I secretly sent Stella’s first love, the one she’d harbored for ten years, overseas. That very night, Stella kidnapped our daughter, who had just graduated high school, and hid her at a remote reservoir. A ticking time bomb was strapped to her body. Her eyes were eerily calm, as if she was just negotiating a deal. “David, you’d better tell me where Noah is. Otherwise, our daughter will be blown to bits because of you.” I screamed, losing it, “That’s your daughter too!” Stella didn’t flinch. She just glanced at the time. “You have ten minutes.” Agony ripped through me as I revealed Noah’s whereabouts, in exchange for the reservoir’s address. I ran, desperate, to the location. I saw my daughter tied up, and the rapidly shrinking countdown on the bomb— 00:00:59 00:00:58 00:00:57 My hands trembled as I frantically fumbled with the ropes. But the bomb on Chloe, it just wouldn’t come off. The sound of the countdown shrinking pounded in my ears, like a death knell. Tears streamed down my face. I wished it was me tied up there. “Don’t be scared, sweetie. Daddy will save you. Daddy won’t let anything happen to you…” Chloe’s face was deathly pale. She was crying, saying goodbye to me. “Daddy, you have to go. Don’t try to untie it. I’m so happy to have been your daughter in this life. And Mom, you can have another sibling in the future. Don’t be sad for me…” Even then, Chloe didn’t know the person who kidnapped her was the very ‘Mom’ she spoke of. Tears wouldn’t stop falling. My emotions were spiraling out of control. I called Stella, begging for help. “Tell me! Which wire do I cut to disarm the bomb?!” Stella scoffed, her voice laced with suppressed fury. “Red. Cut the red one.” The next second, the call was abruptly cut. I stared at the countdown, found the red wire, and pulled it with all my might. The red wire snapped. Then, with a deafening *BOOM*, the explosion rocked the ground. I was thrown ten feet back by the impact. Ignoring the searing pain, I opened my eyes to find Chloe, but all I saw was a bloody mess. “Chloe—!” I couldn’t understand how this happened. I cut the red wire, exactly as Stella told me. I crawled over, cradling Chloe’s mangled body, sobbing so hard I couldn’t breathe. In the last moment, Chloe had pushed me away. But now, I could only watch her lie there. I mustered every ounce of strength to carry Chloe on my back, called for an ambulance, and stumbled onto the road. I was covered in blood – some mine, most hers. The doctors and nurses arrived quickly. They gasped in horror at Chloe’s condition. “Quick, rush her to emergency!” I waited outside the operating room. The nurses tried to treat my wounds, but I refused. I prayed again and again, offering my own life in exchange for Chloe’s. But what awaited me was a critical condition notice. I fell to my knees, grabbing the doctor’s scrubs, begging him, my forehead scraping the ground. “Please, save my daughter. She just graduated high school. Her life was just beginning…” The doctor looked pained. After a moment, he said, “I’m truly helpless. In this situation, only top specialists might be able to save her.” I rushed to beg the specialists as the doctor suggested, only to find out they had all been pulled away. And the one who pulled them away was my wife, Stella. I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. My hands shaking, I called Stella again. “Stella, Chloe is dying, she needs emergency help! You have to let the specialists—” Before I could finish, Stella cut me off, her voice icy. “David, there’s a limit to your lies. Don’t think you can use Chloe to trick me into coming home.” I pleaded, broken, “I’m telling the truth! Chloe was injured by the bomb!” Stella’s voice grew even colder. “Enough! Those bombs were fake! How could they hurt Chloe?! You’re truly a ruthless man, fabricating such lies!” The next second, the call was slammed shut. When I tried to call back, her phone was off. I collapsed to the ground, utterly shattered.
I pleaded for hours, my face smeared with blood from kowtowing, but I couldn’t get any specialists to save my daughter. Back in the ward, I looked at Chloe, her body a raw mess on the bed, and wept uncontrollably. “Chloe, I’m so sorry. Daddy is useless…” Daddy can’t save you. Chloe’s eyes slowly turned to me, her lips trembling. I leaned closer to hear her voice. “Daddy…don’t be sad…I…it doesn’t hurt…” “Mom…where is she…I want to talk to her…” “If I don’t say it…now…it might be too late…” Tears streamed down my face. I couldn’t bring myself to tell Chloe the truth. How cruel would it be for her to know that her own mother, for another man, had bombed her? She was the daughter Stella had longed for, cherished for so many years. We were once such a happy family of three. I didn’t know why things had turned out this way. I pulled out my phone to call Stella again, but it was still off. I called her assistant instead. He finally answered. I heard a voice on the other end: “Ms. Jiang, it’s Mr. David. He says Miss Chloe has something she wants to tell you.” Stella sounded annoyed, “It’s just another one of his excuses. From now on, hang up whenever he calls.” I wanted to scream that it wasn’t an excuse, that Chloe was really dying. But before I could say a word, the call was disconnected. When I turned and met Chloe’s sorrowful gaze, my heart felt like it was being ripped apart by a giant hand. “Mom…doesn’t want to talk?…Is it because…I didn’t do well on my last test…” “Daddy, please…tell Mom I’m sorry…” “Daddy, will Mom…be sad for me…after I die?” Hearing Chloe’s words, my heart ached so much I could barely breathe. Chloe had always craved her mother’s approval, studying exceptionally hard. But Stella’s heart had long since drifted away from her. I clutched Chloe’s hand, shaking my head violently. “No, darling, Mom…Mom is just busy. She doesn’t know.” “Chloe, don’t fall asleep. Look at Daddy…Just hold on a little longer. You’ll see Mom soon…” I kept calling, but the calls were hung up again and again. Broken and desperate, I could only hold Chloe’s hand, begging her to wait. But I watched as Chloe slowly closed her eyes, her hand slipping from my grasp. In an instant, the world spun around me. My vision went black, and I collapsed, losing consciousness. When I opened my eyes again, I stared at the white ceiling, momentarily disoriented. I felt like I’d had a terrible nightmare. Then I heard a nurse’s voice nearby: “Ms. Jiang pulled all our hospital’s specialists to standby, just for her beloved’s check-up. So enviable.” “But that father and daughter yesterday, they were so pitiful. I heard the girl who died had just finished high school. Oh, I guess some people are just born with different fates.” They didn’t know that the girl who died yesterday was Ms. Jiang’s own daughter. Tears slid from the corners of my eyes. I didn’t want to open them. I hated so much. Stella, you killed our daughter. I pulled out the IV needle from my hand and got out of bed. As I stepped out, I unexpectedly saw Stella, carefully supporting Noah, treating him like a rare treasure. “Stella, I told you I’m fine. You just had to make me get checked.” Stella’s voice was gentle, devoid of the cold ruthlessness she showed me. “No, it’s not enough. I’ll only be at ease after your check-up.” I watched the scene, my eyes burning. When we first got together, Stella was just as meticulous with me. If I even scraped my skin, she wouldn’t rest until the family doctor had checked me over. After Chloe was born, if she had a fever, Stella would worry and care for her all night. If Chloe coughed a few times, Stella would personally炖 (stew) her some rock sugar pear soup. She said Chloe was the crystallization of our love. I once believed we would live happily ever after. But a few years later, other men started appearing in her life. She started coming home late, and spent less time with Chloe. And now, to find out Noah’s whereabouts, she kidnapped and bombed our daughter. To give Noah a full body check, she left Chloe with no medical care, just waiting to die. Poor Chloe, even in her last moments, she was still thinking of her mother… More tears fell. The pain in my chest had begun to turn numb.
I didn’t even have the strength to confront her. I turned, wanting to leave. But Noah pointed in my direction, a timid expression on his face. “It’s… Mr. David… Why is he here? Is he trying to send me away again?” He nervously clutched Stella’s clothes, as if he was terrified of me. Stella’s brows furrowed. Her cold, piercing gaze instantly swept over me. “David, you really don’t give up, do you? You actually followed me to the hospital!” She ordered her bodyguards to restrain me. I struggled, and blood started to seep from the back of my hand. Stella saw it and sneered, “Using a pity play now?” “Yesterday you lied about Chloe being injured by a bomb, today you’re faking your own bleeding. Tell me, what’s next? Are you going to buy an urn next and set up a whole funeral service?” I sharply raised my head, my eyes burning with intense hatred. “Stella, do you have any heart?! Chloe is dead! You killed her with that bomb!” Stella froze, startled by my frantic state. A flicker of hesitation crossed her face. Noah stepped forward, frowning slightly, and spoke disapprovingly. “Stella arranged for fake bombs. How could they possibly kill little Chloe? Mr. David, if you’re going to make up a story, at least make it believable.” “I know you don’t want me near Stella, but you can’t joke about Chloe’s life.” Stella’s face instantly turned cold. “David, having a father like you is Chloe’s biggest disgrace!” I stared at Stella in disbelief. Chloe was dead, and she still thought I was lying. I wanted to laugh, but tears hit the floor first. It didn’t matter anymore. Chloe was gone. Nothing else mattered. I got up from the ground, wanting only to find Chloe. But Stella had her bodyguards firmly pin me to the ground, her words chillingly cruel. “You will kneel here and reflect. When you realize your mistake, then you can get up.” She walked away with Noah, leaving me kneeling there, surrounded by the passing crowds. I tried to stand, but every time I moved, a bodyguard would kick me in the back of the knee. I crashed onto the floor, blood already seeping from my knees. I turned, glaring at them. “Don’t you dare forget who I am. How dare you stop me?!” The bodyguards were expressionless. “We only follow Ms. Jiang’s orders.” I was forced to kneel for ten hours. The blood beneath me had already stained the floor crimson, but I stubbornly tried to get up. When they kicked me again, my body went limp, and I passed out. The two bodyguards exchanged glances, then called Stella. “He fainted after only a few hours of kneeling? He must be faking it again. He’s at the hospital, he won’t die. Don’t bother with him.” When I woke up, I was still lying on the cold floor. The bodyguards were gone. Ignoring the pain in my knees, I staggered, leaning against the wall, to the morgue. But when I saw Chloe, there was a gaping hole in her chest. Her heart had been taken!
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