Chapter 4

Daphne stood in the middle of the shattered porcelain, still wearing a sleep dress. My parents stood across from her.

Joel rushed over and quickly checked her over. "Daphne, are you hurt?"

"Daphne?"

My parents exchanged a look. Before they could even ask why her face looked exactly like mine, they noticed that she and Joel were holding hands, and their expressions immediately darkened.

"Joel, what is going on?"

Joel fell silent for a moment, then tightened his grip on Daphne's hand. "It's exactly what it looks like."

Dad's chest heaved, and he nearly collapsed. "Have you lost your mind? How could you do this to Valerie?"

Mom steadied him and glared furiously at the two of them.

Daphne suddenly stepped forward, her face pale. "Mr. and Mrs. Clayton, this is all my fault. I'm the one who betrayed Valerie. Please, I'm begging you. Let us be together."

Joel immediately pulled her to her feet, then turned to my parents, his voice cold.

"I know I've hurt Valerie. I'll come back another day and apologize properly. But Daphne's still early in her pregnancy and needs to rest, so right now, I need you to leave."

Years ago, Joel stood in front of my parents and promised he would always take care of me, telling them they could trust him with me.

Dad had a heart condition, so I was afraid the stress would be too much for him. I never told him about Joel's affair.

Now, without any warning, he found out Joel was involved with the girl he had watched grow up and treated like another daughter.

Worse, Daphne had changed her face to look exactly like mine, almost as if she wanted to take my place completely.

"H-How could you do this to Valerie?"

Dad's eyes widened. The shock was too much for him, and he suddenly collapsed.

"Dad!" I rushed forward and shoved Daphne out of my way. "Move!"

Daphne froze and stumbled back.

Joel's expression turned cold as he immediately pulled her behind him.

"Valerie! Do you have to be so heartless?"

But by then, I didn't care what he thought. We rushed Dad to the hospital, only to find out every operating room was in use and we had to wait.

The minutes dragged by, and Dad kept getting worse.

Then I suddenly remembered that the hospital could open an emergency operating room for an employee's immediate family.

But when I brought it up, the nurse looked at me with obvious contempt.

"Dr. Kemper's wife is in the room next door being treated for pregnancy complications. What exactly is your relationship to him? If you need an operating room, you'll have to wait like everyone else."

I froze.

Dad's breathing grew weaker by the second. He was in so much pain he could barely speak, while Mom sobbed beside him and begged me to do something.

I couldn't think about anything else anymore. I rushed straight to Joel's room.

I barely got the words out about Dad before Daphne burst into tears.

"Valerie, I know you hate me, but I might already be losing my baby. Isn't that punishment enough? Do I really have to die before you'll forgive me?"

Whatever hesitation Joel still had disappeared. He turned to Daphne and took her hand, his face full of concern.

"Go back. Once Daphne settles down, I'll go check on your dad."

I stared at him like I didn't even know who he was anymore.

Joel frowned when he saw my expression.

"Don't look at me like that. If you hadn't upset Daphne earlier, she wouldn't be having complications right now..."

His voice suddenly stopped when he saw me slapping myself across the face.

"Is this enough? Will you save my dad now?"

I hit myself again, then again, each slap harder than the last until my cheek burned and my ears rang.

Right then, my phone lit up. It was a message from the nurse.

[I'm sorry. We couldn't save him. His heart stopped. The woman who was with him couldn't handle the shock and jumped from a window.]

Something inside me snapped, and with it, whatever was left of my heart seemed to die, too.

I didn't care about my swollen face. I couldn't even remember how many times I stumbled on my way downstairs.

All I knew was that the moment I saw Mom lying there, something inside me broke for good.

"Mom, wake up..."

I took her cold hand and gave it a small shake.

But the woman lying motionless in my arms would never touch my face again or call me "Sweetie" in that soft, loving voice.

I slowly got to my feet. The pain was so overwhelming that I couldn't even cry anymore.

Then I stumbled forward.

"Dad, Mom... I'm coming..."

By the time Joel found out what happened and rushed out of the hospital, his eyes went red at the sight in front of him.

"Valerie!"