He Chose Another's Daughter Over Ours

The next day, I arrived at the courthouse on time.By nine o'clock, Richard still hadn't shown up. I didn't hesitate—I called him directly.An exasperated voice snapped through the phone. "Queenie! Is this all you know how to do? Just make my life miserable?"My voice remained steady. "Come sign the divorce papers, Richard. Don't make me lose what little respect I have left for you."In the end, he came.A signature, a stamp, and it was done. Richard's face was grim. Then, as if he were holding back fury, he let out a short, bitter laugh. "Well, well… I really underestimated you. Don't forget what I said. Cammy's custody is mine. I'm giving you three days—pack your things and bring her to me. If you don't, I won't hesitate to take this to court."I watched him storm off. I almost wanted to laugh. Instead, I felt the sharp tang of blood rising in my throat.'Richard… Cammy is already gone. She died the same day Lacy's surgery was a success. Are you happy now? At least you won't have to

That night, I had a huge fight with Richard. The next morning, I slipped an emergency alarm into our daughter's backpack.But as if to prove Richard's certainty right, that smug Lacy—who had once relished in tormenting Cammy—never bullied her again.Instead, from that day on, we started running into their family more and more often. At the park. At the mall. Near the school.And every time we met, Richard would talk with Joyce for ages.Not only did he suddenly become an active participant in parent-teacher meetings, but at home, he grew increasingly distracted.At some point, he stopped picking Cammy up when she pouted and acted cute. Instead, he would frown and reprimand her. "What's with this behavior? Look at Lacy—she never acts spoiled like this."Even when Cammy ranked first in her grade as always, he stopped praising her. Instead, he tried to push her harder. "Don't get arrogant. Studying isn't everything. Learn from Lacy—exercise more!"Even at the dinner table, he never

The next day at work, Richard was distracted.I watched from the sidelines, wondering why he didn't just slip up and drive a scalpel straight into his own chest.Cammy, too, clung to my hand the whole time. She was no longer flitting around Richard like she had the day before.Finally, lunchtime arrived.After hesitating for a while, Richard sought out the same doctor from the previous day."Peter, I wanted to ask… do you know which hospital my daughter was transferred to?"Peter looked genuinely surprised. "Transferred? When did that happen? The kidney transplant went smoothly, didn't it? There wasn't even any rejection. I remember you even distributed celebratory gifts that day."Richard's face stiffened, his expression turning a shade paler."…That successful surgery…" He struggled to get the words out. "Peter, the child who had surgery that day… wasn't my daughter."Peter's expression morphed into something incredulous, as if Richard had just spoken complete nonsense.His

He stood there, frozen, as if struck by lightning, struggling to process my father's words."What… what did you just say? Who's dead? What urn?"My father shook his head, his gaze shifting past him to Joyce and Lacy, who had just caught up. His eyes were filled with disappointment."Richard, I never approved of you and Queenie being together. But after all these years of marriage, after having Cammy, I thought—no matter what—you would have some feelings for them. Did you ever truly see Queenie as your wife? Did you ever see Cammy as your daughter?"A heavy sigh escaped him. His already hunched back seemed to curve even more under the weight of his exhaustion."If I had known things would turn out this way, I never would have let Queenie leave with you. Even if it cost me my life, I would have kept my daughter by my side."He turned away, swiping at the corner of his eye, then walked away without another word.Richard finally snapped out of his daze. His face went deathly pale.