"Where is Audrey? Where did you hide her? Let her come back, finish her cake, and then kneel and apologize to Laura."

"Audrey is already dead. If you want to offer cake, let Laura die." I gritted my teeth, enduring the overwhelming pain.

"How could you be so cruel? You're cursing your own daughter out of jealousy!" Patrick's voice was filled with rage. "At the beginning, you took advantage of my serious illness and coma to send Laura away, and you stole all the company shares. You did everything wrong."

"I tolerated all of it because you stayed with me for ten years and raised our children. But it's never enough for you. You bully Laura over and over again, and now you’re cursing my daughter."

He grabbed my hands and shoved a greasy piece of cake into my mouth.

The overwhelming scent of mango made me gag. My throat tightened, and I couldn’t breathe properly. I struggled violently.

"Let me go, Patrick, don’t you remember I’m allergic to mangoes?" I gasped.

Patrick froze for a moment, then hardened his heart. "You've done so many terrible things to Laura, and now you're pretending that an allergy is something serious. It won't kill you. You’ll finish the cake and then kneel to Laura to apologize."

My eyelids began to swell, and my breathing became more labored. I shut my eyes, feeling myself slipping away. As my hands went limp, Patrick stopped, panic flashing in his eyes.

"Where's the allergy medicine Madam left at home? Find it for her now!" he barked.

After I took the medicine, I slowly regained my breath and opened my swollen, red eyes. Patrick let out a relieved sigh but his voice was stiff as he spoke.

"Okay, you and Laura are even now. Just swear that you won’t embarrass her or the baby she’s carrying, and I’ll promise to spend one or two days a week with you and Audrey."

When I didn’t respond, he grew impatient. "What are you angry about? If you hadn’t interfered, Laura would have gone abroad, and suffered, and I’d have married you for the company’s sake. Laura and I would have had a child by now, living a happy life."

"You and Audrey’s happiness now is stolen from Laura. What’s there to be upset about?"

I couldn’t take it anymore and cut him off. "Don’t mention my daughter again! I’m sending you back to Laura, and I’ve already sent you the divorce papers."

He sneered. "Fine. I’ll hire the best lawyer and fight for Audrey’s custody. You, a housewife, have no chance against me. If you don’t want to lose Audrey, kneel and apologize now."

I couldn’t keep it in any longer. I pulled out Audrey’s death certificate and threw it in his face. "Patrick! Look at this! Audrey is dead! You killed her!"

His eyes locked on the certificate, the words "death certificate" in bold black letters and "Audrey" written underneath. He staggered backward, as if he’d been hit.

"How could it be..."

Laura suddenly wailed. "How could this happen? Audrey’s nanny just sent me a message saying Audrey couldn’t find you and was crying nonstop."

"The assistant said you went to the hospital this morning. Did you go there to forge this certificate?"

I felt a hard slap across my cheek, and before I could react, I tumbled down the stairs, humiliation flooding me.

Patrick’s furious shout echoed from above. "Lucia, you cursed your own child just to compete with Laura for my favor, and bribed the hospital to get a fake death certificate!"

"You don’t deserve to be a mother," he roared. "Not even a tiger would eat its own cubs. You’re worse than an animal!"

I struggled to push myself up. "Patrick, you are such a fool."

I reached for the album on the ground, but Patrick crushed my hand under his foot.

"Get lost! You vile woman! You dare use a child to threaten me! Don't even think about stepping foot inside the Gu family! You won't take a single thing from me or my children."

He destroyed Audrey and my luggage, throwing it into the trash in the yard. The photo album we had carefully made, filled with memories of Audrey and me, was torn apart and tossed out.

Tears blurred my vision as I crouched down, trying to gather the scattered pieces of memories my daughter had left behind. But it was hopeless.

Suddenly, Laura opened the window, and a gust of wind blew through, scattering the photos like leaves.

"Ah, I just thought the smell of Miss Lucia's...vomit was so bad that I needed to open the window to air things out," Laura said innocently.

Patrick snorted dismissively. "Don't worry about her. She doesn’t care about her daughter’s life or death. This is all just a show for me."

A bitter, hollow smile twisted my lips as I whispered, "Patrick, remember what you did to me and my daughter today. One day, you'll pay for this."

With heavy steps, I staggered back to the funeral home, where the staff handed me a pink kitten urn with sympathy in their eyes.

"Madam, I heard your daughter’s birthday wish was to visit this pink kitten-themed park. I’ve prepared a small box, hoping that... Your daughter can have this wish fulfilled, even in the afterlife."

Tears welled up as I clutched the urn, my heart breaking. A stranger’s kindness made me cry, while her own father remained blind to her wishes.

"Thank you... for Audrey," I managed to say before bowing deeply.

After finalizing the funeral arrangements, I met with a lawyer and gave him the video from the amusement park that day along with a divorce agreement.

"He doesn’t deserve to be Audrey's father," I said bitterly. "He should be exposed, humiliated, and made to face the consequences of his actions."

Swallowing my grief, I contacted a designer friend and asked her to create a pink kitten dress for me.

"Audrey drew me a simple skirt before she died. She wanted to see me wear it. I want to fulfill her dream," I said in a trembling voice.

Just as I was preparing for my daughter’s funeral, Patrick showed up at my apartment. When he saw me, his anger exploded, and he kicked me in the chest.

"I’ve been too patient with you, letting you hurt Laura time and time again."

"You know I’m planning to celebrate Laura's birthday and have a custom dress made for her. To get back at me, you told every designer to refuse Laura's order. Are you trying to make her lose face?"

I knew immediately that it was my designer friend who had rallied the entire designer community to refuse Laura’s request as a way to pay back my pain. Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth as I wiped it away.

"So what? You killed my daughter, and yet you can celebrate like nothing happened?" I hissed.

Patrick pulled at his bow tie in frustration. "Enough already! You’ve cursed your own daughter, and now you’re accusing me of killing her?"

I glared at him, barely holding back my fury. "How did I kill my daughter? Even if I hate you, I would never hurt my own flesh and blood! On the contrary, I have done everything I could for Audrey."

"You wanted to take over the amusement park I booked for Laura, and I gave it up for you. Didn’t she insist on me taking her there? I even personally took her. What more do you want from me?"

He sneered cruelly. "Don’t even think about suing me. Do you think your lies can turn into truth? Can you exaggerate any further?"

Patrick ripped the kitten skirt from my hands and threw it to the floor, stomping on it with force.

"Didn't you say Audrey is dead? How can you, as a mother, still order such a sexy skirt to seduce men?"

My heart twisted in distress as I gathered the ruined skirt, pushing him out the door. "Patrick, I hope you'll still speak this arrogantly in three days."

He continued to shout angrily from outside the door. I lay down on the bed, drifting into an uneasy sleep. Later that night, another knock sounded at the door. Irritated, I opened it, only to find Laura standing there. Without hesitation, she shoved me aside and walked in.

I immediately stepped forward, trying to stop her.

"Oh, she's really dead," Laura sneered, snatching the urn from the living room. "Good riddance. Your daughter is dead. Once you die, the whole Carlson family will be mine."

"You're a bitch! Put that down!" I screamed, my eyes red with rage, rushing toward her to grab the urn back. But before I could reach her, someone grabbed her by the hair and yanked her up.

"Lucia, you vile woman, Laura came to apologize to you, and you dared to attack her!"

I looked up to see Patrick behind her, his face twisted in anger. Laura seemed taken aback by his sudden appearance. Her eyes darted nervously, and when she saw his gaze fall on the urn in her arms, she immediately began crying.

"I came to apologize to her, but my sister tried to kill me! She was trying to poison me with the powder in this box!"

"You’re lying!" I shouted, my voice breaking. "That’s my daughter’s urn! Give it back!"

"How dare you curse Audrey!" Patrick slapped me hard across the face. "Whose urn is pink? You’re telling more and more ridiculous lies to hurt Laura!"

Fury blazed in his eyes as he snatched the box from Laura and threw it to the ground. My heart stopped as the urn shattered, my screams echoing in the room.

"No!" I rushed toward it with desperation, but Patrick kicked me away. "You’re trying to poison someone with this box of powder, and you still want to hurt people?"

With a sickening crack, the urn smashed open, revealing unburned bones inside. I screamed, my breath caught in my throat. The sight of the broken remains sent shockwaves through me.

Patrick’s face, which had been full of rage just moments ago, drained of color as he looked at the small bones scattered on the ground.

"What... what is this?"