After He killed my Child, I took off the Good-Wife Mask.

"Yes, she accidentally drowned your child, is that enough to file a case against your own cousin? How heartless can you be!"

These were the words of my husband of four years, Drake Hallwood, as I dressed my dead child's body, one last time before she was covered in earth.

Today was supposed to be her 2nd birthday.

"She has apologized again and again yet you wouldn't withdraw the case. What else do you want?" His voice reeked of impatience.

Sandra? Apologized? That vicious woman had walked up to me that cold night, pointed at my daughter's lifeless body, and said:

"It wasn't an accident. I pushed her into the pool myself and watched her go down the surface.

"I saw her eyes, that sweet and playful child. She was scared, but hopeful. She called me Auntie Sandy, believing I'd save her."

My heart tore into pieces at her words. Luckily the CCTV captured everything. Her words, the murder scene, everything. This was what I sent to the police.

Now my husband stood before me, shaking with rage and frenzy, protecting a woman who murdered his child.

"If you don't withdraw that case in the next 48 hours and render a public apology, I will terminate all medical support for your sick brother.

"I'll make sure he dies a slow, painful death, just like your mother and your father. I am all you have, did you forget?”

I stared into the face of the man who vowed to love me forever.

The man who had stayed up all night, singing off-key lullabies to our baby.

On her 1st birthday, he gifted her three five-star hotels, a lifetime access to luxurious apparel, personal guards and a billion-dollar yacht. All in her name. The whole world was brimming with the news of Ava’s birthday.

~This is the best Dad in the world!~ people tweeted.

But when his ex returned to the picture, everything changed.

He developed a disgust towards me and brushed off his daughter's hugs.

He seemed to forget how I saved his life years ago. He was lying on a dark alley, drunk to oblivion, the only words on his lips was “Sandra ruined me”.

I took him to a hospital, and when I called Sandra, she said aloud, “He can go to hell. If he cannot bounce back from a 100 billion dollar theft, how can he provide for me? I can't be seen with losers.”

He heard those words.

He was shattered for weeks but I stayed with him. The day he recovered, with tears in his eyes he asked me to marry him.

For two years I didn't give him an answer. But he was persistent and I couldn't get my mind off him either. I was in love with him.

So I let go of my secret Mafia lifestyle, quarreled with my family and got married to him and his life turned around for good.

And this is how he chose to pay me back…

"I am not pulling the case," I said, my teeth gritting. "Sandra will be arrested and rot in jail as long as I live."

I entered the funeral car and drove out. On the way, I wept my eyes out as I begged my daughter to come back to life.

When the funeral men took her from me into the ground, I thought I would die from grief. My heart pulled from the inside, each moment bringing greater pain than the last.

I silently hoped that Drake would at least call me, just a sentence of comfort. I needed solace so badly at this moment.

But when a notification popped on my phone, it was an Instagram post by Sandra.

~Whilst a certain woman buries her pathetic child, my billionaire fiance decides to escort me to my antenatals. You're the best, D.~

Fiance. My heart raced.

She didn't show his face but I couldn't mistake that tattoo on the back of Drake's neck.

I couldn't take this anymore.

With trembling hands, I dialed a number I had vowed not to.

"Dad, my eyes are open now, begin preparation for the shares transfer. I am ready to ruin Drake's life completely."

"It will take 3 days," my father calmly answered, relief in his voice.

***

That night, Drake returned with an envelope.

"That's your sack letter," he said. "Sandra will take your place as General Manager in the family company. Every status you've reached in the companies will be transferred to her. Sign it."

Something snapped inside of me.

"Our daughter is dead, Drake! I just buried her singlehandedly in a grave you don't even know!

"You didn't call, didn't text, didn't offer a single comforting word for your daughter. You spent the day attending to a woman who isn't your wife. Like a fucking maid!

"And what you do after all these is toss me a sack letter? Now do you want me to fall at your feet and start begging?" I barked, fighting the tears in my eyes. "You must be stupid for thinking that."

His eyes went blank. In the silence, I thought he had finally come to his senses. But then he spoke: "You are being dramatic. Withdraw the case and apologize to Sandra on national TV, and I'll forgive you..”

I couldn't speak.

"Sandra had suffered a lot because of this," Drake went on passionately. "She's at the risk of losing her pregnancy all because of your jealous drama.

"Just appease her and this will be over. She is fragile and ready to forgive you."

I laughed bitterly. She murdered my child yet I was the one to be forgiven.

Drake looked at me with pity. "I've tried so much to be kind to you, Elena, If you can just apologize…."

But as he spoke, I took the letter, opened it and signed it boldly. "Are there more papers?"

He stood in the middle of the room, speechless.

I tossed the signed paper at him. "When the time comes, don't hesitate to sign mine too."

I slammed the door in his face and left.