Chapter 6

Lila Hart POV

I desperately shielded that small pile of gray-white powder in front of me, my nails embedded so deeply into the floor cracks from excessive force that they drew streaming blood.

I slowly raised my head.

My bloodshot eyes, like those of a demon from hell, locked onto him with deadly intensity.

Ethan Foster, you will regret this.

I swore it with every ounce of my being.

Housekeeper Brown soon arrived with the vacuum, freezing in place when she saw the scene before her, at a loss.

"Sir..."

"What are you waiting for? Clean it up!" Ethan snapped impatiently.

The vacuum made a "whirr—" of preparation, that sound like death's summons.

I closed my eyes in despair.

Just then—

"BANG!"

The villa door was kicked open from outside.

A tall figure charged in wrapped in frigid air—it was Adrian Cloud!

Adrian Cloud was my former classmate. After learning about my daughter's condition, he'd often come to help me.

His eyes immediately found me kneeling on the floor, covered in blood, and the glaring gray-white powder at my feet.

Adrian's eyes instantly turned red.

He crossed to Ethan in two strides and without a word of warning, drove his fist hard into Ethan's face!

"Ethan Foster, are you even human?!"

Ethan staggered from the blow, blood immediately appearing at his mouth. He clutched his face, but before he could get angry, a piece of paper slapped across his face.

"Open your damn eyes and look! What is this!"

It was a death certificate.

The name read "Nina Foster." The time of death was frozen at the exact moment he'd been celebrating Mandy's dog's birthday.

Ethan's body went rigid.

He picked up the paper in disbelief, his fingers trembling.

"It's fake... this has to be fake!" He roared at me like a madman. "Lila! You conspired with outsiders to trick me?!"

I watched his frantic state and suddenly smiled.

I swayed unsteadily to my feet, and with my bleeding hands, I carefully scooped up a handful of ash mixed with blood and dust.

I walked toward him.

Ethan was momentarily stunned by my appearance, actually forgetting to move.

I raised my hand and gently, inch by inch, smeared that ash across his flawlessly handsome face.

My tone was so gentle it was bone-chilling.

"Ethan Foster, don't you want to see your daughter?"

"Smell it. This is what your daughter smells like."

"Isn't it lovely?"

"This is her. The one you smashed with your own hands."

Ethan stood as if struck by lightning, his entire body shaking violently, all color draining from his face.

He tried to speak but couldn't utter a single word.

I withdrew my hand and without sparing him another glance, turned to Adrian. "Take me away."

"Lila!"

Ethan finally snapped out of it, roaring as he tried to grab me.

I whirled around and with the last shred of strength in my body, slapped him hard across the face!

"CRACK!"

Clear and loud.

The entire living room fell silent.

I leaned close to his ear and in a voice only we two could hear, pronounced clearly, word by word:

"Ethan Foster, I will make you, your precious first love, and that dog all pay with your lives for my daughter."