"Now, I’m giving it to you—not just to show my love, but to promise that in this life, I’ll give you not only wealth and comfort but a love without end, one meant solely for you. I’ll honor your teacher alongside you, and our family will remain whole, never broken."
But those were just empty words.
He betrayed that promise.
He fell in love with Cassandra, our part-time babysitter—a girl so careless she constantly spilled scalding tea on my hands or, worse, intentionally splashed it on our daughter.
“Serena, Cassandra’s still young. She didn’t mean it,” Ben would say. “Besides, Lily can’t grow up too pampered. She needs to toughen up, or she’ll be useless in the future.”
He even defended her with poetic nonsense: “Doesn’t Cassandra’s struggle to make ends meet remind you of your younger days? You’ve been through the storm—why tear apart someone else’s umbrella?”
At the funeral home, Ben gave me another series of warnings before yanking me inside with rough impatience.
But when we stepped into my daughter’s memorial hall, I was stunned speechless.
The white coffin had been swapped out for one painted bright red—as if this were a wedding, not a funeral.
A cheery version of “Good Days” echoed from the speakers, drawing curious glances from the onlookers.
Cassandra, smiling brightly, was crouched over my daughter’s small corpse, smearing layers of lipstick on her tiny, lifeless face until she was unrecognizable.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
I kicked over the speakers in a frenzy and yanked Cassandra off my daughter’s body.
She staggered in her high heels, twisted her ankle, and stumbled back—right into Ben’s arms. He caught her swiftly and shot me with a venomous glare.
“Serena Shaw! Didn’t I make myself clear? And you still dared to lay a hand on Cassandra? Apologize. Right. Now!”
“Ben, are you blind?! This is Lily’s funeral, and Cassandra turned it into a wedding scene! She desecrated her body and blasted a pop song over her coffin! Is this how she honors a dead child, or is she trying to curse my daughter even in death?!” My voice cracked as I shouted, my eyes burning red with fury.
For a moment, Ben looked uncertain. But Cassandra was quick to act. She wiped her fake tears and looked at me pitifully.
“Ms. Shaw, you were always busy working, never home, never present for Lily. I was the one who stayed with her, who knew what made her smile. She loved the color red and adored the song ‘Good Days.’ She used to beg me to sing it for her all the time.”
“She also liked it when I played dress-up with her. I thought, maybe now that she’s gone, I could send her off with joy instead of grief. Just because you’re traditional and rigid doesn’t mean you get to rob a child of happiness, even after death, right?”
Ben turned to me, cold and composed.
“You heard her. Compared to you—the distant, heartless mother—Cassandra showed Lily more warmth and love. And after everything, you dare slander her? You should be the one apologizing.”
I let out a hollow laugh. Me? Cold-hearted? Indifferent to Lily?
Even with my workload, I was there for Lily from day one.
I handled her meals, her late-night fevers, and her schoolwork. I supported Ben’s startup while raising her on my own. I collapsed from exhaustion more than once.
And what about him?
Ben was always “too busy.” He never changed a single diaper. He didn’t even know her favorite bedtime story.
What right did he have to question my love for her?
I pointed at Cassandra, trembling with fury.
“Shut your filthy mouth, you shameless homewrecker! If you hadn’t stuffed my daughter into that trunk, she wouldn’t have suffocated and died! And now you have the audacity to mock her, smear her body, and pretend you’re the grieving one? Aren’t you afraid of divine punishment?!”
A crowd had begun to gather. Cassandra curled her lips into a smirk.
“Ms. Shaw, I tried to protect your dignity as a mother. But now, not only are you publicly insulting me—you’re making false accusations about child abuse. Do you have any proof of that?”
Yes, I did—once.
But Ben had already destroyed it, piece by piece.
Seeing my stunned silence, Cassandra’s smirk deepened. She slowly pulled out her phone.
