"Lara, calm down a little," Nicholas Croft frowned in pain, his voice coming out hoarse as he looked at his wife whose eyes were brimming with tears. He spoke slowly, "The baby... she’s gone..."

"Bullshit!" Before Nicholas could finish, Sophie Foster cut him off again. The tears pooled in her eyes finally spilled over as she grabbed his collar and yanked it upward with all her strength. Her eyes went wide like copper bells, staring at Nicholas as if he were her enemy.

"She was perfectly fine this morning when she went to kindergarten. How could she be gone? Huh? You tell me! How did she die!"

Sophie raised her voice, gritting her teeth like she wanted to tear Nicholas apart and swallow him. Her chest kept heaving, and the tears in her eyes just kept flowing.

Staring into Sophie’s eyes, blazing with hatred, Nicholas slowly lifted his hand. The moment his fingertip brushed the unharmed half of her face, she slapped his hand away without the slightest politeness, then grabbed his collar again, eyes bulging as she ground out each word, "You tell me, how did my baby end up dead!"

"A car accident..." Nicholas forced out the words. The two hoarse syllables were as soft as a whisper, but right now, his heart felt as if a boulder was pressing down on it, unbearably heavy.

Sophie glared at him, as if she wanted to find even the slightest trace of a lie in his face. But after staring for a long time, she came up empty. She lifted her chin a bit; her lips trembled visibly as she panted roughly. She clenched her teeth and asked, "Nicholas Croft, tell me, was it that bitch Hannah Hargrave who did this?"

"Yes." The single heavy word landed, and at once came a scream of pure agony, like her heart was being ripped open. Sophie let go of Nicholas’s collar, clutched tightly at the front of her hospital gown and collapsed back onto the bed.

Her eyes stared wide at the space in front of her, like a wild beast that had lost its cub, her bloodshot gaze vicious as she clenched her teeth, muttering over and over, "No way, my baby isn’t dead. Last night she was still fighting with me for daddy’s love. She said daddy was biased and kissed mommy one more time than her... This morning I personally helped her put on her little backpack. She said... she wanted sweet and sour fish for dinner..."

Sophie talked to herself, tears gushing out like a spring. Only then did Nicholas realize just how beautiful the dream his wife had been living in was. In her world, their baby was already in kindergarten, fighting with her mommy for daddy’s affection...

His trembling hand landed on Sophie’s shoulder and pulled her into his arms. His big palm gently caressed the back of her head. Because he was crying, his voice shook when he spoke.

"Lara, I’m sorry. I didn’t protect you two. I thought that since we’d already gotten our marriage certificate, Hannah Hargrave would finally let go... I never thought..." Nicholas’s brows knit together again. It was a pain he simply couldn’t control.

"That she could be this vicious..."

"Mmm..."

Sophie sank her teeth into Nicholas’s shoulder, letting out a low, agonized whimper.

...

Sophie’s condition worsened. Propped up on the hospital bed, she just stared blankly ahead, neither moving nor speaking. The doctor said she had shut herself off. All afternoon, Nicholas talked and talked to her, but she ignored him completely. It wasn’t until Nicholas mentioned that her face was injured and he wanted to take her to do cosmetic treatment that she finally showed a flicker of reaction. She lifted her hand and pressed it to the bandaged left side of her face, murmuring to the empty air, "Can it still be fixed..." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"It will. It definitely will." Nicholas said firmly, pulling her into his arms once more. Sophie didn’t resist, but what she did next shocked Nicholas, and then, his heart hurt even more.

,