After my daughter’s second-grade midterm exams, she ranked first in her class again.
My husband Kelsen Leonard, for the first time ever, agreed to attend her parent-teacher meeting. Both my daughter Edith and I were overjoyed.
The day my husband attended our daughter’s parent-teacher meeting for the first time, I received a message from her at work. “Mom, the school building is on fire.”
I was shocked. “Get out quickly!”
“I can’t leave Dad behind!”
Wasn’t my husband with our daughter?
Without time to think, I rushed to the school, but the fire had already been put out.
All the children had escaped, except my daughter, who died in the fire.
Seeing her charred body, I nearly fainted. In the midst of such a disaster, my husband was nowhere to be found.
I checked the fire scene’s surveillance and discovered my husband had accompanied his first love and her daughter into another classroom.
All the other children had their parents with them, but my daughter was alone.
During the fire, my husband carried his first love’s daughter out and got her into an ambulance.
My daughter, seeing no sign of her father after escaping, ran back into the fire and was burned alive.
I frantically called my husband multiple times. He finally answered.
I screamed in despair, “You promised to attend Edith’s parent-teacher meeting, only to leave her alone in the classroom?”
On the other end, my husband’s impatient voice replied, “Helena, was that necessary? Edith is a good kid; she could handle it. Alisa doesn’t have a father; I couldn’t just leave them.”
“Kelsen, let’s get a divorce!”
I hung up, holding Edith during the cremation, staring at that small charred body, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
How could this body be my Edith?
My daughter was so beautiful and smart, the envy of all parents.
But despite being such an outstanding daughter, Kelsen never liked her.
All the tragedy began when, in high school, I, a wealthy heiress, hopelessly fell in love with the poor boy Kelsen.
Even though I knew Kelsen had feelings only for Callie, I quietly supported him, even providing financial help while he pursued Callie. This led Callie to believe he was a low-key rich boy, and they spent a happy time together.
It wasn’t until Callie discovered he was actually poor that she dumped him for a real rich boy.
After seeing Callie’s true colors, Kelsen finally tried to accept me, the one who had always been by his side.
He was an ambitious man. After graduation, I used all my resources to pave the way for him. With my support, his career flourished.
Everyone envied him for having such a good girlfriend, greatly feeding Kelsen’s vanity.
The day Kelsen’s company went public, he invited all our friends and proposed to me.
Amidst a sea of grand and joyful blessings, he knelt on one knee. As I gazed at the red velvet ring box in his hand, tears of happiness filled my eyes. I felt like the luckiest woman in the world.
The cold voice of the crematorium worker interrupted my memories. “Ma’am, here are your daughter’s ashes.”
The ring box overlapped with the small urn before me, and my dream shattered completely.
After Kelsen’s career took off, Callie’s husband went bankrupt and committed arson-suicide.
When she came to Kelsen with her daughter asking for money, I thought he would turn away the woman who had betrayed him.
Even for the sake of me and our child, he should have cut ties with Callie completely.
However, I underestimated Callie's place in Kelsen's heart and overestimated my own importance.
I thought the worst outcome would be Kelsen lending them some money out of pity.
But I didn’t expect Kelsen to not only clear their debts and settle them in a new place but also to spend every one of our anniversaries and even our daughter's birthday with Callie and her daughter.
So, even if he just agreed to attend one parent-teacher conference as Edith's father, she would have been happy all night.
My foolish child, if it hadn’t been for the fire, she might never have told me what happened today.
Because she was always so understanding, Kelsen thought leaving her alone at the parent-teacher meeting was no big deal.
But my daughter was only in second grade this year.
I held Edith’s urn, trembling with sobs.
I hated Kelsen, and I hated myself even more.
He was a cruel father, and I was a foolish mother.
I bought a beautiful box, placed Edith’s ashes inside, and took her home.
I became somewhat mentally unstable, unwilling to bury Edith's ashes, as if keeping them close meant my daughter was still with me.
About a week later, Kelsen finally returned home, bringing Callie and her daughter with him.
Callie and her daughter were well protected by Kelsen. Unlike my daughter, who was burned beyond recognition, Alisa had not a single scar.
Alisa was just frightened that day, and Kelsen anxiously called an ambulance. He spent the past few days with them, even buying Alisa Edith's favorite toy to comfort her.
I spoke, my voice rasping, "How dare you bring them back to our home?"
“Kelsen, what do you mean? Callie came here with Alisa specifically to apologize to Edith!”
Kelsen was clearly startled by my pale appearance. "Helena, I just missed Edith's parent-teacher conference. Are you putting on this act to scare us on purpose?"