A Debt for My Daughter

My husband, Robert, took our five-year-old daughter, Lily, to a client dinner with Ava, the woman hed always loved.
During the dinner, he sent Lily out alone to a pharmacy to buy allergy medicine for Ava.
While crossing an intersection, our daughter was hit by a speeding motorcycle and thrown dozens of feet.
The hospital called me. When I arrived, Lily was still clutching the box of allergy medicine in her tiny hand.
With her last ounce of strength, she whispered, "Mommy, Auntie Ava... medicine..."
After she closed her eyes, her hand fell limp, and the box of pills clattered to the floor.
My world shattered. I called Robert dozens of times before he finally picked up. But before I could scream at him, his voice cut through the line, sharp and angry.
"I sent Lily to get the medicine, where is she? Call her and hurry her up, Ava's waiting!"
He hung up before I could speak.
When I tried to call back, I found he had blocked my number.
Fine. In that case, your precious Ava can join my daughter in the grave.

1
I spent the entire next day making arrangements for my daughter. The hospital staff looked at me with eyes full of pity.
For a full forty-eight hours, there was not a single word from my daughter's father.
A decade of love, gone in an instant.
I didn't eat or drink. I just printed the divorce papers and waited. I waited all day for him to come home. When he finally walked through the door, his first words to me were:
"Where's the medicine I told you to have Lily bring? Did she take a detour to the moon? Do you have any idea she put Ava in the hospital for two days?"
A cold, bitter laugh threatened to escape my lips.
She took a detour to heaven, actually.
He yanked off his jacket with an air of profound irritation and threw it on the sofa. The scent of a woman's perfume I didn't recognize assaulted my senses. I wrinkled my nose and reflexively took an allergy pill from the drawer.
He saw the movement, his eyes narrowing. "What are you trying to pull?" he snapped. "Ava has an alcohol allergy, so you have to copy her? If she's in the hospital, why aren't you?"
He didn't wait for an answer. "Where's Lily? Get her out here right now to apologize to Ava! It's a testament to Ava's kindness that she isn't blaming her. She's covered in a rash and still defending your daughter! Look at how you've spoiled that child."
"I'm going to teach her a lesson today!"
I forced down the inferno raging in my chest and slapped the divorce papers down on the coffee table in front of him.
"Sign them. You don't need to trouble my daughter anymore. You have no right to discipline her. I'll get out of your way."
My words ignited his fury. He stomped on the papers, grinding them into a mangled pulp under his shoe.
"Your daughter did something wrong, and now you're throwing a tantrum? Just because Ava is forgiving doesn't mean I'll continue to indulge Lily's behavior!" he roared. "I try to discipline my own child and you want a divorce? Are you insane?"
Every word was a hammer blow, turning my heart to bloody ruin. I shot to my feet, the world turning black for a moment. I steadied myself, my voice shaking with restrained violence. "Discipline her? What exactly did my daughter do wrong? What heinous crime did she commit that required you, her father, to send her out alone at night to buy medicine? Do you have any idea what happened to her on the way"
"Oh, for God's sake, are you ever going to shut up?" Robert cut me off, his voice laced with venom. "What's the big deal? I sent her to buy medicine. The streets are full of people, what could possibly happen? Did she run to you crying again? Why is she so coddled!"
He roughly pulled a small, gift-wrapped box from his suit pocket and slammed it down in front of me. "Is this enough to shut you up? Now get Lily out here. I'll talk to her myself. From now on, when I discipline her, you stay out of it!"
Looking at his face, I suddenly realized there was no point in telling him about Lily. He didn't care. He only cared if his precious Ava had been slighted, if my daughter had inconvenienced her in any way.
With that realization, a mocking smile spread across my face. I reached for the perfume box and opened it. It was the same scent that clung to his jacket. He couldn't even be bothered to come up with a separate gesture for me; he just bought two of whatever he got for Ava, like tossing a coin to a beggar.
Every perfume on the market contains alcohol. I'm severely allergic to it; I've never been able to wear any. But Ava, who so famously claimed to share my allergy, adored perfume. He had never been interested enough to notice the contradiction, and he certainly wouldn't waste his time trying to understand.
There was a time when any gift from him, no matter how small, would fill me with joy. Because I loved him. So I valued everything he gave me. Perhaps that was why he thought my love was so cheap. So cheap that he could trample my daughter's life into the dirt without a second thought.
The thought of Lily made my eyes burn.
"Just sign the papers," I said, my voice flat. "Lily will never bother you again. My daughter doesn't need anyone's forgiveness. She did nothing wrong."
Her only mistake was being born into this family.
My stubbornness made his face darken. "Are you done? I gave you a gift, what more do you want? Our daughter is this old and now you want a divorce? I'm warning you, if we divorce, you can forget about getting custody of Lily!"
"I've been too good to you," he spat. "You don't know what's good for you."
Having vented his spleen, he turned and stormed off toward the bedroom. This was the first time in ten years I had ever been cold to him. He probably thought it was just another one of my jealous fits. He'd take a nap, wake up to find dinner waiting, and our cold war would end as it always did.
But this time, it wasn't the cold war I wanted to end. It was us.
I left the keys and the signed papers on the table and walked out of the home I had lived in for five years.

2
I had a crush on Robert for five years, and we were married for five more.
For our relationship to begin, my mother paid with her life.
For it to end, my daughter paid with hers.
My mother was the housekeeper for the Hayes family. She took care of Robert's mother for half her life, a model of diligence and devotion. The Hayes family adored her, giving her a raise almost every year.
One day, she was accompanying Mrs. Hayes on a shopping trip when they were attacked by a kidnappera businessman driven to desperation after being ruined in a deal. He wanted to hold Mrs. Hayes for ransom.
My mother didn't hesitate. She threw herself at him.
The kidnapper, stunned that an old woman would dare to intervene, panicked and pulled a knife. My mother fought with all her remaining strength, managing to delay him just long enough for the police to arrive.
Mrs. Hayes was safe. The kidnapper was arrested. Only my mother was left, bleeding out on the pavement.
Mrs. Hayes, pale with shock, knelt by her side, talking to her, begging her to hold on until the ambulance arrived. But my mother knew her time was short. With her last breath, she thought of me, her only daughter. She knew I had feelings for Robert, and so she made her final request to Mrs. Hayes.
Mrs. Hayes was taken aback. She knew Robert had his own great love, Ava. But as she watched the life drain from my mother, as the hand she was holding grew weaker and weaker, she made a promise through her tears. Just before my mother passed, she swore that I would marry into the Hayes family.
My mother died in peace.
While making her funeral arrangements, everyone tried to console me. I had lost my mother, but I had secured a lifetime of wealth and comfort. No one knew that I would have rather been alone for the rest of my life than lose my mom. My father died when I was young; she was all I had. She never knew how much she meant to me.
On my wedding day, Mrs. Hayes held my hand, her voice choked with sobs. "Your mother can finally rest easy..."
My eyes were vacant, my face ashen. But thinking of my mother's dying wish, I nodded resolutely.
Robert was the perfect gentleman in front of our guests. For a moment, I allowed myself to believe I had found my partner for life. But after the wedding, when we were finally alone, he leaned in close, his voice a cold whisper in my ear.
"You traded your mother's life for this wedding. Are you satisfied now?"
"I don't love you," he continued, "but I will honor my mother's promise. I will play the part. In this play, I am your husband. Offstage, my heart belongs to another."
He was true to his word. In public, he gave me all the respect and dignity befitting Mrs. Hayes. But our marriage was a hollow shell, a truth only I had to live with.
The day our daughter was born, he didn't smile once. He just looked at me and said, "Now my debt is paid. My mother's debt is paid."
I thought that as Lily grew, his heart might eventually find its way home. How foolish I was. After Lily was born, the only one trapped was me.
A marriage bought with one life, now ended by another.

3
After leaving that house, I took my daughter's ashes and moved back into the cramped old apartment my mom and I used to share.
It took three days of waiting in line just to secure a burial plot.
Finally, the day of the interment arrived. I had just opened my door when someone kicked it open, sending me sprawling to the floor. The urn nearly slipped from my grasp.
I looked up into Robert's furious eyes. His precious Ava stood behind him, flanked by bodyguards, her face hidden behind a white mask.
Before I could react, Robert stepped over me and stormed into the apartment, bellowing Lily's name. He kicked open every door, but found no sign of a small child. His patience evaporated. He strode back to me, squatted down, and grabbed me by the collar.
"Where is she?" he snarled. "Get her out here!"
Seeing his face, twisted with rage, my grip on the urn tightened. "I told you, you don't have the right to even say her name! Now take your mistress and get out of my home!"
My words fanned the flames of his anger. His gaze was a poisoned dagger. "Watch your mouth, or I'll be happy to teach you some manners! You coached our daughter to do something this vicious, and when I want her to apologize, you try to stop me? Have I been too lenient with you?"
My blood ran cold. A terrible premonition washed over me. "What did Lily do? I'm here now, don't you dare try to pin anything on my daughter!"
I had thought, for a fleeting, foolish moment, that he had heard about the accident and had come to mourn with me. Reality slapped me across the face once again.
Seeing us argue, Ava slowly approached. She pulled down her mask, revealing a face covered in an angry red rash. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked pleadingly at Robert. "It's okay, Robert. Maybe the child didn't know what it was. She didn't mean to give me an allergic reaction..."
Her words only made Robert angrier. "Ava, stop defending that little brat! Clara coached her to ruin your face, and your indulgence is only going to make her worse!"
I stared at him, my expression a mask of disbelief. "Robert, that is your daughter! What are you saying? What are you going to do to your own child for this... this whore?!"
My daughter was gone, and this woman still wouldn't leave her in peace.
Robert's hand shot out, and the crack of his palm against my cheek echoed in the hallway. The stinging pain ripped away the last of my self-control.
"I told you to watch your mouth!" he roared. "Your mother died, was there no one left to teach you how to speak?"
"You coached Lily to pour a whole bottle of rubbing alcohol into Ava's face cream! You know she's allergic! How could you be so malicious? And now you're trying to use a five-year-old as your accomplice? What kind of mother are you?"
His accusation finally broke me. "She's five years old!" I shrieked. "How would she even know what rubbing alcohol is? Besides, the smell is so strong, anyone with a nose would have noticed it! It evaporates! How could anyone possibly put that on their face? Robert, have you lost your mind in your quest for revenge for her?!"
I screamed until my throat was raw, trying to expel five years of misery. But Robert's voice was louder.
"The only person who went into Ava's room was Lily! We don't even have a maid! Who else could it have been?" he bellowed. "It's all on the security camera, crystal clear, and you're still trying to deny it? Once I've spoken to Lily, I'm turning you over to the police!"
"Enough of this nonsense. Bring Lily out. Now!"

4
"The camera?" I gritted out. "Show it to me. I will not let anyone slander my daughter!"
Robert furiously tapped his phone and threw it at me.
On the screen, a small figure in a dress identical to the one Lily was wearing on the day of the accident, her face obscured by a fisherman's hat, tiptoed into a bedroom. She stood at a vanity, took a small bottle from her bag, and poured its contents into a jar of face cream.
The video ended there. The timestamp was from two days ago. By then, Lily had already been cremated.
A cold, mirthless laugh escaped me, and tears streamed down my face.
Ava chose that moment to speak. "Clara, I just want to understand why she did this to me. I don't mean anything else by it. A child can still be taught right from wrong. You can't encourage her to do these things."
Hearing her so brazenly frame my dead child, I scrambled to my feet and spat in her rash-covered face.
"Don't you dare talk about my daughter! You have no right! You come here with your fabricated evidence without even knowing who was in that video? Is that how desperate you are to become Mrs. Hayes?"
My defiance was the final straw. Robert's rage exploded. He kicked me hard in the stomach. A cry of pain escaped me as my hands went slack.
The urn slipped from my grasp and crashed to the floor. The lid popped off, and as the urn rolled, the ashesa stark, heartbreaking grey against the concretespilled across the floor.
For a moment, all pain vanished. My world narrowed to that patch of grey dust. A raw, animalistic scream tore from my throat.
Ignoring the agony in my stomach, I fell to my knees, trying to shield the ashes with my body.
Robert jerked his chin at the bodyguards. One on each side, they hauled me to my feet. My eyes remained fixed on my daughter's scattered remains. My mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.
"Where is our daughter?" Robert's voice was a low, menacing growl. "Speak. This is your last chance."
I didn't hear him. I was frozen, trapped in a waking nightmare.
He nodded slowly. "Fine. You won't talk? You like ruining people's faces, is that it?"
He took a bottle of medical-grade alcohol from one of the bodyguards and poured it onto the floor, turning my daughter's ashes into a grey slurry. He bent down, scooped up a handful, and brutally smeared it across my face.
The cold shock made me tremble. He ground the mixture into my skin with more force.
"I'm giving you a facial, on the house. Do you like it? Speak! I asked you a question!"
The alcohol hit the raw skin on my cheek where he had slapped me. Pain, sharp and blinding, contorted my features. My screams echoed in the dilapidated hallway.
"You want a divorce? You've got it!" Robert yelled over my cries. "And you can forget about ever seeing Lily again!"
He wiped his hands on a bodyguard's sleeve and took out his phone.
"Get the police," he barked into the phone to his assistant. "I want them to tear this city apart to find my daughter. And get our lawyers to draft the divorce papers. I want full custody."
There was a stunned silence on the other end of the line. Then, the assistant's voice, small and timid, trickled through the speaker.
"Mr. Hayes... your daughter... she's passed away. She was cremated... It was the same night you and Ms. Vance were at that dinner. The cause of death was a motorcycle collision."
"Because I couldn't reach you, I took the liberty of helping Mrs. Hayes arrange for a burial plot. Today... today was supposed to be the interment..."

First, search for and download the MotoNovel app from Google. Then, open the app and use the code "304599" to read the entire book.