After He Let Our Daughter Die, I Left With His Rival

The day before my daughter's heart transplant surgery, my husband had me bound hand and foot and thrown into the tiger enclosure at the wildlife park.

All because the twins his mistress had given him were kidnapped.

Julius Gilbert was convinced I was the one who'd done it.

His hand locked around my throat

Didn't I warn you not to touch a single hair on their heads? And you had the nerve to ignore me!

Where are they? Where did you hide them? If you don't start talking, I'll make you feel what it's like to lose a daughter!

My daughter's terrified screams rang out one after another.

I dropped to my knees, shaking, begging.

Julius, I don't knowI really don't know. Stella's so little, she's only three, she's terrified of tigers. Please, just let her out, please?

I swear I'll stay far away from you and Effie from now on. I'll never bother her again!

Julius gripped my jaw and smiled, gentle and cruel at once

Eve Henson, I gave you a chance. You're the one who threw it away. So go ahead and get ready to collect your daughter's body.

He waved his hand. The beast the handlers had been restraining lunged at my daughter in an instant, tearing into her, its jaws clamping down on her tiny body.

I screamed until my voice broke, dropping to my knees over and over, beating my head against the ground, begging him.

Julius refused to stop.

Not until his bodyguard called to say the twins had been found at a toy store did he finally order them to release me.

I scrambled in on hands and knees, and what I saw was my daughter with not a single patch of intact skin left on her body, her face flushed dark red from suffocation.

I stumbled back out and threw myself in front of Julius before he could leave.

Stella, sheshe's hurt badly, she can't hold on much longer! You have toget her to a hospitalor she'll die

Julius, I'm begging you, please

Before I could finish, he kicked me to the ground

Eve, still putting on an act? 'Die'? Every tiger in there was fakepeople I paid to dress up in suits! It was all just to settle things for Effie and the kids!

His foot had struck exactly where they'd cut me open to deliver Stella. The pain sent tremors through my whole body.

But I couldn't afford to care about the pain. I crawled back on my knees in front of him

Nothat's not true. The tiger was real. Come inside with me and see for yourself. There isn't a single part of Stella's body that's still intact!

Julius, have you forgotten what day it is? It's Stella's birthday! How can you be this heartless and just watch her die!

Something in his cold, vicious eyes finally thawed by a fraction.

Because he knew better than anyone how desperately his daughter had been looking forward to todayto Daddy taking her to the zoo.

And instead he'd thrown her into the tiger enclosure

Julius hesitated. He was about to follow me inside when Effie Swanson stepped out of the car parked nearby, a child cradled in each arm.

Julius, the kids kept fussing for you. I couldn't calm them down, so I just brought them along.

His face softened instantly. He took both children from her and settled them against his arms.

Watching that scene, my chest ached.

Stella had wanted so desperately for Julius to hold her like thatjust once, just like that.

But for her, even a smile from him was a luxury

The thought of my daughter snapped me back. I grabbed Julius's arm

Stella's still in there waiting to be saved, you

Before I could finish, Effie's sharp voice cut me off.

Eve, the kidnapping may not have been your fault, but you know the twins only wandered off because they were trying to find their daddy.

And you made up that story about your daughter dying just so he'd feel guilty and come back to you!

Julius's face changed instantly. He shoved me away, seething

Eve Henson, are you done with this? You're so desperate for my attention you'd fabricate lies about your own daughter's life? You're out of your mind!

I'm warning you. If I ever hear you curse your daughter like that again, don't blame me for what happens next.

He turned without a second's hesitation and walked away with Effie and the twins.

I scrambled to my feet and stumbled back inside, scooped my daughter up into my arms, and ran.

She must have sensed me close, because her lips moved, words breaking apart between the blood.

Mommy, it hurts

Thisthis is forfor Daddy

I looked down. In her small hand was a drawing, crumpled almost beyond recognition from how tightly she'd been gripping it. The portrait on it was unmistakable. Julius.

The pain in my chest nearly split me open. I bit down hard on my lip just to keep myself from falling apart.

I pulled her frail little body tight against mine, swiped roughly at my tears, and kept my voice as gentle as I could

Stella, don't be scared. Mommy's taking you to the hospital right now.

I charged out and threw myself in front of a car to flag it down, and we raced to the hospital.

But when I burst into the emergency room, the doctor took one look at her vitals and his face went white

This is criticalshe needs a heart transplant now, right now.

I grabbed at his words like a lifelineThere is one! There is! Her surgery was scheduled for tomorrow. Move it up, please, just move it up!

The doctor sent a nurse to check right away. I had barely closed my hand around Stella's fingers when the nurse came back

Ms. Henson's daughter was indeed scheduled for tomorrow, butbut the donor heart has already been taken by the VIP patient upstairs

Something about his child having a heart conditionthey wanted the transplant for him instead

Whatever the nurse said after that, I couldn't hear anymore.

My head justrang. One high, splitting sound, and everything went white.

One thought, and one thought alone, consumed me: I had to save my daughter. She was only three years old.

I seized the doctor's arm and screamed until my voice tore

Where is he? I'll go beg him. If he gives the heart back, I'll do whatever he wantsanything!

The look on my face must have frightened the doctor, because he told me immediately: the top-floor VIP ward.

I left Stella in the observation room and ran without stopping, up to the top floor, and threw open the door to the ward. Julius was inside, his arm around Effie, each of them cradling one of the twins.

In that moment,

I froze.

The VIP the doctor had been talking about was Julius.

But I had no room left for heartbreak. I bent at the waist, low enough to beg

Please. Give the donor heart back to me. My daughter is downstairs waiting to be saved.

Julius's brow creased, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Effie's tears fell first.

Eve, it's bad enough you fight me for Julius every single day. Now you want to take the heart meant for my child?

You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Lying about your daughter dying just to get Julius to look at you!

Before her voice had finished ringing through the room, Julius was already in front of me, his hand locked around my throat.

Eve Henson, you never learn. You'll say anythinganythingto claw for my attention. Now you're cursing your own daughter to die!

I shook my head desperately, forcing the words out

Nothat's not it, Stella is right downstairs

Before I could finish, Julius hurled me to the floor

Oh, so you want the donor heart? Then get on your knees and lick every bit of the children's filth off this floor. Lick it clean, and I'll give it to you.

I looked up, almost unable to believe what I'd heard.

All I met were Julius's eyescold, utterly indifferent.

But I thought of my daughter, barely clinging to life, and I bit down on my lip until I tasted iron. I dropped to my knees and, like a dog, began licking the filth off the floor.

I didn't even dare swallowone wrong second and everything would come back up.

Finally, every trace of that murky puddle was gone. I swayed to my feet and looked at him, full of desperate hope

Can I have the donor heart back now?

Effie smiled, triumph smeared across her face, and reached into the transport case to pull out the heart.

It was still beatingalive, right there in her hands. I saw my daughter's life in every pulse. I reached for it, and Effie let go.

The next second,

the heart slammed into the floor.

Before I could even react, Effie brought her foot down on it.

The beating stopped. What was left was a smear of red pulp

I couldn't process it. Then she leaned down next to my ear and whispered

Stupid woman. You really think I'd let you save her? Your daughter should've been dead a long time ago.

Otherwise, how are my two babies going to be the only heirs to Gilbert Group?

Every last flicker of hope in me went out. I lost my mind. I lunged at Effie, pinned her to the bed, and locked my hands around her throat.

You hurt my daughterI'll make you pay with your life

I squeezed with everything I had, deaf to Julius's roar behind me, squeezing until Effie's eyes rolled back.

She clawed and begged, but all I could see was my daughter's face, and my fingers only tightened.

Then electricity tore through me, and my body hit the floor, convulsing, no longer mine to control.

I looked up into Julius's savage eyes and the stun baton in his hand.

Eve Henson, you've lost your mind. You actually dare hurt Little Effie right in front of me?

If there's so much as a scratch on her, I will kill you and your daughter. Don't test me.

Every word was a blade, driven straight through my chest.

I laughed.

Laughed until the tears came.

I pointed at Julius, my voice shattered

Yes! I've lost my mind! You drove me to it!

Julius GilbertStella is your daughter too! How can you be this cruel! You'd kill her for them!

His brows drew tight, and he looked at me with nothing but irritation

What nonsense are you spouting? I would never let my daughter die!

I already told you those tigers were fakeEnough! It's just a heart. I guarantee I'll find her another match within a week.

She's already waited two years. A few more days won't make a difference.

A bitter laugh escaped me.

So he knew. He knew that finding this one matching heart had taken Stella two years.

And now,

he had destroyed it all

My phone buzzed in my pocket. The hospital's number. I answered with shaking hands.

The voice on the other end saidMs. Henson, your daughter's lungs are failing. She's down to her last breathsplease, come now

Whatever the doctor said after that, I couldn't hear. There was only a hole carved through the center of me, and the pain swallowed every breath I tried to take.

I bolted for the door, but Effie suddenly screamed behind me,

Help

Julius, pleaseshe's trying to stab me!

Julius turned to the bodyguards outside the door without a second's pauseStop her!

Huge men swarmed me in an instant, pinning me down from every side. I fought like a rabid dog, slamming and thrashing in every direction, screaming over and over,

Let go of me! Let go!

I need to see my daughter, she's waiting for me! She's waiting for me!

Tears streamed down uncontrollably, but Julius just looked at me with open disgust.

He picked up a syringe of sedative from the instrument tray and walked toward me. I shook my head, desperate.

No

The needle drove into my skin, ice-cold and merciless. The room blurred at the edges.

Before I lost consciousness, I heard Julius's voice, flat and remote

My wife has lost her mind. Have her sent to the psychiatric hospital.

In the haze, I dreamed. A long, long dream.

In the dream I was back to the day I first found out I was pregnant. Julius's whole face lit upthe dazed, helpless joy of a man about to become a father for the first time.

He pulled me tight against himEve, this is wonderful! We're finally having a baby!

I promise, from now on I'll protect you both. I won't let anything hurt either of you.

Ten months later, I gave birth to our daughter, and Julius still had eyes for no one but us.

Every day he came home on time and cooked for us. He cancelled every dinner, every client function, just so he could be the one rocking her to sleep.

Back then, a hangnail on my finger could make him ache. A single whimper from Stella and he'd hover over her for hours

Then Effie Swanson appeared, and everything changed.

He stopped being the husband who cherished me,

stopped being the father who doted on Stella

The dream shifted. Stella's voice cut through, raw with pain

Mommy, it hurtssave meplease save me

I reached for her, frantic, but my hands closed on nothing. I jolted awake. The air reeked of disinfectant.

My head was still thick with fog as I ripped the IV needle from my hand and stumbled toward the ER.

I searched every bed. Stella was nowhere.

I was standing there, lost, not knowing what to do, when I caught the nurses talking among themselves.

That little girl with the heart condition yesterdayso tragic. Never got a donor in the end, and then they went and stripped skin off her

My chest seized. I grabbed the nearest nurse by the arm, shaking

What do you mean? The little girl with the heart conditionwhere is she?

The nurse flinched, stammering

There wasthere was a little girl with a heart condition yesterday. She was supposed to get a transplant, but the donor fell through and she died. They couldn't reach her family

She should've been kept in the morgue, butour hospital director's kid got some skin scraped off, so they cut a graft from her facethen dumped the body on the dirt mound out back

Every drop of blood in my body went cold. I ran toward the back hill like a woman possessed.

Stella's smile kept flashing through my mindall I could do was beg for a miracle

But when I saw that small, familiar shape lying on the dirt pile, my legs gave out and I dropped straight to my knees.

Stella

I crawled to her and pulled her body tight against my chest,

my trembling hand touching a face so ruined I could no longer tell how much of it had once looked like mine.

I couldn't hold it back any longer.

Blood surged up my throat and spilled from my mouth.

Ten months I carried her. A piece of my own flesh, torn from my body.

How could it not hurt?

And still,

her own father had killed her.

Even had the skin stripped from her face and given to someone else.

The pain was unbearable. I held her until her body went cold, then stumbled home in a daze and found the little white dress she'd loved most when she was alive, and changed her into it.

The next morning, at the cremation, I placed my daughter into the furnace with my own hands.

The girl who used to run to me calling Mommy! Mommy!

was now a handful of ashes, sealed inside a tiny box.

I couldn't hold back anymore. I broke down sobbing.

Then a shadow fell over me.

I looked up, dazed, and saw Effie Swanson walking toward me with two small children in her arms, her face bright with triumph.

She glanced at the box in my hands and sneered

Oh, so she's finally dead. I guess it was worth hiding the twins in that toy-store cabinet after all. Almost suffocated them!

Oh, and did you know? Yesterday, when I had people take the skin off your daughter's face for the graft, Julius didn't even blink. He was too busy fussing over a little scrape on our baby's foot!

Doesn't that just make you sick, Eve?

She clapped her hands together as she spoke, delighted with herself.

Something detonated inside mea white-hot rip through my gut, my vision flooding red. I grabbed a fistful of Effie's hair and slammed her head into the wall.

Again and again, without mercy.

Blood covered her face. The children in her arms were screaming.

But she didn't care. She just smiled, taunting

You think this is revenge for your daughter? Dream on.

Before I could react, she shoved both children's hands into the furnace. Their fingers blackened instantly.

Then she dropped to her knees in front of me, sobbing

Eve, I was wrong. I know I shouldn't have let Julius fall for me, but the children are innocentPlease, just let them go. You can punish me however you want

Julius arrived to exactly that scene, and without a word, backhanded me across the face.

Eve Henson!

How dare you keep hurting themdid I give you permission to act like this?

I lay sprawled on the ground, and a bitter laugh scraped out of me.

Such pathetic acting. But Julius didn't even ask. He'd already convicted me.

Seeing me like that only deepened the disgust on his face

It's that rotten character of yoursno wonder your daughter turned out just like you, selfish through and through!

The mention of my daughter split something open inside me, and I screamed at him

Don't you dare speak her name, Julius Gilbert! You killed her! You don't get to say her name!

My grief was too raw to be faked, and he hesitated, just for a moment, as if about to say something.

But Effie shrank into his arms, her voice small and pitifulJulius, the babies are so upset. Their little chick died today and they were already heartbroken, and then she did this to them.

And I can barely breatheshe said she put something filthy in that box to curse me, something she got from outside. It has to be working.

The doubt on his face vanished. In its place, cold stone.

He picked up the box from the floor, opened it, and saw the ashes inside. Rage overtook him.

You did this on purpose, didn't you, Eve?

Brought this disgusting stuff just to scare them!

I really misjudged youyou're not just selfish, you're rotten to the core!

Julius looked at the urn, and his face went cruel.

I shook my head frantically, begging, pleading

Don't

Julius, that's our daughter's

Before I could finish, his arm swung wide and the urn dropped straight into the fire basin beside usgone in an instant, without a trace.

No!

I screamed until something in my throat gave out, threw myself at the basin and shoved my hands into the flames, clawing desperately for anything at all.

Blisters swelled across my arms, scorched skin splitting open,

and still I couldn't find a single grain of my daughter's ashes

I collapsed flat against the ground, screaming until my throat tore. Julius looked at me the way you'd look at a lunatic, then turned, wrapped his arms around Effie and the two children, and left.

He left me with one line

Enough! Cut the act. I found a donor for Stellashe's getting her heart transplant next week.

I said nothing.

I just held the charred, discolored wooden box against my chest.

Once he was gone, I picked up my phone and dialed a number I hadn't touched in a long time

You've always wanted to bring Julius Gilbert down. I can help you. But you have to agree to one condition.

One week later, Julius arrived at the hospital with the donor heart, heading straight for the ward.

He pushed open the door. The room was empty.

His stomach dropped.

He was reaching for his phone when Noah Carter burst in, face white as paper.

Mr. Gilbert, I asked the doctors. They said your daughter passed away a week ago!