My daughter accidentally broke Tristan’s classic pottery, so she was punished to kneel in the snow for the entire day. Unexpectedly, when I came back from my business trip, my daughter had left me forever.

I looked around to find him, questioning why he was so cruel to me and our daughter. Until I finally saw Tristan standing in front of the big picture of bull. He seemed to be asking for forgiveness.

Tristan's eyes were full of tears, as he banged his head against the wall at the most critical moment. "If Aishlyn didn’t break the pottery and Linda was here, I would have never done such thing to her." The redness on his nose had not yet dissipated and he knelt devoutly in front of the big picture.

I leaned against the door and my tears were constantly falling down. It turned out that from the beginning I was just a substitute of Linda Writhe. The memory of her never left her husband’s mind as it just alone killed my daughter.

I was so disheartened and called my secretary, "Help me with the immigration procedures, the sooner the better!"

***

At the funeral, I still stood beside the grave, staring blankly at the tombstone of my only child. In the next second, I searched for a phone number and called Tristan. It was thirteen times in a row of calls, yet none of them went through.

I kept on searching on the phone, until I saw a photo of Tristan holding a newborn baby with a bright smile. It had the caption.

[Others laugh at you for being a baby born without father, but you have a man who is more reliable than your father.]

There was also Tristan's comment under the caption.

[This post is my witness. I, Tristan, swear that I will protect Xena Swayn Writhe's happiness and safety for the rest of her life.]

His social account, which had been silent for more than 20 years, sent out its first post.

[I take Xena Swayn Writhe as my own daughter and she will be my next heir.]

My knuckles turned white holding the phone. The relatives and friends in the funeral began to whisper. "I heard that Mr. Goyle doted on his sister, but I didn't expect him to leave all his property to his niece. He even took her as his own daughter."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Ms. Smith has helped to manage Goyle Family's business. She also had to take IVF Program to carry a baby. But in the end, she got nothing. Her husband didn't even come to her daughter's funeral."

"Look at Ms. Smith’s face. She’s pale. Wouldn't her marriage with Mr. Goyle be tragically shattered? I guess she will go crazy soon."

Unfortunately, the scene they imagined did not come true. Even if Tristan did something more ridiculous for Linda, I was not so surprised.

I calmly scrubbed my daughter's tombstone and called the secretary to divide the property.

My parents died when I was 18 years old, leaving me alone to carry the Smith Family. At that time, I was isolated and helpless. Tristan Goyle came and promised to marry me as it was arranged by my parents when I was a child.

I fell in love with Tristan at first sight. I was grateful and moved. Knowing that he would marry me, I decided to support and develop the Goyle and Smith’s properties as well as withstood the family pressure for him.

Until I realized that he put in faith in a quite strange of religion, I kept staying in the empty room for ten years without any complaints.

It was not until Tristan’s father asked him to give birth to an heir that I carefully proposed IVF Program and gave birth to a daughter despite the purple swelling on my abdomen.

I thought he was full of mercy like the moon niche in the sky. However, I was totally wrong. He let my daughter die and it just destroyed all my perspective of him.

A little memento from Linda was worth the lives of both my daughter and me.

Since the entanglement with Tristan started with the interests of the two companies, I would love to start again with it.

I forced myself to quickly withdraw from the pain of my daughter's death and returned to the villa after a busy day and night in the company.

As soon as I opened the door, an indescribable smell rushed into my nose. Then I saw a scene that made my blood run cold.

The door of Aishlyn room was wide open and all the things inside were emptied. I was looking around. In the yard, I found Linda throwing Aishlyn's photos and some hair into the fire.

"Tristan, can this really help Xena's leukemia get better? Do you think that Aishlyn would blame us to use her body part?" Linda said with sobs, as her face was full of guilt.

Ironically, she still added other pieces of Aishlyn’s hair into the fire.

Tristan looked at her gently, "This is something you have worked so hard. Xena will definitely get better after it is done. Aishlyn’s spirit can be Xena's patron saint. It is a blessing she has cultivated for several lifetimes."

He then continued to explain, "I personally arranged several rituals for her and I will definitely bless her to have a good rebirth."

It turned out that they had arranged to kill Aishlyn all this time. They even didn't let her go in a peace!

I was so angry that my eyes turned black. I rushed into the fire regardless of the burns and picked up my daughter's photos and hair.

"What are you doing?!"

As soon as the question fell, Linda picked up a wooden stick and smashed it hard on my head. My ears were buzzing and warm liquid kept flowing down on my nose.

Linda held the wooden stick and her eyes were fierce. She shouted angrily, "You dare to interrupt my daughter's ritual, I want you to die!" She smashed the stick again to me fiercely.

I groaned in pain and went blurred. It seemed that the third blow was about to come.

Tristan raised his hand to hold the wooden stick. He hugged Linda in his arms and comforted her. The man turned around and yelled at me. "It's just a photograph and some pieces of hair. What were you thinking? We’re only cleaning Aishlyn’s room. You’re really vicious. You don’t want to make Linda happy, do you?

"She has severe postpartum depression! "

Linda had had several nannies to take care of her since she became pregnant. She received both recovery and psychological counselling after giving birth.

At that time, she was leaning on Tristan's arms and looking at me with provocative eyes, without any signs of depression at all.

My face was as gloomy as water. I madly said to him, "Aishlyn is your biological daughter!"

Tristan frowned, "I know. Then what's the problem? Xena is also my daughter. Aishlyn is dead after all, then what's wrong with her protecting her alive sister? Aishlyn is obedient and sensible. If she were still alive, she would definitely agree with me to do this."

My daughter had been well-behaved and sensible since she was young. She had always wanted to be recognized by Tristan, but Tristan stayed in his secret room all year round and never said a word to her.

On the night of her punishment, Tristan took a plane in the next morning to take care of Linda's baby delivery. My daughter could have called for help, but she was afraid of making him unhappy, so she insisted on staying.

When she was dying, Aishlyn’s curled body was frozen. There was a family portrait of three that she had drawn herself in her hand.

My daughter was gone. I didn't ask Tristan to care about her, but I didn't expect him to use my daughter's sincere love to seek benefits for another irrelevant child.

I was screaming out of control and said, “What did it have to do with me that Linda's child had leukemia? Why did you want to use my daughter as a cure?!”

I just couldn’t make sense of it. I promise myself to wish that I will not see them again. I called my secretary and asked him to wait for me in the underground garage.

Before I left, Linda grabbed my hair fiercely. She slapped me hard and then tried to grab Aishlyn’s picture and some leftover hair.

"This is also Tristan's child. Why do you take it away just like that?! The ritual has already begun. Give me back those things!" Linda pressed my head against the wall like a madwoman.

The dull sound penetrated my heart and my eyes went dark. I couldn't hold on any longer and fell to the ground.

I woke up in the hospital again.

There was a stabbing pain on my head, I subconsciously raised my hand and touched the thick gauze.

"Don't touch it. You just got a few stitches. It's easy to get infected." Tristan stood condescendingly beside the bed. His voice was cold. There was Linda behind him with tears in her eyes.

She took the lead and took my hand, as if she had completely changed.

"Airish, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hit you impulsively. Please understand my feeling as a mother. Once the ritual begins, it can't end. You have to give me her photos and hair."

She didn't give up!

I took a deep breath and pushed her away, "Impossible, unless I die, whoever dares to touch my daughter's, I will fight her to the death!"

Without using any force, Linda still fell to the ground out of control. She was held firmly by Tristan's waist.

He looked at me with a stern look, "Airish, don't go too far. Linda has already begged you so much, what else do you want?"

In his eyes, Linda didn't even apologize, but just said "please", so I had to agree to any conditions.

When I first married into the Goyle Family, I knew he had an adopted sister and they had a close relationship, so I just thought they had a deep affection.

I felt uncomfortable that Linda was treated better than me as a wife countless time, but I endured it for Tristan.

Until the year when my IVF was successful, Tristan rarely showed a good face to me, which made me wonder if Tristan was moved by my love for him over the years.

He spent less time in the secret room and more time with me. He even became more acceptable to intimate relationships such as holding hands and kissing.

Until Linda returned to England, everything changed. The desire he showed for me was like a flash in the pan.

It was not until the death of Aishlyn that I realized that he had a dirty heart under his cold appearance.

I looked at Tristan coldly and no longer liked him. "I have said it to you. It’s impossible. I have already divided our property. Let's get a divorce."

Tristan frowned, "Airish, can't you understand? Now is not the time for a divorce. Xena has leukemia and she needs the ritual! I promise you, when Xena gets better, I will definitely compensate you."

He really thought that his daughter's death could be compensated. I found it funny. Yes, the past ten years had all been my wishful thinking.

I had managed the company for him, bear the family pressure, begged him to give me a child. I was more than bless of Aishlyn’s birth. There had no such things to replace the price of my daughter Aishlyn!

I suppressed the soreness in my eyes and looked up at Tristan. "I don't care about your compensation. No one can touch my daughter!"

Tristan met my serious gaze and rarely stopped standing up for Linda. In the meantime, Linda was furious and pulled Tristan's sleeve. "Tristan, what about Xena?"

I said it in a deep voice, "Try me if you dare."

Although I felt like a widow for ten years, there was a sweet time after all. Tristan and I confronted each other for a long time and then left the room in silence.

In the next few days, Tristan stayed to take care of me for the first time. He never mentioned about the request again.

If it was a week ago, I would definitely be overjoyed. Yet my heart was calm, without a trace of throbbing.

I had a headache when I slept at night and wanted to get up and call the nurse.

However, I saw Linda was holding Tristan's hand on her chest. The woman groaned in pain and said, "Tristan, there is no breast pump in the hospital, my chest hurts so much..."

Tristan let go of her as if it was hot. He wanted to turn around, but he was kissed by Linda on tiptoe.