On the National Splurge Day, my wife blew through our entire savings to buy a sports car for her first love, who had just come back from abroad. What she didn’t realize was that the money in that account was supposed to save our daughter’s life.

Despite my desperate pleas, the hospital agreed to treat our daughter first, but it was too late. That same night, my wife updated her social media with a post:

[It feels so good to be pampered. After all these years, it’s finally time to live for myself.]

The post was paired with a picture of a hotel suite, the bed covered in gifts.

My heart shattered as I wheeled my daughter’s body into the morgue.

——

I held my daughter’s body as I waited for the cremation, but right up to the last moment, my wife, Nora, never answered my calls. An hour later, my daughter was reduced to a handful of ashes in a box.

In a daze, I carried her ashes and walked home. On the way, I blocked every contact I had for Nora, finally saying goodbye to the past.

I had been with Nora for five years, loving her every step of the way. She ignored me, and I thought that if I swallowed my pride, I could keep our family together. I was wrong.

Six months ago, our daughter was diagnosed with congenital heart disease, and the doctor warned us she could be in danger at any moment. I sold the car, scraped together enough money for the surgery, and then Nora went and spent it all on June 18th, maxing out our account to buy a car for her first love.

She knew that money was supposed to save our daughter!

When I got home, Nora was sitting in front of the mirror, putting on makeup. Our daughter was dead, and she was still getting dolled up. She jumped when she saw me in the mirror.

“Ian, why didn’t you knock? You scared me,” she said.

“This is my home,” I replied calmly. “Why should I knock? Or is there something you don’t want me to see?”

Nora’s face instantly hardened.

“You’re getting bold, Ian. How dare you talk to me like that?”

I kept my cool and asked, “Does Julian still like that car?”

Nora’s eyes flickered, and then she snapped back with a defensive tone.

“When Julian was with me, he bought me so many things. He just got back from abroad—shouldn’t I buy him a gift? He’s only here for three days before he transfers to the Ashton City headquarters. Are you jealous of that?”

Should? When she was willing to give away a car worth over 35,000 dollars, she didn’t even think to ask when our daughter’s life was on the line!

I looked at her coldly and said, “You’re overthinking it. I just feel sorry for our daughter.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Nora jumped up and slapped me across the face.

“Ian, what’s that supposed to mean? Are you using our daughter to guilt-trip me?”

Then she noticed what I was holding and sneered, “What’s that filthy thing you brought home?”

I stayed calm. “You don’t deserve to know.”

Nora pointed her finger right in my face and started yelling.

“I’m warning you, don’t bring any of that bad luck into this house. If you don’t care, I sure do!”

I touched my daughter’s ashes, feeling a deep sense of despair. Nora couldn’t even show a shred of respect for her own child.

In the past, I would’ve backed down the moment Nora got mad. But now that my daughter was gone, I wasn’t about to go along with her nonsense anymore. This was my home too. If she couldn’t stand it, she was free to leave. Wasn’t Julian still waiting for her?

My defiance only made her angrier, and she slammed her hand on the table.

“Ian, don’t push your luck. I’m in a good mood today, so I’m not going to argue with you. Think about what you’ve done and contact me when you’ve come to your senses.”

With that, Nora stormed out, swinging her hips as she left.

She was gone for a while, and I slowly started to calm down. Oddly enough, I didn’t feel sad at all. The only thing on my mind was fulfilling my daughter’s last wish.

Right before she lost consciousness, she held my hand and weakly pleaded, “Dad, Mom won’t let me have a dog. Can you talk to her for me? When I come home every day, I’m all alone. With a dog, I wouldn’t feel so lonely anymore.”

She hesitated, then added, “Dad, if I don’t make it, the puppy can keep you company. I’ll take care of it, I promise…”

Tears streamed down my face as I remembered how much I’d failed her.

When my daughter first told me about her wish, I went to talk to Nora. But she threatened me with divorce and told me to drop it. Now, fulfilling this one wish was the least I could do for my daughter.

As fate would have it, I ran into Nora at the entrance of the pet shop. She was clinging to Julian’s arm, laughing like they were the perfect couple.

“Nora, I really like dogs. How about we get one?” Julian asked.

Nora smiled sweetly and replied, “Sure, it can keep you company when I’m not around.”

I felt a surge of bitterness. My daughter had asked for the same thing, but Nora had crushed her dream without a second thought. Her child’s happiness meant nothing compared to a simple “I like you” from her first love.

When Nora noticed me, her smile faded.

“Ian, are you following me? What are you doing here?”

“To buy a dog, obviously,” I said.

Nora quickly let go of Julian’s arm after notice my indifference, but I just found the whole situation absurd.

“I’ve known about you two for a while now, so no need to put on a show for me,” I said.

Nora frowned. “Ian, are you done yet? I told you, Julian’s only here for three days. I’m just being a good host. Do you really need to make this difficult?”

“Our daughter is seriously ill, and here you are, wandering around. Just go back home!” she snapped.

Ignoring her self-righteous rant, I walked into the pet shop. Julian, the man beside her, blocked my path.

He sneered, “Nora said to leave. Didn’t you hear?”

I stopped, staring him down. “Who do you think you are? Move.”

I shoved past him and headed toward the store. My daughter had fallen in love with a Pomeranian dog in the display window the first time she saw it.

I pointed at the dog and looked at the shop owner, but Julian suddenly pushed me aside.

“We already bought this one,” he said smugly.

I looked at him and said, “First come, first served. Ever heard of it?”

Julian smirked. “But I was the first one to hold it.”

Just then, Nora walked over, her expression cold. “Ian, if you’re jealous, keep it in check. What right do you have to drag Julian into this? Apologize to him.”

I stared at her, anger simmering. “Nora, this was our daughter’s favorite dog. You didn’t even see her one last time. She was alone every day, and now you can’t even grant her this one small wish?”

Nora’s face finally showed a flicker of emotion when I mentioned our daughter.

“Don’t you dare use my daughter to manipulate me!” she snapped, raising her voice. “Does she really feel lonely with teachers and classmates at school and family around her at home? And if we get a dog, who’s going to take care of it? In the end, it’ll be my responsibility, won’t it?”

“Is that how you raise a child? Giving in to their every whim, only to raise an entitled brat? You, a grown man, jealous and picking fights—why not spend that energy making more money? With a father like you, what kind of future does our daughter have?”

As I looked at the spiteful woman in front of me, I couldn’t believe how blind I’d been before.

I said coldly, “No matter what, I’m taking this dog today, and no one’s stopping me.”

I stepped forward, pushed Nora aside, and grabbed Julian by the collar.

“Put the dog down,” I demanded.

Julian hadn’t expected me to get physical. Panicked, he tried to stay calm and said, “Nora, is your husband always this rude? How did you end up marrying someone like him in the first place?”

Nora slapped me hard across the face, her eyes blazing with fury. “Ian, have you lost your mind? How dare you hit someone!”

“Apologize to Julian right now, or I swear I’ll make you regret it! You have one minute, or you’ll never see your daughter again!”

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly, as if I’d just heard the most absurd joke in the world.

Julian shot me a cold smile. “I want him to kneel before me.”

Seeing this, Nora turned to me again, her voice rising. “Ian, are you deaf? Apologize to Julian! Don’t make me take our daughter away!”

I met her gaze, unflinching. “And what if I don’t?”

“Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance!” she snapped, pulling out her phone and dialing her mother’s number.

“Mom, where are you? Bring Eva back to your place right now.”

On the other end of the line, her mother hesitated before finally speaking. “Nora, where have you been? Why didn’t you come when Eva was cremated today?”