Hearing that, Cody's face darkened. “Riley, stop with the attitude. Yara really did twist her ankle, and since she came back, she’s had no one to help her. She’s been lonely enough. If you’re not going to comfort her, fine, but why act like this?”

“And I was only with her for a few days. Is that really worth hanging up on me?”

I laughed bitterly to myself. To Cody, I was just the jealous wife. Maybe he wasn’t wrong. There had been plenty of times when I fought with him over how little he cared for me and our daughter.

But now, with my daughter gone, I didn’t have the energy for their drama.

“I don’t care what you do,” I said quietly. “There’s no need to explain anything to me.”

I turned and walked straight to my daughter’s room, starting to pack up her things.

Cody frowned, clearly confused. In his world, seeing him with Yara should’ve made me furious, but my indifference seemed to unsettle him.

He started to follow me, but Yara tugged at his sleeve, holding him back.

It wasn’t until I passed by them with my suitcase that Cody seemed to realize something was really off.

He thought I was mad about him not taking our daughter to the hospital.

His voice softened, “You’re upset because I didn’t take her to the hospital, right? But you did, and that’s what matters. She’s fine now, isn’t she? Why are you making such a big deal out of this?”

He sounded like he was trying to make peace, but there was still that hint of blame like I was overreacting.

I stared at him coldly. “You should stay with her. Let’s just get a divorce.”

At the word “divorce,” Cody finally panicked. He rushed over and grabbed my hand.

“Riley, don’t be like this. I’ll call the best doctor right now. We’ll get our daughter the treatment she needs.”

He dialed a number, “Hello, Dr. Clark, My daughter’s sick, and I need you to see her right away. Hold on, let me check which hospital she’s at.”

Cody glanced at me, waiting for a response, but I stayed silent, dragging my suitcase toward the door.

Sensing I wasn’t stopping, he quickly said into the phone, “Dr. Clark, my daughter was taken to the hospital by someone else. Can you check which one for me? Her name’s Alice Luke. I’ll make it up to you later. Thanks, talk soon.”

After hanging up, Cody stepped in front of the door, trying to act reassuringly.

“See? Now you can’t be mad anymore. Once Alice is out of the hospital, we’ll all be together again as a family. This was just a misunderstanding. Yara just got back, she’s not familiar with the area. I couldn’t leave her alone. But from now on, I’ll be with Alice every day, okay?”

He looked at me like he expected everything to magically be fine, like he could fix it all with empty promises.

I stared at him, feeling nothing but disgust. His fake, apologetic smile only made me angrier.

“No, Cody. You’ve run out of chances.”

He frowned, clearly confused. “What do you mean, run out of chances? Once Alice is better, everything will go back to normal.”

In the past, his groveling and apologies might’ve worked.

But not anymore. I didn’t care about him or his excuses. Not after everything that had happened.

My daughter’s ashes hadn’t even been laid to rest, and I wasn’t going to waste my time playing his games.

“Move,” I said, my voice cold and sharp.

Cody’s patience snapped. He pointed at me, his voice rising in anger.

“Fine, Riley! Walk out that door and don’t come back!”

“Gladly.”

I didn’t even look at him as I walked out, slamming the door behind me.

My daughter always loved the wild chrysanthemums on the mountain. She said they symbolized freedom.

So, I took her ashes up there. It was a quiet, secluded spot. I set the urn aside and went to pick some flowers.

I only stepped away for a few minutes, but when I came back, the urn was gone.

Panic set in. I dropped the flowers and searched frantically. I finally found the urn beneath a big tree, with two familiar figures standing nearby.

As I got closer, I saw that Yara was holding my daughter’s ashes.

“Cody, do you think Bean would like it here?” Yara asked softly.

Cody answered gently, “If you picked it, Yara, she’d love it.”

Yara nodded, and then, to my horror, she started pouring out the ashes and replacing them with the ashes of a dead teddy bear!

My heart sank. I hadn’t even had a chance to properly memorialize my daughter, and now her ashes were being desecrated!

I couldn’t let this go on. I screamed, “Stop it!”

I rushed over, grabbing the urn from Yara and tossing the teddy bear’s ashes away. I knelt down, carefully putting my daughter’s ashes back into the urn.

Yara’s face turned red with anger. “What are you doing? I just found a box that no one wanted. Why are you throwing away my Bean?”

Her words only fueled my rage. I slowly stood up, then slapped her hard across the face.

Yara fell to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

“Cody, is this the woman you found after I left? You said she was understanding, but she’s just a violent maniac!”

“My face hurts so much. Bean, my Bean… it’s so unfair!”

As Yara’s complaints stirred the pot, Cody’s face darkened.

Clearly frustrated, he said, “Riley, what do you want? Are you really making a fuss over a worthless box? I’ve found the best doctor for our daughter. She’ll be fine soon. Why do you keep causing trouble for Yara? Did she do something to you? Or are you just jealous and looking for a fight?”

My heart broke at his words. How could he be so heartless? When our daughter was fighting for her life, where was his concern?

I had no patience left for his hollow sympathy. I crouched down, continuing to gather my daughter’s ashes.

But Yara wouldn’t let it go. She demanded to return the slap I’d given her.

Cody, with a dark expression, said, “Riley, you need to apologize to Yara right now and then go back to taking care of our daughter. For her sake, I’m willing to overlook this.”

I let out a harsh laugh. “You’re talking about our daughter? When she was suffering from pneumonia, you ran off to be with this woman and left her alone at home. Where was your concern then?”

Cody ignored my words, acting like he had all the answers. “With your attitude, it’s no wonder our daughter turned out this way. You’ve clearly harmed her.”

“I’ve decided that as soon as she’s out of the hospital, we’re getting a divorce. She can’t stay with you any longer.”

“And you need to apologize to Yara today!”

I scoffed. “And what if I don’t?”

“Then you leave me no choice!”

Cody yanked me by the arm, while Yara grabbed the urn from my hands. I tried to rush at her, but Cody held me back.

Yara, with a triumphant look, dumped the ashes out of the urn and replaced them with the ashes of the teddy bear.

Cody stared at me with cold contempt. “You shouldn’t even go to the hospital. With your attitude, you might just end up harming our daughter.”

Just then, Cody’s phone rang. He answered with a strained smile.

“Dr. Clark, hello. What’s going on?”

Dr. Clark’s voice was clear on the line. “Mr. Luke, I’ve checked all the hospitals in the city, but there’s no record of your daughter being admitted. Are you sure she’s in the hospital?”

There was a brief pause. “Also, I found a child of similar age who was recently cremated. Her name is Alice Luke.”