My husband, Brian, scattered my ashes on our daughter.
In a torrential downpour!
My daughter, Lily, held my lifeless body, heartbroken.
I looked at my mangled limbs, full of regret.
Just moments ago, Brian's childhood sweetheart, Winnie, called to tell me he had a heart attack and urgently needed his medication at the office.
Despite being bedridden with a high fever, I couldn't let Lily go out in the heavy rain to deliver the medication.
When I arrived at the office, drenched from head to toe, I saw Winnie clinging to him, acting coy and playful.
"Brian, if your wife doesn't come soon, I'm definitely losing this bet."
Brian had his arm around her waist, looking smug.
"Don't worry! She'd bring anything if I asked."
"So impressive, Brian! You really know how to handle your wife!"
I stood there in shock.
My love for him had become his bragging rights among friends, a game he played for amusement.
Overwhelmed with anger, I dropped the medication and ran into the pouring rain, only to be hit by a speeding truck and killed on the spot.
1
The rain fell harder.
Watching Lily hold my body in utter sorrow tore me apart.
Moments later!
She frantically called Brian with my phone, but received no answer.
Ever since Winnie started working at his company, he'd put my calls and messages on Do Not Disturb.
Unless he contacted me first, I had no way to reach him.
"Dad, please answer the phone!"
It took until the 31st call for Brian to finally pick up.
"What's wrong with you? It's just a game. If you call me again, I'll make sure you can never reach me again."
Before Lily could say anything, all she heard was the busy signal on the other end.
Brian assumed I was calling to pick a fight.
Despite catching him and Winnie being inappropriate, he got angry first.
This time, it wasn't him who would never contact me again.
It was I who would never give him the chance to contact me again.
Lily had no choice but to let the hospital take my body away.
Maybe to let Brian see me one last time, Lily braved the rain to go to his office once more.
She opened the door to find Brian, her father, kissing Winnie.
Their colleagues had long accepted their relationship, clapping and cheering them on.
Lily, perhaps seeing Brian's true face for the first time, looked utterly shocked.
"Lily, why are you here?
"Don't misunderstand. Aunt Winnie and I were just playing a game!"
"Dad, you're not sick?
"If you're not sick, why did you make mom bring the medication? Mom, she..."
Lily didn't want to delve into adult matters; she just wanted to tell Brian about my death.
But Brian interrupted her harshly, pushing her out the door in disgust.
"Your mom sent you, didn't she? Tell her she can die wherever she wants, but stay out of my business.
"Do you know how embarrassing it was for me when your mom showed up looking like that at the office?"
Hearing his words, I felt a deep sense of irony.
I had overstepped my bounds, making him lose face.
I had risked a fever and braved a torrential downpour, to bring him his medication.
Chapter 2 A Prank CallHe held Winnie, yet blamed me for embarrassing him.
If I could, I'd really like to slap him hard.
Unexpectedly, Lily and I were on the same wavelength.
She stood on tiptoe and delivered a fierce slap to Brian's face.
"Dad, you're a jerk. Mom..."
I was shocked! Brian was even more incredulous.
A daughter slapping her father was considered extremely disrespectful and unfilial.
"Lily, are you crazy? Do you know what you're doing?
"It must be your mom who put you up to this!"
Brian shoved Lily to the ground.
"Go back and tell your mom that I'll divorce her as soon as I get home."
I hadn't done anything, yet in Brian's eyes, I was always the unreasonable one.
Winnie, not expecting things to escalate, hurriedly stepped in to mediate.
"Lily, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have asked your mom to bring the medication.
"We were just playing a game. I didn't expect your mom to actually come.
"But, this is all grown-up stuff. It's wrong of your mom to drag you into this."
As she spoke, she pretended to gently stroke Lily's head.
Her pretentious words made me sick.
This wasn't a game; it was clearly a move to declare her dominance, eager to take my place.
Lily only knew that the person responsible for her mother's death was a woman named Winnie.
So, she bit Winnie hard on the hand.
"That hurts, Brian..."
Brian, already furious, saw Lily biting and became even more enraged.
A loud slap sent Lily sprawling on the ground.
Her face bore five bright red finger marks.
"Are you crazy? Just as insane as your mom."
I felt heartbroken for Lily!
I wanted to avenge Lily, but my hand passed right through Brian's face.
What did Lily do wrong?
She only wanted to tell that scoundrel Brian about my death, yet she was harshly shoved out by her own father.
Brian, looking worried, gently rubbed and caressed Winnie's hand.
"Are you okay, Winnie? It's my fault for not raising my daughter properly."
Such a gentle tone—something he hadn't used since courting me.
"This must be Whitney's doing, instructing Lily to act up. I'll divorce her as soon as I get home."
Divorce? It seemed he couldn't wait to be with Winnie.
I was his lawful wife.
And she's just a home-wrecking mistress.
How could he treat his wife and daughter this way?
Winnie deliberately rubbed the bite mark, crying pitifully.
"Brian, don't blame Lily. Blame me for calling Whitney to bring the medication.
"It's all my fault. I caused Lily to hate me so much!
"I never expected Lily to bite me. It's all my fault, all my fault!"
"Hurry and apologize to Auntie Winnie!
"You're so young, yet already misbehaving!"
Lily wiped the blood from her mouth and stared coldly at Brian, her eyes full of disappointment.
"I won't! She's the one who should apologize!"
I got hit by a truck and was torn to pieces because of a prank call.
Chapter 3 She's Alive and WellBrian made her apologize to Winnie!
Was this really her father?
At that moment, only Lily and I could truly understand each other's feelings.
Only the person who wronged you knew how deeply you'd been wronged.
Seeing Lily's stubborn temper, Brian raised his hand to hit her again.
Our colleagues nearby quickly stepped in to stop him.
"Mr. Mason, this is an issue between adults; there's no need to involve the child."
"Exactly! If it really can't be resolved, you should just divorce your wife."
Everyone in the company knew that Brian liked Winnie and that our divorce was inevitable.
They were openly suggesting Brian get a divorce just to please him.
Brian didn't want to make a further scene and solemnly said to Lily, "Lily, this is the last time, Aunt Winnie and I are just playing a game.
"Your mother is so dumb. If I had a heart attack, wouldn't I go to the hospital?
"She's just moved by her own emotions.
"No, she's purposely coming to the company to check up on me, always suspicious!"
I couldn't believe these words were coming from Brian.
I was dumb.
I was moved by my own emotions.
I went to the company to check on him.
I must have been blind back then to fall for his sweet talk.
"Shut up! I won't let you insult my mom like this!" Lily couldn't take it anymore.
"Brian, my mom was torn apart by a truck while delivering medicine to you. Come with me now to see her one last time.
"After that, you'll no longer be my father!"
2
"Your mom told you to say this, right?
"Tell her to die sooner and stop bothering me!"
Brian had completely lost his patience, or maybe he had never had any patience for my affairs.
I was also shocked.
The first thing he thought upon hearing news of my death was that I was playing a trick on him.
He thought I was lying.
It seemed like he didn't care about my life or death at all.
The other colleagues chimed in.
"This time, she's really gone too far. We just closed a big deal and were celebrating, but she had to ruin everyone's mood."
"They say behind every successful man, there's a woman, but it seems like the woman behind Mr. Mason isn't his wife."
"Having a child cause such a scene is indeed over the top."
From their words, it was clear they credited Winnie for closing the deal.
I had become the person holding Brian back.
Lily didn't expect her father to say such things either.
Soon, my body would be sent for cremation.
By then, Brian wouldn't even get to see me one last time.
She was so anxious that tears almost fell from her eyes.
"This isn't something my mom told me to say. She's really in the hospital, I'm not joking with you.
"Dad, why don't you believe me?
"Dad, come see mom one last time. If you wait any longer, you won't even see her body."
At that moment, only I knew how wronged Lily felt.
Brian didn't believe it at all and dragged my daughter out of the company.
"Your mom just called me dozens of times. She's alive and well. There's no way something happened to her.
"If it were your mom instead of you, I would have kicked her already."
I knew he would do it.
Chapter 4 ID CardSince Winnie appeared, Brian had completely lost patience with me, and his attitude had deteriorated drastically.
"You'll regret this!"
With those words, Lily wiped her tears and ran into the pouring rain.
She didn't go home but went straight to the hospital.
After confirming that Brian wouldn't come to see me one last time, Lily agreed to have my body sent for cremation.
I truly felt sorry for Lily.
I had let my young daughter watch her mother's body being consumed by fire.
I couldn't fully understand Lily's pain, and my hatred for Brian deepened even more.
Seven days later!
After spending enough time outside, Brian finally returned home.
"Whitney, come out. I need to talk to you!
"Whitney, did you hear me?"
He called out several times, but only silence answered him.
A deathly silence.
The warmth that once filled the home was gone.
"Whitney, I'm hungry! Aren't you going to come out and cook?
"Is it worth it for such a trivial matter?"
I had been raised to follow the traditional roles of supporting my husband and raising children. So, after marriage, I became a housewife, taking on all the household chores.
Brian had gotten used to treating me like a maid, expecting me to serve him.
"Don't be ungrateful. If you don't come out, I'll lose my temper."
The house remained deathly silent.
Brian angrily pushed open the bedroom door, only to find it empty.
After searching around, he found Lily lying motionless on the bed.
"Lily, where's your mom?
"You're at home; can't you talk? Are you mute now?
"Your mom is like this, and now you are too. You're both worthless."
Lily had been crying in bed for the past seven days, soaking her pillow and causing her face to swell.
She no longer had the strength to argue against her father's insults.
At that moment, Winnie hurriedly rushed into the house.
Was she so eager to take my place that she didn't care about my presence and had followed him home?
"Brian, something happened!"
"What happened?"
"I was going to discuss a project today, but I realized my ID card was stolen."
"Who stole it? How could this happen?"
Winnie quickly handed over a surveillance video.
"It's all my fault. I upset Whitney. Otherwise, she, she..."
I was so angry.
I had brought this project to the company.
Now Winnie was taking all the credit.
Even more ridiculously, she knew she wasn't qualified to meet the project's client, so she fabricated a lie about me stealing her ID card.
Indeed, she hadn't explicitly said I stole it, but her words clearly pointed the blame at me.
Brian barely glanced at the video before angrily throwing the phone to the ground.
"That bitch, not helping me is one thing, but doing this!
"Winnie, don't worry. I'll get to the bottom of this."
I also caught a glimpse of the video.
The person stealing wore a similar outfit to mine but had a completely different physique.
Brian didn't even want to look closely; he just outright accused me.
Finally, Lily couldn't stand it any longer. "This isn't my mom's doing. Get out, all of you."
I had died seven days ago, and Winnie, eager to take my place, still managed to blame me for her problems.
Chapter 5 You Want a Show?She was truly malicious.
But what I hated more was Brian.
After being married for decades, he couldn't even tell that the person in the video wasn't me.
Under Winnie's instigation, he adamantly insisted it was me.
To him, everything I did was just throwing tantrums and causing trouble.
Ding-dong!
"Is this Lily Mason's residence? I have a box to deliver."
It was the funeral parlour staff delivering my urn to the house.
I thought, surely that scumbag Brian would believe I was truly dead upon seeing the urn!
However, I was wrong.
Lily, holding the urn, cried and screamed.
"Aren't you looking for my mom? She's already dead, and you're still trying to throw dirt on her?"
A resounding slap landed on Lily's face.
Brian, furious, grabbed her hair and forced her to look at the phone.
"Still acting? Open your damn eyes and see clearly—your mom stole something just yesterday."
He was so sure that I stole something, assuming I was still alive.
Even with my urn in front of him, he chose to ignore it.
Winnie began her dramatic performance again.
"Whitney, I know you're here. I admit I was wrong for calling and playing games.
"But that client is crucial to our company. Do you know how long Brian and I have worked to get this opportunity?
"What you did was truly excessive. Lying around at home isn't enough; you have to drag Brian down too? It's unacceptable."
Brian looked at Winnie as if her words resonated deeply with him.
I could see in his eyes his determination to divorce me and be with her.
Winnie had successfully usurped my place.
"Winnie, Whitney is a selfish woman. She doesn't understand our hard work.
"If she wants to play dead, let her keep playing!"
Then he snatched the urn from Lily's hands.
What happened next made me wish I could tear this bastard to pieces, skin him alive.
"Is this fun? You want to play games?"
He poured my ashes all over Lily.
Lily knelt on the ground, bowing repeatedly.
"No, no! This is my mom's ashes."
This was the last bit of me I had left for Lily.
She tried desperately to gather my ashes from the floor.
Brian kicked away the ashes she painstakingly collected, scattering them everywhere.
He stomped on what remained of me.
That scumbag destroyed Lily's last shred of memory of me.
The funeral home staff looked utterly shocked.
What kind of deep hatred could drive a husband to scatter his wife's ashes on their daughter?
"Are you Lily's father?
"Lily didn't lie. These are your wife's ashes.
"Here's the cremation certificate for your wife!"