Chapter 4

Many people attended Violet’s funeral, including several nurses from the hospital.

Violet had been treated there after the bullying incident, and many of the nurses had grown fond of her.

Some strangers had also heard what happened and came of their own accord to offer some flowers.

They were heartbroken that Violet’s final moments had been so painful.

A sweet little girl like her should never have suffered such a terrible fate.

They were right. None of this should have happened.

How could Violet ever have imagined that her own mother, whom she loved most, would use her as bait and abandon her to a shark?

That was why I did not invite Eunice.

She did not deserve to call herself Violet’s mother.

Besides, she was too busy taking care of Matt and Toby to spare us even a glance.

She probably assumed that I would do what I had always done.

She thought I would put Violet and our family first, back down, and apologize to her.

This time, she was wrong.

Violet was gone. I had nothing left to hold me back.

Just then, my phone rang.

I answered. My father’s voice came through. It was a voice I had not heard in a long time. He sounded as though he had aged decades.

“I heard what happened. Violet…” He let out a heavy sigh.

Memories of Violet calling me “Daddy” in her sweet little voice flooded my mind.

I would never hear her call me that again.

My voice broke as I said, “I… I regret everything.”

“Then, come home. Violet was my granddaughter. No one hurts our family and gets away with it.”

My father had strongly opposed my relationship with Eunice from the very beginning.

The Fuller family was one of the most prominent families in Bayport, with a sprawling business empire.

Even the aquarium where Eunice worked belonged to my family.

My father could never accept a marine animal trainer marrying into a family like ours.

At that time, I was captivated by Eunice’s independent and vibrant personality, so I had chosen her.

She had said, “I can’t stand trust-fund brats who have nothing going for them but money. I’m perfectly capable of building a good life on my own.”

I even cut ties with my family for her.

When she said she wanted someone who would always be there to care for her, I devoted myself to being a stay-at-home husband.

My father was furious and called me a disgrace.

He also warned me that Eunice’s first love was abroad, and she had never gotten over him.

They had been forced apart by their families. My father warned me not to fall too deeply for her.

However, Eunice had put on a brave smile and said, “That’s all in the past.”

I believed her.

The truth eventually showed me just how wrong I had been.

Looking back, I wanted to shake some sense into my younger self.

After that, my father disowned me and told everyone that he no longer had a son.

But he adored Violet.

He would even visit his beloved granddaughter in secret without telling me.

Violet once told me that a man who looked like Santa Claus often came to see her and slipped her presents when no one was looking.

That was how I knew my father was truly devastated by her death.

However, I had no time to surrender to my grief.

There were too many things waiting for me to do.

I ran my fingers over the photograph on her headstone one last time. My gaze lingered on her bright smile.

“Violet, give me some time. I’ll make every person who hurt you pay.”

A week later, Eunice finally seemed to remember that she had a family.

From the living room, I heard her giggling flirtatiously with Matt at the front door before she began complaining about me.

“If only Phil were as understanding as you, Matt. He never considers how I feel. All he does is get angry and waste his life sitting around the house.”

Matt said in feigned concern, “Eunice, maybe Phil just wants a little more attention from you.”

Toby immediately chimed in, “I know how hard you work, Eunice. If it were me, I wouldn’t whine and make a fuss all day.”

That made Eunice laugh even more. “You’re such a good boy, Toby.”

They sounded like a happy little family.

I could not help but scoff.

Violet had barely been gone, yet she could not wait to bring those two into our home.

That actually worked out well. It saved me the trouble of tracking them down.

Eunice’s smile vanished the moment she entered the living room.

She pointed at the framed photograph on the mantel and asked hoarsely, “Phil, what is that supposed to be?”

I gave her a scornful glance and said flatly, “Isn’t that obvious? It’s the photograph we used at Violet’s funeral.”

Eunice froze for a moment.

She quickly recovered and sneered as she screamed at me, “I didn’t come home for a few days, and now you’re trying to guilt-trip me by pretending Violet’s dead?!

“That’s sick, even for you! Listen carefully, Phil. You’ve taken this pathetic act far enough. Don’t think for even a moment that you can manipulate me with it. Keep this up, and I’ll file for divorce!”

In a fit of rage, she snatched up Violet’s photograph and raised it to smash it against the floor.

My heart lurched. I rushed forward to seize her wrist.

I roared, “Eunice, have you lost your damn mind? Violet’s dead! She’s dead! What part of that don’t you understand?”

I wrenched the photograph from her hand and carefully wiped away every mark she had left on the frame.

I would not let Eunice’s filthy hands tarnish Violet’s memory.

Perhaps because I had never spoken to Eunice like that before, she stared at me in shock.

Then, something inside her seemed to snap. She screamed, “I don’t believe you! You and Violet planned this together to fool me, didn’t you?

“Fine! I’ll find her myself. She’s so young, but she’s already lying out of her teeth! When I find her, I’ll beat the lies out of her!”

She tore through every room in the house and cursed as she searched.

“Come out right now! Violet, you nasty little brat, all you ever do is lie! You think you’re so clever now, don’t you?”

The longer she searched, the more her voice trembled.

There was no trace of Violet anywhere.

I had removed all of her belongings.

I would never let that woman touch anything that belonged to Violet again.

Finally, Eunice turned to me with a conflicted face. “Where’s Violet? Tell me where she is!”

The moment I had been waiting for had finally arrived.

I grabbed Eunice by the collar, dragged her in front of the television, and switched it on.

The screen was paused on one of the week’s biggest news stories.

[Five-year-old girl killed by 13-foot great white shark off Bayport coast.]

Due to child protection laws, Violet’s face was blurred on TV.

I looked down at Eunice and delivered each word with cold precision. “You wanted to find Violet? There she is! You fed your daughter to a shark, and it killed her.”

Eunice shook her head frantically. “No! That’s impossible! That can’t be Violet!”