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?”