Going Beyond Limits for Love

As I walked out of the cemetery, my phone rang. It was the cemetery manager's voice on the line, fraught with urgency.

"Mr. Lucas, someone’s digging up your daughter’s grave!"

The news hit me like a punch to the gut, and I nearly collapsed.

Without a second thought, I spun around and raced back to Iris’s grave.

Iris had always been a ray of sunshine, with a special fondness for sunflowers. She often said they were like little suns, always smiling at her, and she wished she could hug them to hold onto that happiness forever.

To honor her, I filled her grave with sunflowers instead of a traditional headstone.

Each flower was a symbol of my deep love and the ache of losing her.

"Jocelyn, this place was covered in sunflowers—Cathy would have loved it!"

When I arrived, Jeremy had already put his urn in my daughter's grave. Two of Jocelyn's bodyguards were shoveling dirt back in.

The sunflowers I had carefully planted were uprooted and scattered with the petals strewn across the ground.

My daughter's urn was carelessly left beside the disarray.

"What are you doing?"

I shouted, shoving the bodyguards aside. "Who gave you permission to disturb this grave?"

Jeremy stepped forward with a shrug. "It’s just an unmarked grave with some sunflowers. I thought it’d be a nice spot for my Cathy. What’s the problem?"

Jeremy’s words were the last straw, setting off a fury I’d been holding back for so long. How dare he desecrate my daughter’s grave to bury his cat?

I lost all restraint and threw a powerful punch straight at Jeremy’s face.

Thud!

Jeremy was knocked backward, reeling from the blow.

Jocelyn’s eyes were a mix of anger and concern as she looked at me. "Cason, you’re not even at home with our daughter, and now you’re making a scene here?"

"I’m going to kill him!"

I roared, almost out of control, and rushed towards Jeremy.

"Stop him!"

Jocelyn shouted urgently to her bodyguards.

They quickly stepped in, each grabbing one of my arms and holding me back with a tight grip.

Jocelyn’s expression was steely as she came up to me. "I thought you’d gotten over this jealousy and matured. But here you are, making a fuss. Jeremy just found a new place for Cathy—why are you making such a big deal out of it? You’re actually hitting someone! Apologize to Jeremy right now!"

Jocelyn’s defense of Jeremy and her insistence that I should apologize for confronting the people who desecrated my daughter’s grave was infuriating.

Overcome with rage, I struggled against the bodyguards’ hold, but their grip was unshakeable. All I could do was shout at Jocelyn, "You’re going to regret this!"

Jeremy, looking annoyed, added, "You always went on about how great your life was and how you married a stand-up guy. I thought you were genuinely happy. But it turns out the ‘great guy’ you bragged about is just a lunatic. If this gets out, it’s going to wreck your reputation and the company’s!"

Jeremy's anger was off the charts after that punch, and now he was clearly trying to drive a wedge between me and Jocelyn.

Jocelyn's face showed a flash of discomfort, but she quickly turned to me, her voice tight.

"Can’t you just stay out of this and be a good stay-at-home dad? Why do you have to come here and make a scene? Go home and take care of Iris. Don’t leave her alone like this. Understand?"

I stared at Jocelyn, barely containing my rage. "So now you care about Iris?"

Jocelyn’s expression hardened. "Of course, I care! Iris is my daughter too. I went through nine months of pregnancy and everything else to bring her into this world. Everything I do is for her. I want her to be proud of me as her mom."

Seeing her try to brush off my anger, I snapped, "Cut the crap! If you really cared, you wouldn’t have left her alone just to be with Jeremy. She’s only five! Did you even think about how terrified and alone she must have felt?"

"Seriously, enough!" Jocelyn shot back, clearly frustrated. "How long are you going to drag this out? Why are you being so petty about it?"

Jocelyn lost her patience and snapped, "Apologize to Jeremy and then get out of here. You’re just making things worse!"

Jeremy, glaring with rage, said, "Forget about the apology. I want him to pay for hitting me!"

He then delivered two hard punches to my stomach.

The blows were full of anger and force, leaving me crumpled on the ground.

Jocelyn, meanwhile, watched dispassionately, letting her bodyguards hold me back while Jeremy continued to attack.

Looking at Jocelyn now, so high and mighty, I couldn't help but remember when she was in college, bullied by some thugs. I fought them off for her, taking a brutal beating and ending up bloodied and bruised. Back then, she’d been full of regret and promised that if she ever had the means, she’d protect me in return.

At this time, as a powerful executive, Jocelyn coldly watched Jeremy’s brutal attack on me.

The contrast between her past promises and her current indifference was gut-wrenching, leaving me feeling utterly hollow and devastated.

"Cason, stop playing the victim," Jocelyn said with a dismissive sneer. "It’s just a few punches. Why are you lying there like it’s the end of the world?"

"Enough of this," she snapped. "Let’s get Cathy laid to rest properly."

Jeremy, having vented his anger, signaled his bodyguards to continue covering the grave.

I forced myself to rise, wincing with every movement, and tried to intervene.

Jocelyn grabbed me and slapped me hard across the face. "Cason, how long are you going to keep making a fuss over this? It’s just a grave!"

Fuming, she kicked the urn, scattering Iris’s ashes across the ground.

The sting of the slap was sharp, but watching Iris’s ashes scattered across the ground was a deeper, more agonizing pain. Witnessing her death had been the worst moment of my life, but now, I couldn’t even safeguard her remains.

I hate them!

As if the world itself was grieving alongside me, snow began to fall, covering the ashes with a quiet, sorrowful blanket.

"No!"

I cried out hoarsely, throwing myself onto the ground and desperately scooping up the scattered ashes with my hands.

Tears streamed silently down my face.

Jeremy watched with cold disdain and sneered, "Cason, I know you’re an orphan with no family. You’re just putting on a show with some stranger’s ashes. If you think you can stop Cathy from being buried like this, you’re just wasting your time."

I ignored Jeremy’s taunts, my focus solely on frantically gathering Iris’s ashes.

This was the only thing left of Iris in this world, and I couldn’t bear to lose it.

"You leave our daughter alone at home and come here causing trouble for Jeremy?" Jocelyn said with disdain, stepping on the ashes. "You’re really disappointing. How could Iris have such a negligent father?"

She stepped closer, her voice dripping with contempt.

"If you want to cry over a stranger’s ashes, go ahead. A man like you doesn’t deserve to be Iris’s father. From now on, I’m taking Iris away. She won’t be living with someone like you."

Jocelyn pulled out her phone and coldly instructed, "Chase, get my daughter to my private villa immediately. And don’t allow Cason to see her without my permission."

After a brief pause, Chase replied cautiously, "Mrs. Blake, your daughter passed away in a car accident on the day you sent her to school."

He continued, "I also discovered that the grave with the sunflowers, where Mr. Heath planned to bury his cat, actually contains your daughter’s ashes."