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When Li Chengjing married me, he knelt before me with deep sincerity and unwavering affection. Out of love, after years of marriage, I gave birth to a child for him. Our family of three was very happy. But on the day Li Chengjing's first love returned to the country, the beautiful illusion of our love was shattered in an instant. For the sake of his first love's family's happiness, Li Chengjing used strong acid to destroy my daughter's body. When I confronted him, he was busy accompanying his first love in searching for her pet cat. "Don't be so unreasonable. Xiao Yan's cat is lost; what's wrong with me keeping her company? You don't need to curse your own daughter like this, do you?" That night, he firmly stated he wouldn't come home, and I resolutely left that house. Until later, when he learned the truth. He knelt before me, repenting and pleading for me not to leave him.
Chapter 1
I stared at my daughter wrapped in white cloth before me. Her face was unrecognizable.
I instantly felt dizzy.
My trembling fingers reached out as I couldn't believe my eyes.
It felt uneven beneath my finger and heightened my senses.
My eyes turned red, and tears streamed down uncontrollably.
It was my daughter's birthday that day. I had planned to give her a surprise. But I was struck by a devastating shock, left utterly unprepared for such a nightmare.
I shook her arm frantically. "Nina, wake up! Don't play such a joke on me! It's your birthday today. I bought you your favorite doll. Do you like it?"
I kept talking, saying everything I could think of, but I got no response.
Eventually, my voice grew hoarse, and I couldn't utter another word.
My daughter's body was ruined beyond recognition, and her fingerprints were corroded by strong acid.
I was a forensic pathologist, so I could recognize that the marks of acid corrosion were fresh.
Clearly, someone was trying to hide something.
Through choking sobs, I forced out the words. "Who was the forensic pathologist to examine my daughter's body?"
The forensic pathologist beside me almost couldn't stand it. He said, "It was Neal Wilson."
Neal was my beloved husband.
Upon hearing his name, tears seemed to freeze at the corners of my eyes.
I instinctively thought it was impossible.
There was a small red flower in Nina's hair, and it was stained with blood. It was a gift from Neal to Nina.
She loved it so much. Neal couldn't possibly have failed to recognize Nina.
Besides, if something had happened to Nina, Neal would have told me.
He would have been the first to stay by her side, and by mine, sharing in my grief.
I was panicked and fumbled to call Neal.
The phone rang for what felt like an eternity before he finally answered it.
My voice was trembling with pain and barely suppressed anger. I asked, "Neal, where are you right now?"
He sounded impatient. "Adelina's cat went missing. She's really upset, and I'm helping her look for it. What's the matter? Just say it quickly."
The moment his words landed, the dam inside me burst.
I screamed with everything I had, "Nina is dead! She's dead, and you handled her case! And now you're out looking for another woman's cat? Neal, are you even human?"
Neal frowned and interrupted me sharply. "Adelina is heartbroken. What's wrong with me keeping her company? And you don't need to curse your daughter like that."
His words made it sound as though I was being unreasonable.
I wanted to say more, but then I heard a woman's soft sobbing on the other end of the line.
Neal's attention was drawn entirely to her, as though I no longer existed.
His voice was so gentle and soothing in a way I hadn't heard in years. "Don't cry, Adelina. If we can't find the cat, we can always keep another one..."
And then, the call abruptly ended.
My consciousness wavered. My thoughts clouded by a suffocating haze. The events of that day blurred together, but one memory remained vivid.
I cradled Nina in my arms and walked step by step through the pouring rain back home.
The rain mixed with tears flowed into my mouth. It tasted so bitter.
From a distance, I saw Neal standing at the street corner, holding an umbrella over Adelina.
In her arms was a small cat.
Neal's face was filled with a gentle affection I hadn't seen directed at me in years.
I had a fondness for pets as well, especially soft, furry kittens.
I had once told Neal I wanted to adopt one kitten.
But back then, Neal looked at me with disdain. "Pets are filthy, crawling with germs. They're disgusting."
It turned out that Neal didn't hate pets.
But I never saw through him.
He just didn't care about me.
Neal and Adelina stood in the rain, like a perfect couple, just like Neal and I had been once upon a time.
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