Chapter 6

Daisy Lee POV

After I said that, I went upstairs, and soon Nathan Reed abandoned Chloe Snow and followed me.

The air in the living room was so still it felt like it would freeze.

“What did you just say?”

My voice was flat. “I’m tired. I don’t want to drag this out with you anymore.”

Nathan stared at me and laughed as if he were listening to a child speak in anger.

“You’re still recovering, and I don’t blame you for being emotionally unstable, but you can’t just say things like divorce.”

I looked up at him. “Nathan Reed, I know you cheated.”

Nathan’s smile immediately froze.

Before he could speak, I continued, “I went to Wisteria Apartments, and I know exactly what you two were doing inside.”

Nathan’s face shifted several times, then he suddenly became earnest.

“Daisy, have you ever thought about your own problems? After you got pregnant, your moods changed constantly. I was exhausted from work every day, and when I came home, I still had to deal with your emotions, so I was under a lot of pressure too. Besides, from your pregnancy until now, it’s been almost a year, and I couldn’t even touch you. I’m a normal man, and I have needs too. It’s normal for me to find a woman outside to deal with it, but in the end, I’ll still return to the family.”

“So your cheating is my fault?” I asked expressionlessly.

“I’m not saying you’re at fault,” Nathan said, shaking his head, “but when there are problems in a marriage, both of us are responsible, and you can’t push all the blame onto me.”

I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, they were full of determination.

“Get divorced, and leave with nothing.”

Nathan’s face changed completely. “Daisy Lee, don’t go too far.”

I sneered. “Why didn’t you think you were going too far when you cheated? Why didn’t you think you were going too far when you posted my camera footage online?”

Nathan’s pupils shrank sharply.

I did not give him a chance to argue. “You installed the camera, and you uploaded the videos. Did you think no one could find anything after you deleted the records? Nathan Reed, just wait to go to prison.”

Nathan’s face turned pale.

Linda, who had been eavesdropping, rushed out and pointed at my nose while cursing me.

“You still have the nerve to mention divorce? You married into the Reed family, ate our food, and lived in our house, and now you want a divorce? Fine, pay three hundred thousand dollars, not a penny less!”

Looking at that twisted face, I suddenly felt disgusted.

“Your son cheated, and you’re talking to me about money?”

“So what if my son cheated? That just means you couldn’t keep your man. Who can you blame when you’re useless?”

My whole body trembled, and I suddenly understood that I had never been treated as family.

I was a breeding tool, a nanny, a thing that could be discarded at will.

I took out my phone to call the police, but Nathan snatched it away with so much force that he broke my fingernail.

The pain made my vision go black, and in the next second, Nathan shoved me into the bedroom.

“Nathan Reed! This is unlawful confinement!” I shouted angrily.

“I’m your husband, and I’m responsible for controlling you. You’re too emotional right now, and I can’t let you go out and do something stupid.”

I pounded on the door several times, until my hands turned red, but no one answered.

The sky outside the window grew dark.

After an unknown amount of time, I smelled something strange, a thick smell of smoke.

I shot to my feet.

“Nathan Reed! There’s a fire!”

I pounded on the door like crazy, shouting until my voice cracked, but no one answered.

The smoke grew thicker and thicker, choking me until I coughed violently.

Suddenly, the door opened.

But the person standing at the door was not Nathan Reed, but Chloe Snow.

Chloe stood in the thick smoke, holding a lighter in her hand, with a smile hanging at the corner of her mouth.

“Daisy, do you like the gift I gave you?”

My pupils shrank sharply. “Are you insane? This is an apartment building!”

Chloe’s eyes were cold. “As long as you die, your place will be mine!”

The flames blazed, and Chloe locked the door, turned, and ran.

Nathan was nowhere to be found, and Linda was gone too.

I curled up by the window and gulped in the last of the air.

Just then, the door was kicked open from the outside.

Olivia Hart rushed in, soaked from head to toe and wrapped in a wet blanket, then grabbed my hand.

“Don’t waste time! Come with me!”

We stumbled through the sea of fire.

Downstairs, a black SUV was already waiting by the curb.

Olivia shoved me into the back seat, jumped into the driver’s seat, and sped away with one hard press of the gas.

“The plane tickets and documents you asked me to prepare are done. We’re leaving tonight!”

I looked at the Reed home growing farther away, my eyes numb.

Nathan Reed POV

Not long after, I came home from the research institute and found that the house had been burned.

The bedroom door was open, and no one was inside.

Daisy Lee had run away.

I stood in the mess, my face so dark it seemed to drip water.

Daisy did not have her phone, so I could only call the hospital.

“Hello, I’m a family member of the patient in Bed 15. I’d like to ask about my daughter’s condition, and also, if the child’s mother comes to the hospital, please notify me immediately…”

The other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds.

“Sir, the child in Bed 15 passed away during surgery last night, and we already informed the child’s mother on site.”

The hand I was using to hold the phone froze.

“What did you say? Passed away?”

The world suddenly went quiet.

The sirens of the fire trucks and the neighbors’ shouting all disappeared.

I could only hear my own heartbeat.

One beat after another, heavy and dull, like a hammer striking my chest.

“Click.”