Chapter 2

I trembled with rage.

"Shut your mouth!"

"This is between me and my husband!"

Chloe immediately shrank back, burying her face into Julian's chest. "Julian, look at her... she's so aggressive..."

Julian's expression darkened instantly.

"Nora, who the hell do you think you're yelling at?"

"Chloe is ten times more considerate than you. At least she doesn't harass me with petty nonsense all day."

Petty nonsense?

Our daughter was dying.

In his eyes, her life was nothing more than petty nonsense.

My vision blurred black.

"Julian... I'm begging you. Just this once."

"Save Daisy!"

On the screen, Chloe sighed gently: "Julian, maybe just send her the money? Who knows, maybe she just wants that designer bag on sale..."

Before I could scream an explanation, Julian sneered: "Forget three thousand. I wouldn't give her three dollars!"

With that, the screen went black. The call was cut.

I froze in place.

The only sound left was the shrill, mechanical hum of hospital monitors.

I finally understood: Julian didn't care if Daisy lived or died.

He didn't care about me, either.

I looked down at the platinum wedding ring on my finger.

Julian had placed it there on our wedding day.

Back then, he had looked deep into my eyes and promised: "Nora, I'll spend the rest of my life making you happy."

In the end, it was all a lie.

Trembling, I pulled the ring off my finger.

The moment the icy metal slipped away,

I felt it.

Our marriage was dead.

It was the middle of the night. I searched everywhere until I found a single 24-hour pawnshop still open.

The shopkeeper inspected the ring under a jeweler's loupe for what felt like an eternity.

"The diamond isn't huge, and the cut is outdated. Three thousand, max."

I clutched my bag, tears streaming down my face. "Please, I'm begging you, just a little more... my baby's life is on the line..."

The owner finally softened. "Fine. Thirty-two hundred."

I practically snatched the cash from his hand and sprinted back to the hospital like a madwoman.

But I was still too late.

The doors to the emergency room were wide open.

The doctor pulled down his mask, his face heavy with defeat.

"I'm so sorry."

"She was brought in too late."

My brain exploded with a deafening ringing. All sound vanished.

I stood there, paralyzed, as if my very soul had been ripped out of my chest.

Until the nurse wheeled tiny Daisy out.

"Say your goodbyes."

My Daisy lay quietly on the narrow gurney.

Her little face was completely drained of color.

I threw myself over her, clutching her into my arms as tears poured uncontrollably.

"Daisy... Mommy's here..."

I rubbed her tiny, freezing hands frantically.

"Daisy, don't sleep..."

"Mommy will buy you anything you want, okay?"

"I'll never get mad at you for not finishing your homework again..."

"Please wake up and look at Mommy..."

The nurse turned away with red-rimmed eyes. Even the doctor stood in somber silence.

Suddenly, Daisy's tiny fingers twitched. Her heavy eyelids fluttered open, looking at me weakly.

"Mommy..."

Her breath was barely a whisper.

"You have to be... happy... Don't cry all the time... It hurts Daisy's heart..."

My heart shattered into a thousand jagged pieces. I broke down completely.

She offered a faint, sweet smile, just as innocent as when she was a toddler.

And then, the heart monitor let out a long, piercing tone.

Beep————————

Falling into utter, permanent silence.

When dawn broke, I sat alone on the freezing hospital bench, my tears long dried up.

My phone lit up. It was a text from Julian:

[Had enough of your tantrum?]

[Bring our daughter home.]

[Stop interfering with my work.]