To spend a romantic birthday with her high school sweetheart, my wife put sleeping pills into our sick, crying daughter’s baby bottle. The baby fell into a deep sleep, allowing them to enjoy a romantic, uninterrupted night. When I got home, I found our daughter wouldn’t wake up. By the time I rushed her to the hospital, it was too late. I called my wife, but she only snapped impatiently over the phone: “Are you seriously trying to ruin things just because I’m celebrating Julian’s birthday? I’ll come home when it’s over.” Then, she hung up and turned off her phone. She had no idea that her romantic date night had just cost our daughter her life. I walked through the door at seven in the morning. Only our nanny, Mrs. Gable, was in the living room. When she saw me, a worried look crossed her face. “Mr. Sterling, Lily slept through the whole night without waking up or crying for her bottle. I tried to wake her up just now, but she wouldn’t budge. I was just about to call you.” I rushed into my daughter’s nursery. Lily lay there, looking like a little sleeping angel. “Lily? Lily, baby.” I called her name, but there was no response. I pinched her tiny hand. Still nothing. Cold dread washed over me. I looked up and asked, “Where is Chloe?” Mrs. Gable replied, “Mrs. Sterling called me last night and told me to watch Lily. She was already gone by the time I arrived, and she hasn’t been back all night. Lily was already asleep when I got here.” I called Chloe. She picked up, her voice thick with sleep. “What is it? Why are you calling so early? I told you, it’s Julian’s birthday. I stayed over at my friend’s house last night.” I didn’t care where she was. I just wanted answers. “Was Lily feeling sick yesterday? Did you give her any medicine? She’s been asleep all night and won’t wake up. She’s completely unresponsive.” Chloe paused for a second before raising her voice defensively. “She’s just tired and sleeping in. What is there to worry about?” “Lily is only eight months old!” I yelled. “It’s impossible for her to be this deep asleep!” Chloe groaned in irritation. “She was crying and screaming last night for no reason. She wouldn’t stop! So I put a little sleeping pill in her formula.” My brain went entirely numb. A loud ringing filled my ears. “Chloe Vance! Your daughter is only eight months old! Are you out of your mind? Do you want to kill her? How much did you give her?!” She hesitated, her voice suddenly trembling slightly. “Not… not that much. Just one pill. I take them all the time and I’m fine. What could a tiny dose do? Ethan, stop making a scene out of nothing.” With that, she hung up. I turned to the nanny, my voice shaking. “Hold Lily. We’re going to the ER. Now!” At the hospital, the doctor’s face turned pale the moment I explained the situation. Lily was rushed straight into the trauma bay. A nurse stood outside, looking at me with pure disgust. “How could you give sleeping pills to an infant? Are you people even human? How could you be such terrible parents?” I clenched my teeth, tears burning my eyes. “Please, nurse, save my daughter. I don’t care about the cost. I’ll pay anything. Just save her.” “If you cared so much, you should have been more careful before this happened,” she snapped. A few minutes later, a nurse ran out. “How many sleeping pills did she ingest? We need the exact dosage. It’s critical for her resuscitation.” “Her mother said… she said just one,” I stammered. The red light over the operating room stayed on. No other doctors came out. I don’t know how much time passed before a doctor finally walked out. His face was grim. “The dosage she took was far more than just one pill. And she was brought in way too late. We did everything we could, but she didn’t make it. I’m so sorry for your loss.” My mind went blank. My entire body froze. I could barely force the words out of my throat. “No… that’s impossible. How could my daughter be dead? She’s only eight months old.” When they wheeled Lily out, I threw myself over her small body, touching her cold cheek. “Lily, wake up. Look at Daddy. Please, Lily…” My tears fell hot and fast onto her quiet face. Her eyes were closed, looking exactly as if she were taking a normal nap. I looked up at the doctor, begging. “Look at her, she’s just sleeping. How can she be dead? Doctor, please, look again. Check her again!” Mrs. Gable stood beside me, sobbing into her hands. “It’s all my fault. If only I had realized something was wrong in the middle of the night…” “Lily was so sweet, always smiling… she was such a beautiful baby.” With trembling hands, I dialed Chloe’s number. It rang and rang. On the ninth attempt, she finally answered, her voice dripping with annoyance. “Are you seriously trying to ruin things just because I’m celebrating Julian’s birthday? I’ll come home when it’s over!” In the background, I heard Julian’s smooth, relaxed voice. “Babe, come eat breakfast.” Chloe hung up on me before I could say a single word. When I tried calling back, her phone was turned off. She said she was staying at a girlfriend’s house, but she was with Julian. It was all so clear now. I closed my eyes. Chloe, in your eyes, the happiness of this family doesn’t even compare to a single birthday date with Julian.
I gently lifted Lily into my arms. This was my daughter, and this was the last bit of warmth I could ever give her. I held her tight against my chest and kissed her forehead. “Baby, don’t be scared. Daddy will come see you every day. Just wait for me, okay? Daddy will come keep you company soon. Sleep tight, my sweet girl.” My tears flowed uncontrollably, but I couldn’t even make a sound. I felt as if my heart had been ripped out of my chest, thrown into the dirt, and trampled on. I was broken beyond repair. I handled Lily’s funeral arrangements completely alone, eventually bringing back a small urn. By the time I returned home, I didn’t care if Chloe was back or when she would ever return. I walked into Lily’s nursery. Her mobile was still hanging over her crib, and her playmat and toys were scattered across the floor, as if waiting for her to come back and play. I curled up on the rug next to her crib, clutching the little stuffed bunny she slept with every night. Holding it tightly, I cried myself to sleep in the dark, imagining my baby was still in my arms. I was barely asleep when I heard the front door open. A man and a woman were talking. The woman was my wife, Chloe, and the man—I didn’t even have to guess—was Julian. “Ugh, Ethan isn’t even home yet,” Chloe grumbled, her voice filled with annoyance and contempt. “The house is pitch black. Just because I went out to celebrate your birthday for a few days, he’s probably going to give me the silent treatment again.” “He’s always like this. Whenever you’re involved, Ethan gets so paranoid and insecure. I honestly don’t know what I was thinking when I married such a petty, narrow-minded man.” Julian comforted her smoothly. “Don’t be mad, babe. Maybe he just loves you too much. Or maybe we should stop seeing each other so often. You know I hate seeing you suffer because of me.” “Don’t worry about him,” Chloe dismissed him. “He’s just dramatic.” “We’ve been away traveling for a few days,” Julian asked softly. “Is Lily going to be okay?” Chloe brushed it off. “What could possibly happen to her? If anything was wrong, Ethan would have called to start a fight days ago. See? Not a single call or text from him these past few days.” I clenched my fists, suppressing the raging fire inside me. Of course I didn’t call or text you. You blocked my number on everything. “You must be exhausted after our trip,” Julian said tenderly. “Get some rest. I’ll head out now.” But Chloe stopped him. “Julian, stay. It’s late, and Ethan isn’t even here anyway. He probably took Lily to his parents’ house. You know his parents have always hated me. I can’t be bothered to call and ask them to bring her back.” Julian sighed. “Chloe, have you really been unhappy and miserable these past few years? It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t left back then, Ethan would have never had the chance to marry you. That is the biggest regret of my life.” “Chloe, if you’re truly unhappy, will you give me a chance? A chance to make you happy. Can we start over?” I quietly cracked the door open. Through the gap, I saw Chloe throw herself into Julian’s arms, her eyes red as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Julian, you know you’re the only man I’ve ever loved. Yes, I want to be with you.” “If Ethan hadn’t forced me to marry him in exchange for saving Vance Enterprises, I would have never married him! You have no idea how sick to my stomach I feel every time I have to lie next to him, Julian.” “I have never loved him. I even gave him a daughter—I’ve paid him back everything I owed. Now, I just want to be with you.” A bitter ache pierced my chest. What did our years of marriage mean to her? Just a debt to be paid? She claimed she had only ever loved Julian. In her eyes, I was just a villain who had taken advantage of her family’s misfortune. But she never stopped to think: without me, how could she still be living this lavish lifestyle? How could she still be the high-society heiress of the Vance family? Without my money, she would have been ruined long ago. I met Chloe at a charity gala. At the time, Vance Enterprises was facing a massive financial crisis. If they didn’t get an immediate cash injection, they were going to go bankrupt. Her family had brought her to the gala specifically to auction her off to some wealthy businessman in exchange for a marriage alliance to save their company. Everyone knew what was happening. The way the wealthy men looked at her was disgusting—like she was a piece of meat on display. Chloe was being mocked and humiliated by a group of wealthy heiresses. She looked like she was about to burst into tears, but she didn’t dare leave. I couldn’t stand seeing her suffer, so I stepped in and defended her. That was how we met.
I admit, it was love at first sight for me. She knew it, and she knew exactly what I could offer. Under my pursuit, she quickly agreed to marry me—on the condition that I bail out Vance Enterprises. I knew she had a first love who had gone abroad, but I truly believed that if I treated her with absolute devotion, our years of marriage and our beautiful daughter would make her love me back. It turned out to be nothing but a foolish, one-sided delusion. To her, I was an eyesore she couldn’t stand to look at, and Lily was just an unwanted burden. Looking at the two of them locking lips in my living room, I threw the door open with a loud SLAM, startling them apart. Julian’s face turned pale when he saw me standing there, my expression dark as storm clouds. Chloe immediately stepped in front of Julian, shielding him. “Ethan, if you have a problem, take it out on me! This has nothing to do with Julian!” She raised her chin defiantly. “You know I’ve never loved you. I only married you because my parents and you forced me into it! Now that Julian is back, I realize I still love him. I refuse to spend the rest of my life in misery.” “Don’t think your money gives you the right to control me. I’m not afraid of you anymore.” “Let’s get a divorce. You can keep our daughter—I don’t want her. We’ll split the assets fifty-five. You shouldn’t have a problem with that, right?” I took a step forward, my eyes bloodshot. With a swift movement, I slapped her hard across the face. SLAP! The force knocked her onto the couch. Julian rushed forward, grabbing my collar. “How dare you hit Chloe! I’ll kill you!” The thought that my daughter died because of him made my blood boil. Hatred consumed me. I threw a brutal punch straight into his face, over and over again, completely losing control. Chloe panicked and threw herself onto me to pull me back. “Ethan, are you insane?! I’m calling the police!” I shoved her away. Staring down at Julian, who was bleeding on the floor, I turned my murderous gaze to Chloe. “Chloe, you want a divorce? Fine. If you want me to sign, bring our daughter to me. Hand Lily over, and I will sign.” Hand her over? A sharp pain pierced my heart. Let’s see how you’re going to hand our daughter back to me. Chloe looked thrilled. “Really? You better keep your word!” I nodded slowly. “I always keep my word. Go ask her if she’s willing to go with you.” Chloe scoffed. “You’re the one who raised her. She always smiles whenever she sees you. Of course she’ll be willing. If she smiles, it means yes.” If only she could smile… If Lily could still smile at me, I would gladly give up everything I own. She walked into Lily’s nursery. A moment later, she called out in confusion. “Where is Lily? Did you leave her at your parents’ house again? I told you, stop leaving her there. We need to raise our child ourselves.” I let out a cold, mocking laugh. “Raise her ourselves? You? Since when do you care about raising her? Other than shopping, high tea, spa days, and spending my money, when have you ever spent a single second with her?” “When Lily was born, you said you didn’t want your body ruined, so you refused to breastfeed her for even a single day. She had to drink formula, and her immune system was always weak.” “You said you didn’t know how to take care of a baby, so I hired a professional nanny.” “You said her crying kept you awake at night, so Lily slept with me every single night.” “As a mother, what did you actually do? You drugged her with sleeping pills just so you could go screw around with your lover? You murdered her!” Chloe jumped up defensively. “What lover?! Julian and I are completely innocent!” “Innocent?” I sneered. “Affair during our marriage is innocent? Making out with another man in our home while your husband is away is innocent?!” Julian struggled to stand up, wiping blood from his mouth. “It’s just a sleeping pill. She’ll just sleep it off and wake up fine. Why do you have to be so dramatic and blow this out of proportion?” My eyes flared with rage. “What the hell did you just say? Sleep it off?!” Chloe crossed her arms. “What do you want from me? What’s done is done. Why are you acting like a psycho?” My anger reached its boiling point. “What do I want? Chloe, why don’t you take a good look at what you’ve actually done?!” I grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the dining table. She screamed, struggling against my grip. “What are you doing?! Let go of me!” But in the next second, her scream died in her throat as her eyes landed on Lily’s framed portrait and the small urn resting on the table.
Chloe’s hand trembled violently as she pointed at the urn and the photo. “What… what is that?” “Ethan, you’ve completely lost your mind! Just to win an argument with me, you’re cursing our daughter to death?!” I snatched the death certificate from under the urn and slammed it onto her face. “Open your eyes and read every single word on this paper! Read what it is!” With shaking hands, Chloe unfolded the paper. There, in cold black and white, was Lily’s name and her time of death. The color drained from her face. She stumbled backward, dropping the paper to the floor. “No… this is a lie. How could Lily be dead? How did she die? Ethan, how did the nanny watch her?!” I grabbed her by her chin, dragging her forcefully in front of Lily’s portrait. “You drugged your daughter with sleeping pills just to go on a date, leaving her completely alone in the house, and now you’re blaming the nanny?! Chloe, you are Lily’s mother! Is everyone else completely worthless to you compared to Julian?!” “You are so cold-blooded that you drugged your own flesh and blood. The doctor said the dosage was far more than just one pill. Tell me! How many did you give her?! Speak!” Tears streamed down her face as panic finally took over. “I don’t know… Julian was the one who poured it…” Julian stood frozen in place, whispering in shock. “I only put in two pills… but you told me to put in more so she would fall asleep faster…” Chloe began to shake violently. She grabbed my hand, sobbing. “Ethan, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to. Lily wouldn’t stop crying… she just kept crying…” I wanted nothing more than to choke the life out of her. “She was just a baby! You’re her mother! Just to go fool around, you actually did this? Are you insane?! Give me back my daughter!” My grip tightened around her neck. As her face turned purple, a sudden wave of clarity washed over me. I couldn’t let her off this easily. Death was too quick an escape. I had so much more planned for her. I threw her to the ground. “Chloe, we are getting a divorce. Now, take your lover and get the hell out of my house. If you stay one more second, I swear to God I will kill you both.” Chloe wrapped her arms around my leg, sobbing hysterically. “Ethan, no! I didn’t mean what I said about the divorce! I love Lily, I swear!” I kicked her away. “Get out, Chloe. Don’t let me ever see your face again. When I loved you, you could get away with anything. But now that I don’t, you are nothing but a corpse to me.” “But dying is too easy. Don’t think you’re getting off scot-free. Everyone has to pay for their sins, and you are no exception.” Chloe packed her bags and left with Julian that very night. The next morning, my lawyer contacted Chloe with the divorce papers. She called me immediately, screaming into the phone. “Why do I have to walk away with absolutely nothing?!” I replied nonchalantly, “We signed a prenuptial agreement. Did you really think you could touch the Sterling family assets? Aren’t you afraid of choking on them? The money I poured into the Vance family during our marriage—I’m already being incredibly generous by not clawing it all back. And you still want a fifty-fifty split? Chloe, I knew you were heartless, but I didn’t know you were this greedy.” “I married you!” Chloe demanded. “Half of your money belongs to me! Why shouldn’t I get it? Besides, I gave birth to your daughter…” She stopped abruptly, realizing her mistake, and slammed the phone down. Our daughter, Lily. I had been trying to suppress the agonizing pain in my chest, but hearing her mention Lily made my heart bleed all over again. I dialed my assistant’s number. “Call a meeting with the heads of all departments. Right now.” Did the newly resurrected Vance Enterprises give Chloe the confidence to act this way? Fine. Let’s watch them go bankrupt again.
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “462024”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster
Leave a Reply