Clara, my little angel, clung to life by a thread. Her delicate fingers wrapped around two lollipops as she softly called, “Daddy, Daddy…” Heart racing, I dialed Sean. His voice cut through the line, irritated. “I told you not to call me at work.” “But Clara—” The call dropped. I tried again, only to find he’d blocked me. With her last whisper, Clara asked, “Mommy, does Daddy not care about me?” Her tiny hand relaxed, and the lollipops fell, echoing in the silence. My heart shattered into a million pieces. Later, I learned that on that very day, Sean had been with his lover. And it was that lover who killed my daughter! Rage consumed me. I would not let those who took my daughter from me go unpunished. They would pay for what they had done! … Rushing into the hospital, I was met with the doctor’s grim face. He gently explained they’d exhausted every option, but Clara’s time was running out. Desperate, I pleaded for them to try something, anything, but the finality in his eyes told me we’d reached the end of the road. Dragging my feet, I walked to Clara’s side. Suddenly, she opened her eyes and called out, “Mommy.” She was only four years old, delicate like a budding flower. But this… this was our final moment together. My heart ached as though it was being torn apart, and tears streamed uncontrollably down my face. “Clara…” I could barely speak through my sobs. “Don’t cry, Mommy. Here, have a lollipop.” She struggled to lift her tiny hand. She was holding a lollipop in one hand. In her other hand, she had another lollipop. “I want to give one to you and one to Daddy. Where’s Daddy?” In a rush, I pulled out my phone. “I’ll call your daddy right now.” I dialed Sean, but he didn’t answer. My anxiety grew with each passing second. I kept calling, and after what felt like an eternity, he finally picked up. Before I could say anything, he barked, “Didn’t I tell you not to bother me when I’m at work?” Yes, Sean had told me not to call him during this period. He was competing for a department manager position, a promotion that would come with a hefty pay raise. He had said that calling him at work could jeopardize his chances. But something this serious had happened to our daughter, and I felt he needed to know. I said, “No, Clara, she…” He cut me off, his tone harsh. “You always use Clara as an excuse! Can’t you even take care of a four-year-old? I’m busy. Don’t bother me!” “Clara is in the hospital…” Before I could finish, he hung up. I called again, only to realize he had blocked me. “Mommy,” Clara asked, “does Daddy not want me anymore?” “No, no,” I quickly shook my head, trying to reassure her. “Daddy loves you the most. He’s just at work, but he’ll be here soon…” Clara stared at the door, her voice growing weaker as she continued calling, “Daddy, Daddy…” I couldn’t bear to see her like this. Desperate, I called Sean’s colleague, Beckett Palmer, and asked him to help me find Sean. Sean called back shortly after. “Sophie, are you serious? You’re unbelievable! You called my rival at work? Are you trying to ruin me?” I had forgotten he was competing for the promotion against Beckett, the same Beckett who had once shared meals at our home. In my panic, I blurted out, “Clara is running out of time. You need to come to the hospital now…” “Sophie!” he shouted furiously, “How dare you curse our daughter! Take care of her, and if anything happens to Clara, I swear I’ll never forgive you!” I yelled back, “If you actually care about her, then come to the hospital now!” He hung up without listening to another word. I was about to call again when Clara’s soft voice interrupted me, “Mommy…” I immediately looked down at her. She gathered all the strength she had left and whispered, “The lollipops… I don’t want to give them to Daddy anymore. They’re both for you…” It was as if a knife had pierced my heart. I couldn’t imagine how hurt Clara must have felt to say something like that. The light in her eyes faded, and her hand went limp. The two lollipops fell to the floor. “Clara!” I screamed in anguish, but she never opened her eyes again. I held her as her body grew cold, sobbing uncontrollably. A nurse, unable to hold back her own tears, said, “She was such a good girl. She wouldn’t let go of the lollipops. She kept saying they were for you and her dad.” My entire body shook as I cried. I knew my Clara was a good girl. Whenever she got snacks at preschool, she would always save them for us. And she always brought two of everything. One for me and one for Sean. She never played favorites. But now, my precious daughter was gone. My world had collapsed.
I was overwhelmed with grief. I cried for so long that I became completely drained. Holding Clara’s cold body, it suddenly hit me that I needed to take care of her funeral. I wanted her to find peace as soon as possible. But Sean’s phone was still unreachable. Once again, I called Beckett. At this point, I didn’t care if he was Sean’s rival. After all, his was the only number I had. As expected, Sean called back, furious. “Sophie! Are you done? You’ve ruined everything for me! I missed the promotion because of you. Do you even want to keep this marriage? Let me tell you…” I shouted back, “Sean! If you don’t come back to arrange Clara’s funeral, we’re getting divorced tomorrow!” I screamed, and he cursed. I didn’t catch the rest of his words. But he definitely heard the word “divorce.” He roared, “Fine, divorce it is!” Then I heard a woman’s voice on his end, saying, “Sean, don’t be hasty…” He immediately hung up. I stared blankly at the phone. I knew that voice all too well. It was Rhoda Hilton, Sean’s first love. I couldn’t fathom how they were together. Sean’s department was full of men. There were no women in his office. Rhoda didn’t work for his company either. My instincts told me something was very wrong between them. I sat there, dazed, and pulled out my phone to scroll through Twitter. On the day Clara fell ill, Rhoda posted a video. In the video, a cat was being held by the scruff of its neck, meowing pitifully. Rhoda pointed at the cat, scolding it, “Baloo, you’ve been so naughty today! Running around the streets like that, you could’ve died. If you do it again, I swear I’ll kill you. Do you hear me?” The hand holding the cat wasn’t Rhoda’s. It was someone else’s. Even though that person’s face wasn’t shown, I recognized Sean’s wedding ring on the hand. I froze, thinking, “But he said he was at work.” Suddenly, I felt like I didn’t know him at all. I didn’t know how many more lies Sean had told me. I checked the time when Rhoda posted that video. It was after Clara had fallen ill. That meant while Clara was in the hospital bed, desperately hoping her father would come to see her, Sean was helping his mistress find her cat! Yet he had lied to me, saying he was working overtime, even turning off his phone! He didn’t know that Rhoda and I were Twitter friends, and he never imagined his whereabouts would be exposed! Over the past few days, Rhoda had posted many videos, mostly about searching for or feeding the cat. Sean’s face never appeared in the footage. But whether on purpose or by accident, Rhoda always managed to capture a hand or a foot of his. Her captions hinted that they were a sweet little family. “Baloo ran onto the road again. It was so dangerous! I’m so scared one day he’ll get hit by a car. Good thing his daddy was there, or I never would’ve caught him.” “Baloo had so much fun playing with his daddy. I was the photographer.” “Baloo is lying at his daddy’s feet, but he’s staring at me.” “Baloo seems to like having both his mommy and daddy around.” The more I scrolled, the angrier I became. I thought, “Sean, while our daughter was on her deathbed, you abandoned her to play house with a cat? So you’re their little family now, huh? You’re not worthy of being called a father!” Staring at the wedding ring on Sean’s finger in those videos, fury surged through me. I had no idea how long they had been together. But judging from the videos, it was clear they’d been inseparable these past few days. While Clara was fighting for her life, while she was calling out for her father, Sean was lying to me about working late, all while helping his lover with her cat! I thought about the way Clara had longed for her father in her final moments, and my heart ached. I decided not to tell Sean about Clara’s funeral. He didn’t deserve to be there. I felt he didn’t deserve to be Clara’s father at all! I cremated Clara’s body alone. I bought her a small plot at the cemetery, right next to my mother’s grave. I buried her ashes there, along with a small headstone. The headstone read: [I’m sorry, my sweet girl. I failed to protect you. Sophie] I wept as I prayed for my mother to take care of Clara in the afterlife. Then, through my tears, I said goodbye to them both. Shortly after leaving the cemetery, I received a call from Clara’s kindergarten teacher, Shelia Mitchell. “Mrs. Warren, is Clara feeling better? Will she be coming back to school soon?” In grief, I replied, “Clara has passed away. She won’t be returning to kindergarten.” “What?” Shelia stammered, shocked. “How could that be? She only had a cold!” It had been Shelia who brought Clara to the hospital, and she had been the one to call me about Clara’s illness. She said Clara had complained of a headache and had vomited, likely just the flu. I shook my head. “It wasn’t the flu. She had a head injury…” “A head injury? But she never fell at school.” “She told me it happened outside of school.”
Clara had told me that her birthday was coming up, and her father had taken her out to buy a gift. While they were out, she had accidentally fallen. I hadn’t realized her fall was that serious. I called Sean to find out what exactly had happened. But he wouldn’t answer the phone. Clara said her father hadn’t noticed when she fell. I realized that even if I asked Sean, he might not know what had really happened. Shelia was heartbroken as well. Through her tears, she said, “I thought Clara just had a cold. I never imagined this would happen. Mrs. Warren, don’t be too sad. You need to take care of yourself. Clara wouldn’t want you to suffer so much.” She comforted me for a while, then suddenly said, “By the way, the afternoon Mr. Warren picked up Clara, it was actually a woman who dropped her off. Clara called her Ms. Hilton.” My heart skipped a beat. I quickly found a picture of Rhoda and sent it to Shelia. “Was it her?” “Yes, that’s her,” Shelia confirmed. “Did they pick Clara up together?” I asked. “I only saw Mr. Warren pick her up. But when she was dropped off, it was that woman. Mr. Warren wasn’t there.” Confusion swirled inside me. After thanking Shelia, I decided I needed to investigate this matter further. Just then, the cemetery administrator called me again, asking why I hadn’t properly buried the urn but had left it lying on the path. I rushed over and saw Clara’s urn discarded in front of my mother’s grave. Her headstone was gone. The grave I had dug was filled back in. I couldn’t understand who could be so cruel, not even allowing my child to rest in peace. I went to the administrator to check the surveillance footage. After watching the video, I was furious. The footage showed that not long after I left, Rhoda had arrived at the cemetery. She was holding a cardboard box. When she saw my child’s headstone, she cursed, “Who put this here? Are they blind?” She noticed my name on the headstone and spat out, “This headstone was placed by Sophie? Did her stupid cat die too? What right does she have to bury it here?” Rhoda then dug up Clara’s headstone and hid it behind my mother’s grave. That was when Sean arrived. Rhoda pointed at Clara’s grave and said, “I don’t know who took this spot.” Sean said, “Let’s find another one.” “No way. I want Baloo buried next to my father. He should keep my dad company.” Only then did I realize that Rhoda’s father was buried in the neighboring plot. Sean said, “But someone’s already taken this spot.” Rhoda pouted. “There’s not even a headstone here. Who knows if it’s a cat or a dog? Let’s dig up the ashes and throw them away.” Under Rhoda’s coaxing, Sean actually dug up Clara’s urn and tossed it aside. Then, they placed their cardboard box in the grave. Rhoda said, “Let me take one last look at my darling.” She opened the box, and I saw that inside was a dead cat. She murmured, “Baloo, this is the resting place we’ve chosen for you. Rest in peace. We’ll love you forever. Be sure to keep Grandpa company down there.” Sean meticulously fixed up the grave, making it look beautiful, and then left with Rhoda. I returned to the grave and angrily flung the cardboard box far away. But I didn’t bury Clara’s ashes again. Instead, I took them home with me. I had originally intended to let my child rest peacefully. I had planned to wait until Sean found out what had happened, bring him here, and make him repent to Clara. Now, I wasn’t going to let Rhoda and Sean off so easily. I would seek justice for Clara! When I got home, I checked Rhoda’s Twitter. She had posted a picture of herself arm-in-arm with another person. The caption read: [Baloo is gone. But during my darkest moments, I’m so glad I have you by my side.] Sean’s face was fully visible in the photo. He gazed at Rhoda tenderly, smiling dotingly. I smirked coldly. “Laugh all you want, Sean. You won’t be smiling for much longer!” Two days later, Sean called me and said, “Tomorrow’s Clara’s birthday. We’ve got a few guests coming over, so make sure everything’s ready.” He seemed to have completely forgotten about our fight over the divorce. I didn’t bring it up either and replied, “Alright.” The next day, Sean came home. The funny thing was, he even had Rhoda on his arm. The house was packed with guests. He hadn’t expected me to go all out with the arrangements. In front of me stood a large display board covered with Clara’s toys. At the center was Clara’s favorite doll pillow, flanked by two lollipops. Sean chatted with the guests for a long while before he realized someone was missing. He looked at me and asked, “Where’s Clara? She’s the birthday girl. She can’t hide. Go get her to greet the guests.” This was the moment I had been waiting for. I moved the display board aside and pulled down the white veil on the wall. “Clara is right here!” Sean froze as he took in the sight of the living room, now arranged like a funeral, and the massive black-and-white portrait of Clara.
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