Fifty Missed Calls, One Funeral

My daughter was in the operating room fighting for her life, and I made fifty phone calls. Ethan Foster didn't answer a single one.

When someone finally picked up, his first love's saccharine voice came through: Mr. Foster is cutting cake for my dog right now. Call back later.

In the background, I heard Ethan's gentle voice coaxing: "Good boy. Eat this piece of meat, and then let daddy hold you."

He played father to a dog, but refused to spare a single glance for his own daughter.

When my daughter's eyes closed for the last time, her little hand still clutched the card she'd drawn for her father.

I calmly signed the papers and burned that card to ash.

Ethan Foster, we're done.

Lila Hart POV

I sat in the hospital corridor until dawn broke.

White walls, white lightseverything so blindingly white.

The thin piece of paper in my hand was Nina's death certificate. I'd gripped the edges so hard they'd frayed, just like my heart being torn apart.

I mechanically dialed the fiftieth call.

This time, it finally connected.

But the voice that came through wasn't my husband Ethan Foster's. It was his first love, Mandy White, her tone cloying with a hint of irritation at being disturbed.

"Mr. Foster is cutting cake for my Fluffy right now, Lila. Whatever it is, talk to him later."

Fluffy was Mandy's dog.

Before she'd even finished speaking, Ethan's familiar yet foreign gentle voice came through in the background. He was coaxing a golden retriever.

"Fluffy, be good. Eat this meat, and then let daddy hold you."

Daddy...

He played father to a dog, but refused to look at his own flesh and blood one last time.

When Nina closed her eyes, her tiny hand still clutched the card she'd spent all afternoon drawinga crayon family portrait of the three of us, wobbly and imperfect.

I don't know how I signed those documents, how I walked out of that building that had swallowed my daughter, or how I made it back to this villa we called "home."

I slid the key into the lock and turned it.

The door clicked open with a "click," and a wave of warmth rushed outmixed scents of cream, expensive aromatherapy, and pet shampoo.

That warm, pleasant smell clashed violently with the cold disinfectant that had soaked into my clothes.

The living room blazed with light.

Ethan's tall figure crouched on the expensive handwoven carpet, holding an imported silent hair dryer, patiently blow-drying that golden retriever called "Fluffy."

Beside him, Mandy wore nothing but his loose white dress shirt. Her bare legs swung back and forth, making my eyes hurt.

When she saw me, Mandy immediately pulled the collar tighter and put on that pitiful expression I'd seen a thousand times.

"Lila, you're back... I'm so sorry. It's all my fault for not watching Fluffy properly. He accidentally fell in the pool and got so scared. Ethan was worried about him, so he rushed back."

Playing the victim. What a performance.

I ignored her. My eyes locked onto Ethan.

Those handslong-fingered, clean, elegant.

Once upon a time, I'd imagined those hands holding our daughter gently. But from birth to death, the most intimate contact Nina ever got from him was the occasional touch.

Now, those same hands rubbed the dog's head with infinite care and tenderness.

My throat felt like it had been scraped raw with sandpaper. Each word came out bloody.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?"

Ethan finally deigned to lift his head. He turned off the dryer, and the room fell silent. That handsome face showed undisguised disgust and impatience.

He smirked like he'd heard the joke of the year.

"Lila, to trick me into coming back, you'd even lie about our daughter being critically ill? Can't you come up with something classier?"

His gaze swept over my wrinkled clothes, stained with god-knows-what. His nose wrinkled in displeasure, and he actually took half a step back.

"You reek of disinfectant. It's nauseating." He waved his hand like shooing away a disgusting fly. "Stay away from Fluffy."

Disinfectant?

I looked down numbly and finally saw the dried, dark red trace on my sleeve.

Nina's blood.

But to him, it was just an unpleasant smell that might bother his precious dog.

Lila Hart POV

My heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, then slowly submerged in ice water. The cold spread to my limbs, freezing everything.

On the dining table sat a thermal container I'd brought before leaving.

Inside was chicken soup I'd simmered for three hours, hoping Nina could have something warm after her surgery.

Ethan noticed it too. He stood up, his long legs carrying him straight over.

"Click."

The container opened. Rich aroma instantly filled the space.

"Smells good," he commented.

A ridiculous hope flickered in my heart. Perhaps...

The next second, he picked up the container and tilted it.

That soup I'd so carefully prepared for my daughtersoup she never got to tastehe poured every last drop into the golden retriever's gleaming steel bowl without hesitation.

The thick broth hit the bottom with a muffled "plop."

"Fluffy got scared today. He deserves something good." Ethan's tone was casual.

The golden retriever wagged its tail excitedly and immediately buried its head in the bowl, making happy gulping sounds.

That sound was like a dull knife, sawing back and forth across my already shredded heart.

The world went completely silent.

From my worn bag, I pulled out the divorce agreement I'd printed but never touched since. I gently placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

Ethan's gaze shifted from the bowl to the papers. He sneered.

"You're throwing another tantrum? Lila, can't you give it a rest for one day?"

He seemed to find my very existence unbearable. He waved his hand dismissively, about to sweep those pages to the floor.

But his hand struck something I'd been clutching in my palm.

The card warmed by my daughter's hand.

The card flew out lightly, landing directly in Fluffy's water bowl nearby.

I could clearly see Nina's red crayon heartdrawn with all her strengthinstantly blur and fade upon touching the water, dissolving into a dirty smudge along with the crooked words "Daddy I love you."

That was the last tangible trace Nina left in this world.

Ethan knew nothing of what he'd done. He didn't even glance down, still looking at me with that superior attitude, probably waiting for me to break down crying and begging pitifully like I'd done countless times before.

But I didn't.

I didn't cry. I didn't make a scene.

I just slowly, step by step, walked to that water bowl. Under the golden retriever's puzzled gaze, I bent down and solemnly fished out that soaked, ruined piece of paper from the cold water.

Then, right in front of him, I carefully folded that wet scrap and placed it in my breast pocket.

Ethan Foster, from this moment on.

You and Iwe're mortal enemies.

Lila Hart POV

The bathroom.

I pressed the flush button. The roar of water swept away the glaring red in the toilet bowl, as if draining the last bit of strength from my body.

When the water stopped, Ethan and Mandy's flirtatious laughter outside the door came through with needle-sharp clarity.

I steadied myself against the cold wall and stood up, grabbed some tissue, and mechanically wiped the blood from my mouth. The woman in the mirror had a deathly pale face, but lips stained an eerie red with bloodlike crushed roses in snow.

I pulled the door open and walked out.

The fever made cold seep through my bones. Each step felt like walking on cotton.

In the living room, Ethan held a glass of red wine. Mandy nestled against him like a delicate bird. They were admiring a newly hung painting on the wall.

That used to be my favorite spot, where Nina's three-year-old family portrait had hung.

Now it had been replaced by an expensive piece of modern art.

My footsteps startled them.

Ethan turned around. When he saw me, his faint smile vanished instantly.

He set down his wine glass, walked over to me, his interrogating tone devoid of warmth.

"Where did you hide Nina?"

I said nothing. My throat felt stuffed with fire, burning so I couldn't speak a single word.

He seemed accustomed to my silence. He walked past me, heading straight upstairs.

Soon, Nina's bedroom door was shoved open roughly, banging against the wall with a dull thud.

Then came his angry footsteps thundering down the stairs, each one heavier than the last, trampling my heart.

"Where is she?" He grabbed my wrist, his grip painfully tight. "Lila, you think hiding the kid means I can't do anything about it?"

He yanked me so hard I stumbled and fell onto the cold carpet.

Looking up at him, the fever blurred my vision into light and shadow. His face twisted in that light, grotesque and unfamiliar.

This was the man I'd loved for ten years.

My continued silence completely ignited his rage.

He roughly released my hand, pulled out his phone, and right in front of me, called his assistant. His voice was cold and heartless.

"It's me. Freeze all of Lila Hart's cards."

The person on the other end said something. He listened, then added with a cold laugh, "Also, all of Nina Foster's medical insurance and trust accounts. Yes, freeze them all."

His voice was crystal clear.

My fingers curled involuntarily at my sides.

Nina's medical account still held the few thousand dollars I'd scraped together through extreme frugality.

I'd wanted to use it to buy Nina a burial plot that got sunlight.

But now, he wouldn't even give me that chance.

My phone screen lit up. "Ding ding"a string of messages flooded in.

[Dear customer, your account ending in xxxx has been frozen.]

[Your linked medical bank account has been terminated. Current balance: $0.00.]

...

I stared at that glaring string of zeros on the screen, suddenly finding this whole absurd situation laughably grotesque.

A strange sound escaped my throat, and then I actually laughed.

My laughter grew louderdry, ugly, like a broken bellows.

Ethan probably hadn't expected this reaction. He bent down and grabbed my chin with those hands that had just signed hundred-million-dollar contracts.

"Playing crazy for sympathy? Lila, I'm sick of these tricks."

He released me like he'd touched something filthy, pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his fingers, then condescendingly kicked my shin.

"Before I change my mind, you'd better bring Nina back."

Just then, a woman's scream rang out from upstairs, accompanied by the crash of breaking porcelain.

It was Mandy.

"Ahhh!"

Lila Hart POV

Ethan's expression changed. He immediately turned and rushed upstairs.

Moments later, he came down cradling the "frightened" Mandy. Her eyes were red, pitifully leaning against him, still holding a porcelain shard.

"Ethan, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to," she sobbed, her eyes flashing with viciousness aimed straight at me. "I wanted to help clean up the living room, but... but Lila kept looking at me that way. I got scared and dropped your favorite antique vase..."

The thief crying thief. What a performance.

Ethan's patience completely ran out.

"Lila, get on your knees and apologize to Mandy."

I pushed myself up from the sofa, swaying unsteadily, looking at him and the woman in his arms putting on such a convincing act.

"And if I don't?"

"Don't?" Ethan laughed, though his eyes were ice cold. "You're a parasite who can't survive without me. What gives you the right to defy me? Without the Foster family, you can't even afford Nina's medication next month!"

Medication?

Right. Nina's medication.

I looked at him, very calmly, and told him, word by word, with perfect clarity.

"Ethan Foster, Nina doesn't need medication anymore."

My tone was so calm it was eerie.

Ethan froze.

He stared at me for several seconds, then a flash of triumphant satisfaction crossed his eyes. He probably thought I'd finally broken down and was compromising.

He released me and leisurely adjusted his cuffs. "Finally seeing sense? Then start by washing Mandy's clothes. By hand. Don't use the washing machine."

With that, he pulled Mandy close and put on a show of tender affection right in front of me.

"Still scared? Don't worry, it's just an object. Doesn't matter if it broke."

"But it was Lila's..."

"Don't mention her. Bad luck."

Their public display of affectionI couldn't hear a single word anymore.

I turned around and walked step by step back to my room.

The only place in this house that still belonged to me.

I ignored the clothes they'd thrown messily across the bed and went straight to the closet, opening the bottom drawer.

Inside lay a signed divorce agreement.

Beside the agreement was a small, plain box.

I reached out and gently stroked that box, as if caressing Nina's cold cheek.

Ethan Foster.

It's time for us to end this.

I pulled my suitcase out of the room.

That cheap case was bought years ago. The wheels had worn out, making an especially grating "rumble... rumble..." noise across the mirror-smooth marble floor.

Each sound was like a death knell tolling in this lifeless house.

I clutched that small, cold wooden box tightly to my chest, walking step by step toward the door as if treading on knife points.

The crystal chandelier in the living room blazed brilliantly. Ethan and Mandy were intimately nestled on the sofa.

His slender fingers held a small fork, lifting a piece of watermelon to Mandy's lips with such tender care.

They didn't spare me a single glance, as if I were invisible air in this villa.

Not until the suitcase wheel caught at the entrance with a dull thud did Ethan finally deign to lift those aristocratic eyes.

He saw the suitcase at my feet. He paused, then that handsome face showed a mocking sneer, as if this outcome was exactly what he'd expected.

His gaze eventually landed on the box in my arms like a poisoned nail, piercing deep.

"Lila, where do you think you're going?" Mandy spoke first.

She sat up straight from Ethan's embrace, her face showing innocent surprise, but those eyes were like two slithering snakes, coiling around the box I held.

"What you're holding... that looks like company property, doesn't it?" She tilted her head, her tone deliberately uncertain. "I remember that wooden boxEthan uses it specifically for core design blueprints... Ethan, those are vital to the company's next quarter. You'd better check!"

Lila Hart POV

That sentence was like a match, precisely thrown into the powder keg of suspicion in Ethan's heart.

BOOM

He shot to his feet, his expensive suit pants showing not a single wrinkle. In a few strides he stood before me, his towering figure creating an oppressive presence that engulfed me completely in his shadow.

"Hand it over."

He extended his hand, voice cold as ice, tone filled with the arrogance of someone accustomed to giving orders.

Like a startled hedgehog, I instinctively clutched the box even tighter to my chest, my body trembling uncontrollably from enormous fear and rage.

"There's nothing of yours in here." My voice was hoarse and dry.

"Nothing?" He acted like he'd heard the world's biggest joke, his patience evaporating instantly.

He grabbed my wrist, the force feeling like it would crush my bones.

"Lila, what game are you playing now? Playing hard to get? Hmm?"

"Let go! Ethan Foster, let go of me!" I struggled like a madwoman, my other hand beating wildly at his arm.

But my strength, weakened from long illness, was nothing against himlike a fluttering moth, laughable and powerless.

He easily pried my fingers open, snatched that small wooden box from my arms, and held it high above his head.

In that moment, I felt like half my soul had been ripped away.

"Lila, you'll stop at nothing to get attention, won't you?" He shook the box in his hand, looking at me with eyes full of contempt and bottomless disgust. "Tell me, what new prop for your little act is in here? Or are you trying to steal company secrets to force me to compromise?"

My legs gave out. I collapsed pathetically onto the cold floor.

I looked up at him, at the box in his hand that contained everything that was left of my daughter.

The tears I'd been holding back finally broke free, flooding down. Like a lunatic, I crawled forward on my knees, making dull thuds.

"Ethan, please, give it back to me... give it back..."

"That's Nina... that's Nina..."

My voice shattered, tasting of blood.

"Nina?"

The mockery on Ethan's face instantly froze, replaced by a kind of offended, violent malice.

"You're vicious enough to use a dead child in your act? Or are you trying to curse me with her name?"

In his eyes, I was exactly that kind of womansnake-hearted, stopping at nothing to achieve my goals.

My pleas, my tears, my everythingall just a carefully orchestrated performance.

He let go.

"CRACK"

That small wooden box traced a desperate arc before my eyes and smashed hard onto the floor.

Shattered into pieces.

White ash, fine as frost, mixed with black wooden fragments, scattered everywhere across the floor.

Time seemed to hit mute in that moment.

I couldn't hear Mandy's shocked cries, couldn't see Ethan's cold face. My world contained only that mess of pale powder.

That was my Nina.

The little girl who would act spoiled in my arms, call me "Mommy" in her sweet baby voice, secretly slip candy into my pocket.

This was all that remained after she'd been cremated for three days and nights.

Seconds later, an inhuman, piercing wail tore from my throat.

"AHHHHH!"

I threw myself forward like a madwoman, trying to scoop it up, to gather those ashes now mixed with floor dust.

"My Nina... my daughter... Mommy's so sorry..."

My nails scraped across the hard floor, leaving bloody trails. Wooden splinters embedded in my fingertips. Blood quickly seeped out, staining a small patch of gray-white powder into dirty brown.

But I felt no pain.

All the pain in the world couldn't compare to one ten-thousandth of this.

"Ew! So disgusting!" Mandy shrieked, retreating two steps in revulsion, delicately hiding in Ethan's arms. "Ethan, look at Lila. Has she gone insane... she's making such a mess of the floor..."

Ethan frowned, watching me writhe on the ground like a maggot. The disgust on his face deepened.

He pulled out his phone and made an internal call, his voice utterly flat.

"Housekeeper Brown, bring the vacuum to the living room. Clean up this filth on the floor."

Vacuum...

He was going to treat my daughter's ashes like garbage and vacuum them away.

Lila Hart POV

I desperately shielded that small pile of gray-white powder in front of me, my nails embedded so deeply into the floor cracks from excessive force that they drew streaming blood.

I slowly raised my head.

My bloodshot eyes, like those of a demon from hell, locked onto him with deadly intensity.

Ethan Foster, you will regret this.

I swore it with every ounce of my being.

Housekeeper Brown soon arrived with the vacuum, freezing in place when she saw the scene before her, at a loss.

"Sir..."

"What are you waiting for? Clean it up!" Ethan snapped impatiently.

The vacuum made a "whirr" of preparation, that sound like death's summons.

I closed my eyes in despair.

Just then

"BANG!"

The villa door was kicked open from outside.

A tall figure charged in wrapped in frigid airit was Adrian Cloud!

Adrian Cloud was my former classmate. After learning about my daughter's condition, he'd often come to help me.

His eyes immediately found me kneeling on the floor, covered in blood, and the glaring gray-white powder at my feet.

Adrian's eyes instantly turned red.

He crossed to Ethan in two strides and without a word of warning, drove his fist hard into Ethan's face!

"Ethan Foster, are you even human?!"

Ethan staggered from the blow, blood immediately appearing at his mouth. He clutched his face, but before he could get angry, a piece of paper slapped across his face.

"Open your damn eyes and look! What is this!"

It was a death certificate.

The name read "Nina Foster." The time of death was frozen at the exact moment he'd been celebrating Mandy's dog's birthday.

Ethan's body went rigid.

He picked up the paper in disbelief, his fingers trembling.

"It's fake... this has to be fake!" He roared at me like a madman. "Lila! You conspired with outsiders to trick me?!"

I watched his frantic state and suddenly smiled.

I swayed unsteadily to my feet, and with my bleeding hands, I carefully scooped up a handful of ash mixed with blood and dust.

I walked toward him.

Ethan was momentarily stunned by my appearance, actually forgetting to move.

I raised my hand and gently, inch by inch, smeared that ash across his flawlessly handsome face.

My tone was so gentle it was bone-chilling.

"Ethan Foster, don't you want to see your daughter?"

"Smell it. This is what your daughter smells like."

"Isn't it lovely?"

"This is her. The one you smashed with your own hands."

Ethan stood as if struck by lightning, his entire body shaking violently, all color draining from his face.

He tried to speak but couldn't utter a single word.

I withdrew my hand and without sparing him another glance, turned to Adrian. "Take me away."

"Lila!"

Ethan finally snapped out of it, roaring as he tried to grab me.

I whirled around and with the last shred of strength in my body, slapped him hard across the face!

"CRACK!"

Clear and loud.

The entire living room fell silent.

I leaned close to his ear and in a voice only we two could hear, pronounced clearly, word by word:

"Ethan Foster, I will make you, your precious first love, and that dog all pay with your lives for my daughter."