed, “This isn’t the time or place for jealousy. Director Seco is very busy.”

Through the fence, I saw exactly how busy Regina was: locked in a deep kiss with none other than Hector Galvez.

Our six-year-old Claudia, full of joy, wriggled under the barrier, calling out “Mommy!” and ran toward her with open arms.

Regina didn’t even hesitate. She kicked her away.

“You know Hector and I lost our baby. My emotions are all over the place. And you dare bring this little brat here to mess with me? You really are cruel,” she snapped.

Then, in front of my eyes, she shoved our sobbing daughter into the Drop Tower ride, slammed the start button and looked at me coldly.

“She begged and screamed to come play here, right? Well, now it’s all hers. So what’s she crying for?”

“No one’s allowed to stop the ride without my order,” she added. “Let her ride to her heart’s content. Maybe next time she’ll think twice before competing for attention.”

Then Regina walked off, arm in arm with her ex, leaving behind an empty park. She’d dismissed every employee on site.

By the time I shattered the control room glass and got to my daughter, blood from the ride had already soaked through the pavement.

I cradled her broken body and collapsed to my knees just as Gloria arrived, breathless.

“Regina killed my daughter,” I choked out. “She needs to pay. I’ll make her pay—”

——

“There’s still a chance!” a doctor who served the Seco family shouted after checking for a pulse. “We can still save her. We need to get her to a hospital — now!”

When we got to the emergency entrance, Regina’s assistant blocked our way again.

I fell to my knees, begging, forehead hitting the ground over and over.

“If Regina wants revenge, let her take it out on me! Just please, please let my daughter get help!”

Even Gloria, Regina's mother, pushed the assistant with all her might. “If you cost my granddaughter her life, I swear I’ll bury you with her!”

That’s when the assistant finally noticed the blood pouring from my daughter’s body. Panic instantly set in.

“But… all the doctors in this hospital were transferred by Director Seco,” someone finally said.

“Unbelievable!” Grandpa Frank shouted and immediately called around to other hospitals. However, every answer was the same.

Regina had pulled every doctor in Riveradale—all of them—spending a fortune to “prepare her body” for pregnancy, all in an effort to give Hector a replacement child.

My arms were shaking uncontrollably as I held my daughter’s body, her warmth slipping away by the second.

Then, we heard footsteps rushing toward us from the hallway.

“Director Seco sent me over…” someone said.

I leapt to my feet, hopeful—but he wasn’t a doctor. He was a food delivery guy.

“Ms. Seco asked me to bring these,” he said, handing over a bag. “She also told me to pass along a message: ‘It’s just some bleeding. She’s not dead. Don’t bother me over every little thing.’”

Gloria slapped the bag out of his hands. Band-aids spilled across the floor as she clutched her chest and collapsed against the wall.

“That bastard Galvez! He stole 300 million from the company and vanished, left us in ruins! Now he just waltzes back in and turns this family upside down. And Gina... she’s so blinded by him, she’d throw away her own child without a second thought. I swear, I’m not letting him get away with this.”

“I’m calling Gina right now. She’s going to come here and apologize for her unreasonable acts!”

No one answered. Instead, my phone rang.

I picked up and Regina’s voice came through, tight with suppressed rage.

“Luciano, seriously? Are you just trying to make my life harder today? If you hadn’t been so damn selfish, I never would’ve lost the baby with Hector. He’s devastated. And now I can’t even be with him without you dragging my mom into this mess?”

“And your daughter? God, she’s just like you — entitled and over-the-top. A little blood and it’s the end of the world? I’m not a doctor, okay? What do you expect me to do?”

“You wanted the amusement park? Fine. Hector and I had gave up our time for you. Your kid was bleeding? I had sent over some band-aids. But if you come up with one more excuse to interrupt me and Hector today, I swear I won’t let it slide.”

Regina was still yelling through the phone, but I wasn’t listening anymore.

I just held my daughter tighter, calling her name, gently rubbing her little hands that had already gone cold and stiff.

“Regina,” I said quietly, “It doesn't matter if you want to believe me or not, but I never did anything to harm your baby with Hector. I didn’t even know you had one.”

I felt like the life had been drained from me. “Fact remains that you killed my daughter. I want a divorce.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line before I heard Regina scoff coldly.

“Still trying to play the victim, huh? Luciano, your performance is getting old.”

Then she hung up.

I stood there in a daze, still cradling my daughter’s body and walked over to Gloria.

The moment she saw us, she knew. Her eyes welled with tears. There was no saving Claudia now.

“This is my fault,” she whispered. “I should’ve never forced you to marry Regina just because I once saved your life. I used that debt to make you save the Seco Enterprises when we were drowning.”

Then she looked at me, her voice shaking.

“But Luciano… for the sake of everything we’ve been through, please… give Gina one more chance. Before Hector came back, you three were happy. She did love you. It’s just… she’s been blinded by him all over again.”

Her words stirred up memories I’d buried.

Ten years ago, Hector had left Regina in the hospital after a car crash, stole 300 million from the company and vanished. The Seco Enterprises collapsed overnight. They couldn’t even afford Regina’s hospital bills.

That’s when Gloria came to me. I was already a rising executive at a rival firm. She was an old woman then, but she still knelt in front of me, begging me to marry Regina and take over the failing Seco Enterprises.

And I said yes.

I had never forgotten how, when I was just a boy, Gloria had saved my mother’s life by finding a specialist when no one else could. She had paid for my schooling all the way through college.

I agreed to marry Regina out of gratitude.

Over the next three years, I rebuilt Seco Enterprises from the ground up. I stayed by Regina’s side through her stroke recovery, from her hospital bed to the wheelchair and eventually to her feet again.

After she gave birth to our daughter, I stepped away from work and devoted myself entirely to raising Claudia, so Regina could return to the career she loved.

For ten years, I gave everything I had to Regina and the Seco family. Now… I had lost my daughter. The only gift the Secos ever gave me was gone.

I looked at Gloria, tears streaming down her face and slowly shook my head.

“I gave her ten years of my life. My marriage. She didn’t deserve to throw that away like it meant nothing.”

“I repaid my debt to the Secos ten years ago. Now it’s time Regina repaid hers, to me.”

With burning eyes, I carried Claudia to the morgue.

The moment the mortuary attendant left after returning Claudia’s personal belongings, my whole body trembled.

“Claudia,” I whispered, “Daddy will make this right. I swear I’ll get justice for you.”

Gloria couldn’t stop crying.

“I’ve caused you so much pain... I have no right to stop you now. But Luciano, if Gina ever comes to her senses — if she truly changes — could you find it in your heart to give her another chance?”

I wiped away the last tear from my cheek and looked her straight in the eyes.

“When Claudia was crying and begged Regina to come, why couldn’t she give her daughter one more chance?”

Then I turned and walked out, Claudia’s death certificate clenched tightly in my hand.

I went home to pack up our things, mine and Claudia’s.

The moment I opened the door, I was hit by a thick, sickening scent... and the floor was littered with Smurf toys scattered on the floor.

Hector looked up at me, eyes glinting with smug satisfaction. He didn’t even stop. In fact, he moved harder, more deliberate.

“Gina,” he said mockingly, “your husband’s back. Should I get going? Or are you gonna make him watch? You know how he gets. Poor Claudia… had to start faking tears and playing games just to keep her daddy from losing it. Kid was a real little actress.”

“Luciano! Don’t you dare walk away from me!” Regina snapped. “You think I’m just gonna let this slide? You killed Hector’s baby—and I haven’t even started holding you accountable for that. What, you think I won’t come after you?”

“I already told you, I didn’t even know you were pregnant, let alone hurt anyone,” I said, voice cold and flat. “And I’m tired of saying it. Believe whatever the hell you want.”

She let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “Keep telling yourself that. It won’t change anything. Truth is, you were never fit to be Claudia’s father anyway. Maybe it’s time I let Hector take over, let him be her dad.”

I didn’t respond. I just turned and headed upstairs. But Regina grabbed my arm, her tone shifting.

“Fine, if you won’t let Hector raise Claudia, then I’ll give him another baby. But you’d better not get jealous — if he’s staying, you need to accept that.”

“Do whatever you want,” I said flatly.

A flicker of uncertainty passed through her eyes before she sneered again.

“If you’re really that understanding, then clear out the master bedroom. Hector and I will need it — you know, for the baby-making. And while you're at it, grab us some wipes and rip open some more of those damn Smurfs.”

“Oh, and Hector got a little too excited earlier — tore one of my limited-edition lingerie pieces. Be a dear and stitch it up for me.”

She hurled a piece of damp and torn fabric at me, with a crushed Smurf doll. The edge of the foil packaging sliced across my cheek, leaving a shallow but bleeding cut.

Disgusted, I shook the lingerie off my shoulder and hurled the toy straight at them.

“You done now? Or do I get to leave?”

Regina blinked, unsure for the first time. Meanwhile, Hector still sprawled half-naked beside her. He just smirked and picked up right where they’d left off.

I didn’t care. I turned away from their sick little scene and headed upstairs without another word.

In my room, I carefully folded Claudia’s tiny clothes and laid them in her suitcase. Then I pulled out the photo album, the one I had made just for her.

Page after page, her bright little face smiled back at me like she was still here, full of life. Then, the heavy unstoppable tears came.

Just a day ago, my daughter was still talking to me.

“Daddy, don’t be sad,” she had said. “Mom’s just really busy with work, that’s why she can’t be with us.”

“Mom works so hard… so this year, I won’t wish for her to come to the amusement park with me. I’ll wish for her to finally get a day to rest.”

I sobbed into the tiny shirt that still carried her scent. Claudia was so thoughtful, always trying to understand her mother. Yet, her mother chose to send her to her death on her birthday of all days.

After packing up all of Claudia’s things, I called my lawyer and made arrangements to leave.

As I came downstairs, I stopped short at the sight in the kitchen, two barely-dressed bodies tangled together against the counter. Hector’s exposed chest was covered in red marks, as if proudly showing off their night.

“Mr. Andino,” he said with fake concern, “Gina only did this to make up for the pain you caused me. Don’t blame her. And maybe stop filling a kid’s head with your bitterness. What if she grows up to be just like you?”

Then, with an exaggerated sigh, he added, “I heard today’s Claudia’s birthday? What a shame. It also happens to be the 5,200th day since Gina and I first met. She swore she’d celebrate every one of our milestones in style. Guess that’s why she ditched you two.”

He smiled, full of smug pride despite his supposed apology. “Anyway, I baked a mango cake for you both, a peace offering. I hope you’ll accept it.”

I didn’t have the energy to respond to his acts. I just wanted to bury my daughter and be done with this nightmare.

As I silently left, Regina misunderstood. She thought I was giving Hector the cold shoulder.

“Where the hell are you going?” she snapped.

Then she ordered one of the bodyguards to grab me. The man shoved me forward, slamming me face-first onto the kitchen counter.

“Did your manners rot along with your pride, Luciano?” Regina sneered. “Hector is being kind enough not to hold a grudge against you or your brat and you stand there acting like you’re too good for us?”