Graham didn't come to Lily's funeral. He didn't send flowers. No card, no message. Nothing.

The small chapel was filled with our closest family and friends, all dressed in somber black, their faces etched with grief. My parents, their own hearts broken, stood by me.

"Where's Graham?" My aunt whispered, her voice tight with disapproval. "His own daughter, for heaven's sake."

I just shook my head, unable to speak. What could I say? That he was with his mistress and her child, celebrating their new life while ours crumbled into dust?

"That man is a disgrace," my uncle muttered, his gaze fierce. "And that Bella woman… I heard rumors years ago."

A fresh wave of shock washed over me. Rumors? Years ago? Had I been so blind?

I borrowed my mother's phone, my own still useless, blocked. My fingers fumbled as I dialed. It rang once, twice, then he picked up.

"What is it, Emma?" he snapped, his voice sharp with irritation.

"Are you coming?" I asked, my voice flat, devoid of emotion. "To Lily's funeral? It starts in ten minutes."

"Are you serious right now?" he scoffed. "Emma, I can't. I can't face it. Not right now. Mia just got home, she's not stable. Bella is a wreck. I have to hold it together here."

"Bella needs you?" I repeated, my voice rising. "Our daughter is being laid to rest, Graham! Our five-year-old child! And you're prioritizing your mistress?"

"Don't you dare try to manipulate me with this, Emma," he seethed. "You're just trying to make a scene. You don't deserve to be a mother, you hear me? You're a cold, selfish-"

The line went dead. Again. Blocked. Again.

My hand dropped, the phone slipping from my grasp. He called me selfish. He said I didn't deserve to be a mother. Those words, spoken by Lily's own father, echoed in the hollow chamber of my broken heart.

"What did he say?" My father's voice was a low growl. He snatched the phone from the floor, his face darkening as he saw the blocked screen.

"He… he said I don't deserve to be a mother," I whispered, tears finally falling.

My father's face contorted with pure rage. A vein throbbed in his temple. He dialed Graham's number. This time, it went through.

"Graham! You absolute bastard!" my father roared. "How dare you! How dare you abandon your child! Emma carried that girl, she fought for that girl every single day of her life! And you? You traded her life for a cheap thrill with your tramp!"

There was a muffled sound from the other end.

"Don't you dare try to deny it!" my father thundered. "We know! We know you diverted Lily's heart to Bella Savage's daughter! You killed your own child!"

A stunned silence fell.

"You want proof? You want to see what you did?" My father's fingers flew across the screen, attaching a photo. Lily's tiny white coffin. The freshly dug earth. "Look at it, Graham! Look at the monster you are!"

He pressed the phone to my ear. I could hear Graham's ragged breathing, his choked, horrified gasp.

"You are nothing, Graham," my father hissed, his voice trembling with a cold, terrifying fury. "You are less than nothing. You are dead to us. Dead."

He hung up, his body shaking. He pulled me into his arms as I sobbed.

My gaze fell upon a photograph of Lily. Her bright, innocent smile. I remembered holding her, just days ago, her small voice saying, "Mommy, when I get my new heart, we can run in the park all day."

My heart shattered all over again. The pain was too much. Darkness swirled at the edges of my vision, consuming me once more.

I woke up in a stark white room. My head was pounding.

I blinked, trying to clear the fog, and saw him. Graham. He was sitting in a chair by my bed, his face pale, his eyes red-rimmed.

He reached out a hand, his fingers brushing my arm. The touch ignited a furious spark within me.

"Don't you dare touch me!" I snarled, pulling my arm away as if his touch burned.

He flinched. "Emma… I'm so sorry." His voice was a raw whisper.

"Sorry?" I scoffed. "For what, exactly? For killing our daughter? For abandoning her? For playing Daddy to another man's child while ours lay dying?"

I grabbed a glass water bottle and hurled it at him. It struck the wall behind his head with a dull thud. He didn't move.

"You blame me?" he rasped, his eyes finally lifting. "Why wasn't there another heart, Emma? You have all this money, all this power! Why was there only one? You put me in a position where I had to choose!"

My blood ran cold. "I found one heart, Graham! The heart you stole! And you want to blame me?!" I screamed.

"Mia was crashing, Emma! She was younger, with a better prognosis! It was a purely medical decision, a split-second call!" he argued, his voice desperate to justify the unjustifiable.

He truly believed that, didn't he? He genuinely thought he was a hero, saving a "more deserving" child. He wasn't just a monster; he was a deluded monster.

"You're a disgrace to your profession, Graham. You swore an oath. You let your affair override your duty!" I spat.

He opened his mouth to retort, but no words came out.

Suddenly, the door burst open. Bella Savage, her eyes red and swollen, rushed in. She fell to her knees at my bedside, clutching my hand.

"Emma! Oh, Emma! I'm so, so sorry!" she wailed. "It's all my fault! Please, forgive Graham! He was just trying to save Mia! He's a good man, a good doctor!"

I ripped my hand away, disgust churning in my stomach. Her words were a carefully crafted performance.

I ripped the remaining IV lines from my arm and lunged at her.

SMACK!

My palm connected with her cheek. She gasped, staggering back.

"You bitch!" I screamed, grabbing a handful of her hair. "You snake! You stole my husband! You stole my daughter's heart! You killed Lily!"

"That heart cost me millions! Millions, Bella! And you, you opportunistic whore, you think you're entitled to it?"

"Give it back!" I shrieked. "Give me back the heart! Give me back my daughter!"

Graham, who had been frozen in shock, suddenly sprang to life. He wrenched my hands from Bella's hair, pulling me back with a force that made my head snap. He shoved me, hard, against the bed, then stood protectively in front of Bella.

"Are you insane, Emma?!" he roared. "You're out of control! I told you, there's nothing between Bella and me! I was just helping a patient!"

"Helping a patient?! By murdering your own daughter?!" I screamed. "That heart was my property! I paid for it! You had no right!"

"It was a medical decision! I'm a doctor, I make those calls!" he yelled back. "And anyway, Lily wasn't going to make it. Mia had a better chance. You're just grieving, Emma, you don't understand."

He looked at Bella, then back at me. "Bella is innocent in all of this. She's just a struggling single mother. Don't you dare lay a hand on her again."

Innocent? My blood boiled. He was so utterly blind, so completely infatuated. He saw only a damsel in distress, a pure, helpless creature he needed to save. And in saving her, he'd destroyed me.

"You need to calm down, Emma," Graham said, his voice suddenly softening. He put his arm around Bella, steering her out of the room. "I'll call you later, when you're more rational."

As they walked away, his hand lingered on Bella's back, a gesture of intimacy that ripped through the last vestiges of my hope.

I remembered meeting Graham for the first time. He was a brilliant, aloof resident. I, the ambitious tech prodigy, saw a challenge. I pursued him relentlessly.

"Love isn't a transaction, Emma," he'd said once.

But I was stubborn. I wore him down. When I finally asked him to marry me, he hesitated, then said, "Alright." Just "Alright."

I built a life around him, convinced that my boundless affection would eventually melt his icy exterior. I gave him everything. I overlooked his distant nature, his subtle put-downs. I made excuses, always.

Then Bella Savage reappeared. His high school girlfriend, now a single mother. He called it "charity." I saw the way he looked at her, a glimmer of warmth I'd never seen directed at me.

I confronted him. "Are you having an affair with her, Graham?"

He denied it vehemently. "Don't be ridiculous, Emma! She's just a friend. You're being paranoid."

He promised to change. And like a fool, I believed him. I always did.

Now, Lily was gone. And I finally understood. My relentless pursuit had only taught him that my love was unconditional, disposable. My soft heart, once a source of strength, had become my greatest weakness.

I covered my face with my trembling hands. The tears were no longer just for Lily. They were for the naive, foolish woman I had been.

But that woman was dead now. And in her place, something cold and hard was being forged.

The scent of polished leather and old books filled the air of Mr. Harrison Reed's office. He was a legend in the legal world, a man whose reputation for ruthless efficiency preceded him.

"I want a divorce," I stated, my voice steady. "And I want to sue. Graham Finley. Bella Savage. I want to sue them both for everything they have."

Mr. Reed nodded slowly. "Go on, Mrs. Wolfe."

"First, I want every shred of evidence regarding Graham's affair with Bella. I want his reputation as a family man utterly destroyed."

"Second, I want to reclaim every penny he spent on Bella and her daughter. He embezzled funds meant for Lily's care. That's theft, and medical malpractice."

"Third," I continued, "I want his medical license revoked. I want his career, his identity, his entire life's work, utterly incinerated. I want him to know what it feels like to lose everything."

Mr. Reed leaned back in his chair. "Understood, Mrs. Wolfe. We will begin immediately."

My phone buzzed. Graham. Bella must have received the legal papers.

"What the hell is this, Emma?" His voice was a furious roar. "Are you trying to ruin me?"

"Ruin you?" I countered. "I'm merely asking for what's mine. And for justice for Lily."

"Justice? You think suing Bella, a single mother living paycheck to paycheck, is justice?" he scoffed. "She's got nothing, Emma! You're a multi-billionaire! You're ruthless!"

"Conscience?" I laughed, a bitter, hollow sound. "You want to talk about conscience, Graham? You stole my daughter's heart! You let her die! Don't you dare talk to me about conscience."

"This is uncalled for, Emma. And what do you mean, medical malpractice? The heart was allocated through proper channels, I swear!" he stammered.

"I want every penny back, Graham. Every single cent you ever spent on Bella. And if you refuse, I will drag your name through every media outlet, every medical journal, until you are a pariah."

His breathing was ragged on the other end. "Emma, please… I know I made a mistake. I know I messed up with Lily. But Bella… Bella is fragile. Please, don't involve her."

A surge of white-hot fury flared within me. Fragile? Bella Savage was a parasite. And Graham, the idiot, still couldn't see it.

"Suffering?!" I hissed. "Lily suffered. Lily died, Graham. And you stood by, complicit in her murder. You think Bella's 'suffering' compares to that?"

"I want it all back, Graham. That luxury apartment you bought her? The private school tuition? The lavish vacations? I know all about it. I have eyes and ears everywhere."

He sputtered, speechless.

"Consider this your final warning, Graham," I said, my voice cold and steady. "Cooperate, or face total annihilation."

I hung up. My revenge would be surgical. Precise. Brutal.