Should? When she was willing to give away a car worth over 35,000 dollars, she didn’t even think to ask when our daughter’s life was on the line!
I looked at her coldly and said, “You’re overthinking it. I just feel sorry for our daughter.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Nora jumped up and slapped me across the face.
“Ian, what’s that supposed to mean? Are you using our daughter to guilt-trip me?”
Then she noticed what I was holding and sneered, “What’s that filthy thing you brought home?”
I stayed calm. “You don’t deserve to know.”
Nora pointed her finger right in my face and started yelling.
“I’m warning you, don’t bring any of that bad luck into this house. If you don’t care, I sure do!”
I touched my daughter’s ashes, feeling a deep sense of despair. Nora couldn’t even show a shred of respect for her own child.
In the past, I would’ve backed down the moment Nora got mad. But now that my daughter was gone, I wasn’t about to go along with her nonsense anymore. This was my home too. If she couldn’t stand it, she was free to leave. Wasn’t Julian still waiting for her?
My defiance only made her angrier, and she slammed her hand on the table.
“Ian, don’t push your luck. I’m in a good mood today, so I’m not going to argue with you. Think about what you’ve done and contact me when you’ve come to your senses.”
With that, Nora stormed out, swinging her hips as she left.
She was gone for a while, and I slowly started to calm down. Oddly enough, I didn’t feel sad at all. The only thing on my mind was fulfilling my daughter’s last wish.
Right before she lost consciousness, she held my hand and weakly pleaded, “Dad, Mom won’t let me have a dog. Can you talk to her for me? When I come home every day, I’m all alone. With a dog, I wouldn’t feel so lonely anymore.”
She hesitated, then added, “Dad, if I don’t make it, the puppy can keep you company. I’ll take care of it, I promise…”
Tears streamed down my face as I remembered how much I’d failed her.
When my daughter first told me about her wish, I went to talk to Nora. But she threatened me with divorce and told me to drop it. Now, fulfilling this one wish was the least I could do for my daughter.
As fate would have it, I ran into Nora at the entrance of the pet shop. She was clinging to Julian’s arm, laughing like they were the perfect couple.
“Nora, I really like dogs. How about we get one?” Julian asked.