He Threw Our Daughter's Ashes Away

With a crash, the room went dead silent.

Lauren Bell stood in the doorway, her eyes red and brimming with tears, a broken bowl of ravioli scattered across the floor. "Hailey, I'm so sorry... it's all my fault."

Aidan Mason crossed the space in two strides, pulling Lauren protectively into his arms. His gaze landed on Hailey Carpenter, cold and unyielding. "Is this what you wanted?"

The room was jam-packed with eyes—accusing, resentful, furious—all turned toward Hailey. Yet she stood perfectly still, her expression unreadable as she stared at the woman weeping in Aidan's arms.

If a single word could sum up her relationship with Lauren Bell, it was "entangled."

During those endless, homeless nights and days, Lauren had given her the last dinner roll, mended her torn clothes, and shielded her from foster parents with hidden agendas.

But after her daughter's tragic accident, a chance meeting with their old orphanage director shattered everything. From the director, Hailey learned the bread had been laced with rat poison, the clothes stitched with needles hidden in the seams, and that wealthy couple... they'd genuinely wanted to adopt her.

A bitter smile ghosted across Hailey's lips.

This whole time, she'd been chasing a phantom.

Lauren lifted her head from Aidan's shoulder, determination glittering through the tears streaming down her face. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't even be here. I've ruined Hailey's family... I'd be better off dead."

Before anyone could blink, she wrenched free of Aidan's embrace, snatched a kitchen knife from the coffee table, and aimed it straight at her own stomach.

"No!"

Aidan's pupils flared, and he lunged.

In a split second, the blade slashed through Aidan's palm and buried itself half an inch into Hailey's abdomen.

Blood spattered across Hailey's eyelids, making her lashes flutter like wounded butterflies.

Undeterred, Aidan gathered Lauren back into his arms. "Lauren! Are you okay? Somebody, call an ambulance! We need a hospital—now!"

He charged toward the door, then froze.

Aidan's eyes locked onto Hailey's, a chilling threat coiled in every syllable. "Hailey Carpenter, if anything happens to Lauren or the baby she's carrying, you will pay for it."

Hailey's parents, ghost-white with shock, trailed after Aidan toward the hospital.

The door slammed shut.

In the suffocating silence of the room, Hailey slowly wiped her eyelids, stared at the blood staining her fingers, and let out a hollow, broken laugh.

Three years ago, when she first met Aidan, a rabid dog had attacked her—viciously.

That night, the surgical light blazed bright for ten hours before Hailey came through it.

Aidan had been there the whole time. One pull, that's all it would've taken to save her.

She'd felt so wronged, and once, she'd asked him about it.

But there in the hospital room, Aidan—hands stuffed in his pockets—barely glanced up. "Sorry, these hands are reserved for signing billion-dollar deals; I can't put them at risk."

Back then, she'd figured Aidan just carried such heavy responsibilities—for Amazon, for his family—so she'd tried to be understanding.

But it was pointless.

Because it was her who got hurt, it was considered unnecessary.

Hailey crumpled slowly, curling up in a corner as if trying to disappear.

Time seemed to hang suspended—until a sudden bang shattered it.

Aidan, hands bandaged, burst through the door, his face pale and wild with urgency. "Hailey Carpenter! Come to the hospital with Journi! We need a blood donor—Lauren's baby is in danger. Journi's blood type matches!"

Hailey looked up, her lashes trembling ever so slightly. "But..."

"No excuses," Aidan cut her off, his voice a blade. "Hailey Carpenter, I'm not asking."

A quiet, chilling laugh filled the room.

"But Aidan Mason... Journi? She's gone."