“I already told you,” he continued, his tone dropping to a cold, low rumble, “even the best bomb expert couldn’t have guaranteed our daughter’s safety with five bombs on her.”
I gave a short, bitter laugh. “Funny. You said you were on an urgent mission. But you had time to check my social media and call me?”
He hesitated for a split second before his voice hardened even more. “Shannon, are you losing your mind? My missions are assigned by my superiors. Stop dragging innocent people into your madness. Our daughter’s death was an accident.”
Before I could respond, someone grabbed his phone. Then Vania’s voice came through, crying like her world had just ended.
“Shannon, that message, I only sent it because I was upset about my work mistake. Sir Max took me out for drinks to cheer me up, but I got drunk and sent it to you by accident. It was meant for my best friend.”
“I know you blame him for your daughter’s death, but it really was just an accident. And now, because you posted my photo, I can’t even face anyone anymore.”
Her sobs were pitiful, like she was the victim of some unspeakable injustice.
A “work mistake,” she said, just a simple, throwaway phrase to sum up the brutal, senseless way my daughter died.
Shannon's POV
A bitter, metallic taste rushed up my throat, and my fists clenched so tight my nails bit into my palms.
“You seduced another woman’s husband right after her daughter died, and you’re afraid people will see it? You want to act pure after playing the whore? You’re disgusting!”
I all but screamed the words. On the other end, Vania let out a sharp, startled shriek before Max snatched the phone from her.
“Shannon, what’s wrong with you? You’ve completely lost it. You sound like a madwoman! Vania and I are innocent. She was kind enough to explain things to you, but you keep pushing this nonsense. Our daughter’s death has nothing to do with her. It was just an accident. If anything, it was bad luck on our daughter’s part!”
That sentence cut into me like a knife.
“How dare you say my daughter was unlucky? Her only misfortune was having a father like you! If it weren’t for you, she never would’ve been kidnapped. So technically, you killed her!”
“Shannon,” he said, voice cold as ice, “you’d better delete that post right now and publicly apologize to Vania. If you don’t, I’ll divorce you.”