"It's that clueless daughter of yours. I tried to win her over with candy, and she still wouldn't call me Mom."
"Come on, Patsy. Don't you think you should put a little more effort into those bows?"
My heart plummeted.
Ignoring the pain, I slammed my forehead against the ground faster, harder, apologizing to the dog in front of me.
"I'm sorry, Buddy. Please forgive me. Forgive Bess Sanchez."
"I was wrong... I'll give your mom and dad back to you."
Earl watched me, covered in blood, his expression unreadable.
He frowned. "That's enough. Get up."
Norma's face darkened instantly.
I didn't dare stand. Stubborn and resolute, I kept going.
I hadn't reached ninety-nine yet. I couldn't stop.
Any suffering I refused to endure would only be passed on to my daughter.
When he saw the wound on my forehead gushing fresh blood, Earl actually grew irritated.
"Patsy, are you pulling the victim act again?"
"Norma just feels sorry for the dog. Can't you at least maintain some dignity as a wife?"
Norma quickly laced her fingers through Earl's, blinking up at him with a playful pout.
"Remember, Patsy — all ninety-nine! Show my baby boy you're truly sincere."
She tugged Earl's arm. "Come on, it's time. We have a bucket list to finish."
Hesitation flickered across Earl's brow.
He looked at me, battered and bleeding, and didn't immediately agree.
That surprised me.
I knew about their bucket list.
Ever since they'd reconnected through the stolen dog, they'd been checking off old regrets together, day after day.
A kiss. Watching the ocean. Picking out a wedding dress.
One by one they'd completed them, and one by one, the last shreds of my hope had died.
Earl left anyway. The door slammed shut behind him.
Their love for each other had stopped hurting me a long time ago. The only thing I cared about was where my daughter was.
My phone buzzed. I looked at the screen, and the blood drained from my body.
It was from Bess's kids' smartwatch.
Mommy, it hurts so much.
Bess can't breathe... Mommy, don't you want me anymore?
The messages stopped there. Cold seeped through every inch of me, and tears spilled down my face before I could stop them.
In all the days since Bess had gone silent, I'd tried to reach her every single minute. This was the first time I'd gotten anything back.
I tapped into her chat window immediately, sending message after message, but nothing came through. No reply. No read receipt. Nothing.
I called Earl in a panic. The line was dead — phone powered off.
My hands shook so badly I could barely type.
Earl, where is Bess?! Something's happened to her!
She has a heart condition. You're her father. I'm begging you — tell me where she is.
I'll agree to the divorce. I'll step aside for you and Norma. Just please, let me have this. Let me and my daughter go.
Every message sank like a stone into silence.
I reached out to everyone I could think of.
The police said she hadn't been missing long enough to open a case. Earl's parents gave me nothing but vague, evasive answers.
I sat alone in the room for two hours, motionless.
The city was enormous. Where had they hidden her?
Then Norma posted on Instagram.
The photo showed her and Earl kissing on a snow-capped mountain.
The caption read: "Falling in love in the snow — they say vows crystallized below zero never break."
The comments were flooded with cheers from the Sanchez family and their mutual friends.
Norma replied to each one, giddy and coy.
"When Earl and I were together, we promised we'd climb a snowy peak someday. We broke up before we could, but now that regret is finally complete."
"He's married now. No matter how this ends, I'll never regret loving him."
While I was drowning in agony over my daughter, the whole world was swooning over their star-crossed love story.
But I didn't have the luxury of caring anymore. I typed a comment beneath the post as fast as my trembling fingers allowed.
"You don't have to miss each other anymore. I've already drafted the divorce papers. Congratulations to you both."
"But something happened to Bess! Please, tell Earl to call me back! I'm begging you—leave her alone."
Insults and mockery flooded my inbox within seconds.
My mother-in-law said I had no class, no dignity. Mutual friends said I was the jealous type, competing with another woman over a man who didn't want me.
None of the attacks mattered. All I wanted was to reach Earl.
The call came. His voice crackled through the speaker, sharp with accusation.
"Patsy, do you have to drag our family's name through the mud in front of everyone?"
"Norma and I made a deal. Once I finish this ski trip with her and we've checked off every last regret, we'll put each other behind us for good."
"Stop making a scene. Please."
He sounded exhausted, put-upon—as if I were the unreasonable wife.
I cut him off, my voice breaking.
"Bess sent me a message. Something happened to her!"
"Earl, you're her father. Why are you so heartless toward us?"
Maybe it was the raw desperation in my voice. Earl went quiet.
"I just sent her somewhere to correct her behavior. Nothing could've happened."
"Bess is my daughter too. I'd never hurt her."
Helplessness spread through my chest like poison. I sobbed until my throat tore.
Earl was silent for a long moment.
"Fine. I'll take you to pick her up."
"But after we get her, you owe Norma and me an apology for ruining our trip."
As long as my daughter came back to me, I'd do anything.
Including walking away from him. Giving him what he wanted.
When I got into his car, he and Norma were kissing while their friends cheered them on.
Norma's lashes glistened with tears. "Earl, I have no more regrets now. I won't come bother you again."
"Let me say goodbye properly. And this time, I really am taking Marshmallow with me, okay?"
Earl's gaze was full of longing and anguish. "I don't want to lose you. But I have a wife and daughter. I have to be responsible for them."
"Why didn't I fight harder for you back then?"
I watched them cling to each other and felt nothing.
All I could do was urge him, frantic. "Take me to Bess. Now."
Every person in the car turned to stare at me with open contempt, the unwelcome intruder.
The car pulled up to a dog training facility.
My heart seized.
Norma caught the look on my face and let out a soft, derisive laugh.
"Patsy, why can't you just appreciate what Earl's trying to do?"
"You don't understand him at all."
Earl looked at me with disappointment carved into every line of his face. "I just wanted to teach Bess to be kind to animals."
"You're my wife. Why won't you even try to understand me?"
I ran toward the man in charge, demanding to know where my daughter was.
But the man's eyes darted away from mine. He looked past me, silently pleading with Norma.
My stomach dropped. "Where is my daughter?"
Earl rubbed the bridge of his nose and said flatly, "Is the kid trained up? Bring her out."
Behind the iron bars, dogs were snarling, gnawing on the leg bones of their own kind.
It hit me all at once. This place trained vicious, dangerous dogs. Dogs that mauled.
Cold sweat soaked through my clothes. I stared at Earl in disbelief.
The man's evasion shattered the last wall holding me together. I lost all control.
I screamed, demanding to know where she was.
Then I turned—and my gaze landed on the iron cage in the corner.
The sound that left me was barely human.
"Bess... is that Bess lying in there?"
My daughter was naked. Covered in blood. Lying motionless inside a cage.
Every face in the room went white.
The facility owner stammered, "Mr. Sanchez signed a liability waiver! We guaranteed obedience, not survival..."
"And you people hid her medical history! She has a heart condition—why didn't you tell us? That's not on us."
I collapsed to the ground, clutching my daughter's bruised, purple body.
She was cold. Terrifyingly cold. Not a trace of warmth left in her.
No breath, either.
A raw, guttural wail tore out of me. Anguish and despair, tangled together until I couldn't tell them apart.
My eyes locked onto Earl, who stood frozen beside me, the color drained from his face.
"Why?"
"Why couldn't you just let us go?"
