My eyes were glued to the scattered ashes.
David finally snapped out of it. Remembering hitting Lily, his face paled. His anger
vanished. He wasn’t as volatile as Mark, but
his gentler nature didn’t lessen the hurt he’d caused Lily.
He rushed to apologize, but she didn’t
respond. Her eyes were empty, tears streaming down her face.
Mark lost patience. He lunged at me, yanking me from the bodyguards‘ grasp. He squeezed my throat, my face turning purple. He ignored
<
it, his eyes bloodshot, “Tell me! Where did
you hide her?!”
He shook me violently; tears splashed onto
his hand. He stopped, noticing my lack of reaction. His voice trembled, “Lily, you’re lying, you just want custody, right? Tell me!” My eyes refocused. I stared at his almost
crazed face and sneered. Tears streamed
down my face.
“Didn’t you hear? Our daughter is dead.
She’s dead!”
“On your ex–girlfriend’s birthday, on the way
to get her medicine! Hit by a truck!”
“Her body… unrecognizable! Are you
satisfied? Are you happy now? Isn’t this what
you wanted?”
Jessica’s eyes widened, panic flashing across
<
her face.
“That’s impossible! There must be a
misunderstanding! She was at my house last
night, the security footage shows it…‘
Usually, the Miller brothers reacted instantly to Jessica, but this time, they were silent. For the first time, my daughter took priority over Jessica in Mark’s eyes. Too late.
Mark staggered, his gaze falling on the ashes. He realized what he’d scattered.
David looked at the urn, his voice trembling, “Where’s our daughter? Honey, our
daughter’s okay, right?”
Lily closed her eyes, silent. Her silence was
the cruelest answer.
David’s face was a mask of emotions, finally settling on despair.
I broke free from Mark’s weakened grip,
falling onto my daughter’s ashes, desperately
trying to scoop them back into the urn. The
ashes were mixed; I couldn’t separate them. I’d never felt this helpless. I was breaking down, but I couldn’t stop. I was afraid the wind would blow them away.
Lily recovered and broke free from the bodyguards, kneeling beside me.
