Tom's expression immediately changed. He helped River and shielded her behind him. "Amber, are you out of your mind!?"

My eyes were bloodshot. "River, I don't care how you slander me, but you will not slander my daughter!"

River looked innocent. "Did I say something wrong? If you hadn't used the child to force Tom into marriage and taught her to fake being sick to restrict Tom's freedom, how could he have ever been with you?"

I looked at Tom coldly. "Is this what you've always thought?"

He didn't say yes, but he didn't deny it either.

Back then, if he hadn't agreed, no one could have forced him.

Our daughter, who was frail and sickly, was so afraid that her father would dislike her that she always felt deeply guilty after getting sick.

I could give her all the motherly love, but I couldn't give her the fatherly love she longed for. I begged Tom, even to the point of bowing, just to get him to look at her a bit more.

And yet, he thought our daughter was pretending, that I had taught her to do it.

Ha.

How ridiculous.

For years, I had been obedient and pleasing to him, and our daughter had been so well-behaved it was heartbreaking. The two of us were pathetically begging, hoping to win back his heart.

In the end, we were just part of his emotional game with his first love.

I looked at Tom with disappointment.

This was the man I had silently loved for seven years.

I suddenly questioned what I ever liked about him.

River took the opportunity to fan the flames. "Tom, my face hurts so much. Is it swollen from the slap?"

I had used all my strength in that slap, and her face was indeed swollen high.

"Amber, apologize!"

It was an order, filled with anger.

"Why should I apologize!?"

"Amber, don't test my limits." He was barely holding back his anger.

In truth, I had always been afraid of upsetting him, so much so that I didn't even dare say an extra word in front of him.

Because I cared about him, and about our daughter.

But now, it didn't matter anymore.

River put on a pretentious look of understanding. "Tom, don't let this cause a rift between us. Is that a knitted Hawaiian silversword plant she's holding? Doggie really likes that flower."

Tom seemed to catch on. "Amber, give that flower to River, and we'll pretend this never happened."

His words felt like charity, as if he was offering me a way out.

But I didn't know how to appreciate it.

I tightly held onto the flower and glared at her. "Don't even think about it."

The Hawaiian silversword plant was my daughter's favorite flower.

She said it could live up to ninety years, only blooming once after sixty years, and she admired the flower's strong vitality.

Sadly, she could only look at pictures of it online. She said the knitted sunflowers others made were beautiful, and how she wished someone could knit a bunch of silverswords for her.

So, I spent days and nights learning how to knit by hand.

I failed countless times, and my fingers were covered with blisters before I finally made it.

My daughter loved hugging it when she slept.

She said she wanted to be as strong as it and to bloom brilliantly in her life.

My daughter was only six years old; she was so adorable and sensible.

But fate played a cruel joke on us.

On the night of her birthday, she was eagerly looking forward to her dad coming to the hospital to celebrate with her. But in her excitement, she accidentally cut her arm on the corner of the cake box, and the bleeding wouldn't stop. She was rushed into the emergency room.

To prevent her from bumping into things, I meticulously covered every corner of the tables, chairs, bed, and walls.

Despite all the precautions, I still overlooked the cake box that Tom had sent.

The doctor shook his head and said her blood clotting was extremely abnormal; they did their best.

In her final moments, she struggled to ask, "Mom, has Dad arrived?"

I hate Tom.

This knitted silver chrysanthemum was my daughter's keepsake. I would never give it to his first love, let alone use it as a toy for a dog. He was simply dreaming!

Tom was infuriated by my attitude and rushed over to snatch the knitted silver chrysanthemum from my arms.

"Amber, don't push your luck!"

But I hadn't rested well in days, and I couldn't match his strength.

I saw the knitted silver chrysanthemum slipping out of my hands.

I bit down hard on the back of his hand.

"Are you crazy? Is it worth it for a mere object?"

The pain made him release the knitted flower, but he immediately slapped me across the face.

Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth, and I almost lost my balance from the blow.

Seeing the slap mark on my face, a trace of panic flashed in his eyes.

But he quickly furrowed his brows and said, "Amber, this is what you owe River. I'm just paying it back for her."

River, seeing how fiercely I was protecting the knitted silver chrysanthemum, said, "Tom, I only want that flower. Don't hurt Amber for my sake."

Tom's tone softened slightly as he reached out and demanded. "Be good, Just give it to me."

As soon as he finished speaking, I slapped him back.

"This is what you owe me, and I'm taking it back myself."

He was caught off guard, completely shocked.

It seemed he had never expected that I, who didn't even dare to speak loudly to him, would lay a hand on him today.

Even River was stunned.

"You actually hit Tom over a cheap trinket!"

Cheap?

My daughter was gone, and seeing it felt like seeing her. It was my emotional support.

It was priceless.

Whether it was out of guilt or something else, Tom didn't lose his temper and grabbed me as I was about to get into a taxi.

"This time, it's my fault. Stop making a scene, okay?"

In the past, if he had just lowered his stance a little like this and coaxed me, I would have immediately forgiven him.

I might have even graciously taken the blame, saying I hadn't been considerate enough.

But now, I couldn't even be bothered to say another word to him and coldly shook him off.

He finally ran out of patience. "Amber, we're already married. I only treat River like a sister. Why are you still making a fuss!"

So, he thought I was competing with River out of jealousy.

I could only feel bitter irony.

River was his childhood sweetheart and first love.

Before he became my husband in the eyes of the law, I could tolerate however he took care of her.

But now, he was a married man.

He forgot that he had a daughter who was always hoping he would look at her just a bit more.

When I remained silent, Tom lost his patience. "I already apologized for what happened that day. What more do you want! Amber, do you think the whole world owes you something!"

I shook off his hand and got into the car, but he forcefully dragged me out.

"River hasn't been well lately. Her parents asked me to take care of her. Can't you be a little more understanding?"

Fortunately, the suitcase supported me, or else I would have been dragged to the ground.

"I said I want a divorce. Your matters have nothing to do with me."

"So, now you don't need me to be with our daughter anymore?"

His tone was contemptuous.

River added fuel to the fire. "Tom, I told you she was lying to you. With the child that sick, how could she possibly treat you like this?"

"Give the flowers to River, apologize to her, and we can go back to how things were," Tom stared coldly at the thing in my hand.

It was as if he was obsessively determined to get it.

I remained expressionless. "Impossible."

The flowers could never be given to River.

And there was no way he and I could go back to how things were.

Apologizing was out of the question.

"Amber, you've gone this far over some stupid flowers. Isn't this performance a bit over the top?"

"Exactly, hand it over!"

River took advantage of my distraction, pushed me to the ground, and tried to snatch the knitted flowers from me.

In the struggle, she ripped off a handful of flower heads.

She threw them away. "What is this? The quality is so bad."

My mind buzzed.

The thing my daughter had cherished so much when she was alive was destroyed just like that!

I got up from the ground and, without thinking, grabbed her long hair and started fighting with her.

"Enough! Amber, you're not going to shed tears until you see the coffin, are you?"

Tom pulled River and me apart.

Then he picked up his phone. "Mr. Kim, cancel the surgery for the little one."

The little one was our daughter.

For River, he could go this far.

My heart sank into an icy abyss.

On the other end of the line, Mr. Kim's hesitant voice came through. "Mr. Carr, we just found out that your daughter passed away a few days ago..."

"What did you say?"