When the nanny held a funeral for the family dog, I was at the hospital with my daughter Lily for her heart check-up, and couldn’t attend.

That evening, my husband Richard Hayes confronted me.

“I told you to go to the funeral in my place, didn’t I? Why didn’t you go? Do you know how heartbroken Lily was? That was her favorite dog.”

“Or was this intentional? Did you poison the dog yourself?”

He spoke like an angry machine gun, each word harsher than the last.

I couldn’t help snapping back. “How can a dog ever compare to my daughter? Besides, I told her in advance.”

Richard lowered his head and apologized.

“I’m sorry, honey. It was my oversight. Please don’t be upset.”

I thought the matter was over.

But when Lily finally got a chance at a new heart, Richard used it against me—forcing me to carry the dog’s ashes up a mountain in 108-degree heat.

“You missed the pet funeral. Now, at the pastor’s memorial blessing, you’ll carry the ashes up the hill.”

“You said before a dog couldn’t compare to your daughter. What about now?”

So, he had held that grudge in his heart all along.

…

Tears filled my eyes as I demanded, “Richard, in your heart, am I and your daughter really worth less than a dog?”

The urn was custom-made, weighing over fifty pounds.

I myself weighed barely ninety, and my right leg had just undergone surgery.

If I really carried it uphill, it would kill me.

“A dog truly can’t compare to either of you,” Richard said, seizing my chin. His voice sharpened: “But you must learn rules. You must not be cold-hearted. This is your punishment.”

Hatred flickered in his narrowed eyes.

“Whose idea was this? Yours, or hers?”

I glanced toward Vanessa Moore, who was standing nearby watching like it was theater, and let out a bitter laugh.

Who would have thought that eight years of marriage could be shattered so easily by an outsider?

Feigning panic, Vanessa said, “Mr. Hayes, please stop! The harsher you are with your wife, the more she’ll hate me. I begged her to let me stay in this house…”

Her lips trembled, tears brimming in her eyes, as if I had always bullied her.

Richard’s grip tightened, nearly choking me.

“Look what you’ve done—scaring Vanessa like this. Today you’ll pay the price.”

He finally released me, turned, and gently took Vanessa’s hand.

“Let’s go,” he said softly.

“Isn’t this too much? After all, she’s just a fragile woman. The heat might be too much for her,” Vanessa continued her act.

“Don’t worry,” Richard sneered. “She’s tougher than an old sow.”

With that, Richard chuckled and left with Vanessa in the car.

His departing figure felt like a knife twisting into my chest.

The cloud of dust from the car choked me, leaving me coughing.

This was the same man who once defied his family to marry me.

The man who braved a hurricane to find me, and who once loved to fall asleep in my arms.

Now he was a stranger, someone I feared.

As the dust settled, several large bodyguards surrounded me, chains in hand.

“Ma’am, please don’t blame us. These are Mr. Hayes’ orders,” one said.

“He wants us to strap the urn onto you. Best to cooperate, don’t make things harder.”

They were afraid I would run.

Afraid I would resist.

Richard Hayes even left men to watch me.

Richard, only now do I see your selfishness clearly. All your cleverness is spent only on tormenting me.

“For Lily’s life, I’ll comply,” I said, taking a deep breath. “But before that, I want to make a call.”

The Hayes family held immense power.

Only one man could save me from this nightmare.

“This…” The bodyguard hesitated, then said, “A call is not allowed. But you may send one message.”

“Fine.”

I gave in, took the phone under his watchful eyes, and typed:

[Dad, Lily and I miss you.]

After I set the phone down, the urn was strapped onto my back, bending me nearly in half.

Forget climbing—walking a few steps on flat ground was nearly impossible.

The heat was suffocating, my face burning red.

And to make things worse, one bodyguard held a tablet on a live video call with Richard.

Onscreen, Richard sat beside Vanessa, eating watermelon in the cool air-conditioning, a glass of wine on the table.

To them, my suffering was just entertainment, like watching a circus act.

“What are you waiting for? Move,” Richard ordered coldly, raising his wine glass.

Vanessa didn’t speak, but the smirk tugging at her lips betrayed her satisfaction.

I gritted my teeth, took two steps, and collapsed as my right leg gave out.

The heavy urn pinned me down, crushing my bones like a mountain.

A scream of pain escaped me.

Some of the guards couldn’t bear it and tried to reason with Richard.

“Sir, this is too much. In 108-degree weather, carrying fifty pounds uphill will kill her.”

Richard’s face darkened. He slammed his glass against the table.

The guards fell silent.

Vanessa quickly stroked his chest, whispering sweetly, “Don’t be angry, Richard. Anger is bad for your health. Maybe the guards are right.”

But the sharp look she gave them could have cut glass.

“I’m not angry. I’m disgusted,” Richard said with a smile, turning the venom back on me. “Emily Carter, stop pretending. Get up. Lily’s life is in your hands. If you disobey, I’ll give that heart to someone else. Then you can watch her suffer.”

He sneered. “Just like at that pet funeral—Vanessa cried her heart out, but you were cold as stone.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

A father threatening his wife with his own daughter’s life?

“Richard!” I roared, eyes bloodshot. “If anything happens to our daughter, I will haunt you even in death!”

Perhaps it was the first time he had seen me so unhinged, because Richard froze for a moment before standing abruptly.

“Mr. Hayes, maybe let it go,” Vanessa interjected, biting her lip. “After all, the dog was poisoned by Lily. His wife merely missed the funeral. It’s not a big deal. I don’t mind.”

“No.” Richard cut her off immediately. “If the mother fails to teach her daughter, then the mother must be punished.”

He sat back down, his expression dark as he continued watching me like a cruel spectator.

How absurd.

Vanessa had no proof. She was an outsider.

And yet Richard believed her over me.

Richard was utterly convinced, blaming both Lily and me. His brain must have been kicked by a mule.

“Mom!”

Just as I managed to stand again, Lily came running toward me, drenched in sweat, her little face pale.

My heart clenched. “Take her home, quickly,” I urged the guards.

“I’m not going back!” Lily shook her head stubbornly.

“How odd,” Vanessa said slyly. “Wasn’t Lily supposed to be in the hospital? Could it be that his wife arranged this?”

Richard narrowed his eyes at me. “Emily, you claim to love your daughter, unwilling to let her suffer. And now you drag her here to beg for you? How despicably fake.”

The disgust in his gaze made me feel like a criminal.

“I came on my own. A nurse told me,” Lily explained hurriedly, then pleaded, “Daddy, please let Mommy go. Her leg just had surgery—it’s bleeding!”

For a moment I thought Richard would soften. Instead, he slammed the table.

“So your mother taught you to lie too? Do you think I don’t know her leg isn’t injured?”

Terrified, Lily flinched and stepped back, her eyes wide with fear.

I had told Richard about my surgery. Clearly, he had forgotten.

“Ma’am, that’s wrong of you,” Vanessa jumped in. “Teaching a child to lie? No wonder Richard’s angry.”

“Bad woman! Bad woman!” Lily cried, trembling with rage. She didn’t have the words, but she knew Vanessa was cruel.

“Shut up!” Richard roared again, glaring at me. “So you speak ill of Vanessa in front of Lily too? With such a poisonous tongue, how can you call yourself a Hayes wife? I should never have let you raise her. If Lily had grown up with Vanessa, she’d never have learned to lie.”

Vanessa’s eyes sparkled—she clearly thought she was about to replace me.

“Daddy, don’t listen to that bad woman!” Lily sobbed. “I’m not lying. If you don’t believe me, look at Mommy’s leg!”

But Richard refused to listen.

“Drag this girl aside. Let her watch and learn what happens to those who break the rules.”

“It’s scorching hot! You’d let Lily stand out here in the sun?” I cried.

He glanced at Lily’s pale face but was too blinded by rage.

“Enough. Climb, or else—”

The unfinished threat was clear enough.

I dared not argue further, terrified he might turn his fury on Lily.

So I staggered forward, every step heavier than the last.

Richard’s lips curled into a satisfied smirk at my obedience.

Within minutes, sweat soaked through my clothes.

The sun blazed like an oven, my head spinning, nausea rising in my throat.

Suddenly my right leg gave way again, and I fell, my mouth slamming against the ground.

Blood smeared across my lips, brighter than the carpet on our wedding day.

My unhealed wound tore open, blood soaking through my white dress.

The guards paled with horror.

Richard leapt to his feet at last, his face betraying real panic.