When Eliott stormed off, I wished he would have the guts to never come back.

Alas, whether he cheated on me or not was the last thing on my mind now. I did not care about Zelda and her son insulting me either. If he wanted to cremate me and toss my ashes to the floor, I would not mind either.

So long as he came home as soon as possible.

Our daughter was only five years old and could not possibly take care of herself. It was dangerous to leave her all alone.

My spirit stayed with her from morning until dusk, but Eliott was still nowhere to be seen.

At one point, her stomach started to growl with hunger, which made her crawl up to me again.

“Mommy, are you still sleeping? I’m hungry, I want to eat the sausage rolls you make.”

I was trying to get her to stay away from junk food, which was why there was nothing ready-made at home. The fridge was filled with raw ingredients which I started to regret.

If only I knew that my time with her was limited, I would have spoiled her. I should not have asked so much of her since she was just a child.

As time went on, I could not bear to see her suffering any longer. I left her and went out of the house. I wanted to find Eliott. I had to find some way to bring him back home to save Ava at all costs. Unfortunately, I did not know what hotel he went to spend the night with Zelda.

However, I knew where Zelda's house was. I had seen that same address more times than I could count on Eliott's navigation application in his car.

At last, I found him. The man, who would always tell me about how much he had to work overtime, was now curled up on the couch in Zelda's house. He was playing a video game with her son. He made a point of going easy on Max so that the boy would win.

When Max won the round, he leapt up happily from the couch and hugged Eliott enthusiastically. “Yay! I wish you were my dad, Uncle Eliott!”

Meanwhile, Zelda scooped a spoonful of watermelon and fed it to Eliott. She remarked faintly, “Max, what are you talking about? You have a dad. He just didn’t want us anymore because times are too hard.”

Eliott’s heart ached for Zelda when he observed the pain welling up in her eyes. He picked Max up and propped him on his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter anymore. You can call me your dad if you want, Max. A father’s love is very important for a child, and I have always treated you as my own son anyway.”

After Ava was born, Eliott claimed that he trusted me and gave me complete authority over how I wanted to raise her. He hardly if ever participated in the parent-teacher meetings at the kindergarten.

I was kind to him and took his side. I even remember having to explain to Ava before, “Daddy doesn’t hate you. He’s just busy with work. Don’t hold it against him.”

Eliott did not know this, but I did everything I could to bridge a relationship between him and Ava. To my surprise, while he had been neglecting our daughter, he had been opting to father another boy instead.

Zelda seemed troubled by this and asked skittishly, “Do you think Anne will be upset about this?”

When Eliott was reminded of me, his face suddenly darkened. He stated icily, “Don't worry about her. We just had an argument before I left the house. She was good to me in the past, but these days she has been nagging at me.”

Zelda smiled radiantly upon hearing this. Then, she snuggled into his and spoke in a voice so affectionate that Eliott felt he would melt right then and there, “Well, why don't you sleep here tonight? You can clear your mind here.”

The entire time, I was levitating over them and fuming. I shouted at the top of my voice, “Eliott, could you just go home already? You need to look after your daughter! How about you stop worrying about someone else’s child? Don’t forget Ava is your daughter!”

It was no use as they could not hear my frantic cries.

Eliott thought for a moment before slumping into the couch and smiling, “Sure.”

With that, he turned on the TV. The noise of the program drowned out the living room while Max snuggled into his arms. Zelda also leaned against his shoulder and would feed him fresh fruits from time to time.

They looked like the picture-perfect family.

I was disgusted by the sight of how smug Zelda and her son looked.

At this point, I was done with seeing them affectionate with each other. Besides, I was still worried about Ava, who was at home.

When I got back home again, Ava was still next to my body. Her eyes were red like she had just cried. She even brought her favorite bunny plushie to my side. The bunny was made of cheap material that caught dust, and I had always forbade her from sleeping with it because of hygiene concerns.

To convince her to give it to me, I would tell her that I liked the bunny too so that she would hand it over. It was usually not very effective. She would cry and throw a round of tantrums before finally relenting.

And now, she lifted my arm that had turned stiff and stuffed her most precious bunny into my hands.

She then murmured, “Mommy, you can have Bunny. I don’t want it anymore. Please don’t be angry at me.”

She then wrapped herself around my arms. “Mommy, you can sleep with Bunny. Will you forgive me after you wake up?”

I could feel my tears fall and vanish in the air. My silly, darling daughter assumed that I was only sleeping because I was upset with her. Why would I ever be upset with her?

I regretted marrying and relocating so far away from home. I also regretted all the times I forgave Eliott.

However, I never regretted giving birth to Ava. She was the light of my life, the only consolation during my roughest days. Without Ava, there would not be anything worth holding onto in this world.

I wanted to reach for her and take her into my arms. However, my phantom arms merely phased through her body, and she could not feel my touch.

When I was alive, I could feel her warmth just by reaching out. Now, I could no longer touch her.

She finally fell asleep leaning against me.

It was autumn and the nights were colder than usual. At one point, she startled herself awake with a sneeze. Her nose was red, and I could tell that she was falling sick.

Despite that, she ignored the discomfort. Her first thought was to inspect me.

Bunny slipped from my hands and dropped to the floor. She burst into tears when she saw the plushie that was just as lifeless as me drop onto the floor.

Then, she began to shake me while dribbling snot, “Mommy, even if you don’t want me anymore, why don’t you want Bunny?”

At this point, she must have realized that something was wrong with me. She reached forward and touched me on my forehead. “Mommy, you must be sick too. I know you’re not ignoring me. When I was sick, you always stayed by my side to take care of me. Now, it’s my turn to take care of you.”

With that, she tried to drag my body back to the bedroom. She must have thought I would be able to get better rest in the bed rather than on the couch. It was the best way for me to recover.

However, she was too weak to manage the hefty task. She had not had anything to eat for an entire day and had to give up after several tries. From her abnormally flushed cheeks, I could tell she was beginning to develop a fever.

I anxiously circled in the air and begged her to call her father. I had taught her to call her father if she was ever in trouble.

Perhaps she heard my cry or not, but either way, she suddenly ran to get the phone.

“I’m sorry for being useless, Mommy. I’ll call Daddy to help.”

I heaved a sigh of relief. Great, as long as Eliott would come home. Everything would be fine. He may hate me, but surely he would not abandon his birth daughter.

Ava dialed the number she had memorized, but the call disconnected on the second ring.

I could feel my heart drop right then and there. In the past, I would have been very upset, but now, all I did was plead and pray that Eliott would answer the call.

Ava did not give up and dialed again.

After a wait that seemed like forever, the call finally connected.

Eliott impatiently grumbled into the phone, “Anne, what is your problem? Shouldn’t you know that I’m busy?”

“Daddy, it’s me.”

Upon hearing Ava's voice, Eliott's tone softened immediately. “Ava, why are you calling me? Where's Mommy?”

Ava nervously clasped her fingers around the phone, “Mommy is sleeping. I am sick and I can’t carry Mommy to the bedroom. Can you do it, Daddy?”

Eliott fell silent for what felt like forever. It sounded like he was trying to control himself from bursting out. At last, he stated as calmly as possible, “Give Mommy the phone.”

Ava put the phone to my ear and told him, “Mommy’s here.”

Now that Ava was out of earshot, Eliott’s tone became sharp and aggressive again.

“Anne, what is the meaning of this? Are you trying to use Ava to gain my sympathy? She’s just a girl. Don’t you dare bring her into this mess! I will not be coming home for a while, so you should take the time to reflect. I’ll only come home once you realize what you have done.”

With that, he hung up and left the desolate drone of the phone buzzing in my ears. Considering how quickly he hung up on me, he must not have had the patience to listen to my explanation.

I looked at Ava, whose temperature seemed to be rising, and began to feel anxious. If only I could come back to life again. I wanted to take her pain away.

When I married Eliott, he did not tell me anything about Zelda.

I was seduced by the sweet nothings he said to me and ended up moving thousands of miles away to be with him despite my parents' objection. I had bet it all on him. I trusted that he was a good man, a sincere man.

When Zelda divorced her ex-husband and returned to him with her child, I knew I had lost the gamble. I was not someone prone to dramatics. I could handle having some turbulence in my marriage.

Over the years, I have had a fair share of arguments with Eliott, but it was usually over trivial subjects. Our life together was otherwise peaceful. There was nothing that could not be resolved with a proper conversation.

I had assumed it would be the same this time. I trusted him and gave him a chance to explain himself.

Despite his questionable behavior, I only voiced my protest with minor complaints. I told him to prioritize our family and to keep his distance from Zelda and her son.

It ended up setting him off. He accused me of being petty, jealous, and of suspecting him.

He even insulted me, “Don’t even think about comparing yourself to someone like Zelda. Don’t project your problems on others.”

Again and again, he accused me of being immature. He used hurtful terms such as jealousy and brought up old arguments. Being a hypocrite, he was the one who had forsaken the role of being a dutiful husband. He also neglected his responsibility as a father. Instead, he turned his attention to outsiders.

I brought up divorce, but he always reacted by being evasive and changing the subject again and again.

At first, I assumed it was coming out of a place of immaturity, that he was being childish, but now I understood that he wanted his cake and wanted to eat it. He wanted to have a stable family, and he also wanted a girl that he had missed out on during his younger days.

How could someone be so selfish?

I was born with a heart condition, thus my parents were wary of me moving so far away from them. When I got married, my parents wept. They gnashed their teeth and cautioned me to not regret the decision I had made. They said I was rebellious, and that they would never forgive my betrayal.

I got ahead of myself then and had chosen an irreversible path.

In the end, I lost everything.

When I looked at my daughter curled up at the head of the bed, I felt a throb in my heart.

‘My poor darling Ava. Did you know that I miss my parents too?’

I didn't even get the chance to apologize to them. Everything they warned me about came true in the end. Even in my death, I could not get their forgiveness.