Chapter 3

"Of course, if you're willing to lick every bit of phlegm I just spat onto the floor, I might consider letting one doctor go save your daughter."

I knew he was humiliating me.

However, when I pictured Anna's pale, frightened face, I clenched my fists, ignored the mocking stares around me, and slowly bent down. Fighting back my nausea, I licked the thick glob of phlegm off the floor until it was completely gone.

I looked up at him.

"Now... will you let a doctor save Anna?"

To my shock, Wade simply smirked. "I said I'd consider it. I never promised I'd actually send a doctor."

He laughed. "However, I have to admit, watching you do that was hilarious."

"Wade... you tricked me?"

Rage exploded inside me. I swung my fist and punched him hard across the face.

Wade looked ready to hit me back. Then, as if he had suddenly noticed someone behind me, his expression changed instantly. He deliberately threw himself onto the floor, clutching his cheek as tears welled in his eyes.

"Elliot... I honestly don't know what I ever did to make you hate me so much. If you really can't stand having me around, then once Dobie's leg heals, I'll quit. I'll take Dobie with me and leave. I promise I'll never appear in front of you again."

The next second, a hard slap landed across my face. A burning pain spread through my cheek. I looked up and met Sophie's furious eyes.

"Elliot! I was only gone for a few minutes to buy Dobie a toy, yet you took the chance to bully Wade? Throwing a tantrum is one thing, but you've gone way too far."

My eyes burned red. "Sophie, Anna is dying! She needs a doctor right now, and he's been stopping them from treating her! He's trying to kill Anna! What's wrong with me hitting him?"

Sophie's gaze suddenly dropped to my shirt. Her pupils shrank. "Why is your shirt covered in blood? Did something happen to Anna?"

Just as she began to waver, Wade spoke up again. "Sophie, that's obviously fake blood. Elliot must have put it on himself.

"Your rescue team already said they got Anna down safely. And if she were really in danger, would Elliot have time to come here arguing with me? I think he's still angry because you saved Dobie first, so he's making up lies and causing trouble to stop Dobie's surgery."

He lowered his head, looking hurt.

"I just never imagined Elliot hated Dobie and me this much. He's even using his own daughter as an excuse just to sabotage the operation."

The hesitation in Sophie's eyes disappeared instantly. Only cold disappointment remained. "Elliot, just to prove you're right, you're actually cursing your own daughter. "I have never been more disappointed in you. Anna is unlucky to have a father like you."

She turned toward the doorway. "Security! What are you waiting for? Throw this troublemaker out!"

Before I could explain a single word, five security guards rushed in and dragged me out of the room by force. As they hauled me through the hospital, patients on both sides pointed at me and whispered.

"He's jealous enough to curse his own daughter."

"What a heartless monster."

By the time I finally made it back to Anna, her little face had turned so pale that it was terrifying. With what little strength she had left, she reached up and gently wiped the tears from the corner of my eye. Blood bubbled from the corner of her mouth as she whispered weakly,

"Daddy... Don't cry... In my next life... I still want you... to be my daddy..."

The moment those words left her lips, her tiny hand fell limp.

"Anna!" I clutched her icy little body and screamed until my voice broke.

However, she would never wipe away my tears again. She would never smile and call me 'Daddy' again.

It felt as though my soul had been ripped out of me.

Numb and hollow, I took Anna to be cremated. Before long, all that remained of my little girl was a light urn resting in my hands.

When it came time to lay her to rest, I realized I could not even afford the 3,000 dollars in funeral expenses.

Over the years, Sophie had always insisted on controlling every penny Anna and I spent. She said she did not want us developing wasteful habits.

Every month, she gave us only 500 dollars for living expenses, and every purchase had to be written down in detail and approved by her first.

At that moment, my phone buzzed.

It was Wade's latest social media post: [Dobie's broken leg needed surgery, so Sophie bought him a solid gold dog chain to comfort him! Dobie gets a gold chain, and I get a gold necklace!]