Chapter 3

Maybe I should have figured out long ago that Charles was no longer worthy of being Emily's dad when the scales in his heart were tipped in favor of his first love's daughter.

How can I feel comfortable leaving my daughter in his hands.

The police have arrested the driver for the hit-and-run DUI, and it will be a while until the court hearing, but Emily's afterlife can't be put off any longer.

The immediate cause of her death was undoubtedly a car accident, and I quickly arranged for a cremation as I watched the child being wheeled in and out again at the end of the day with only a dark urn lying in the palm of my hand.

Just like when she was a newborn, a tiny one that I could hold all with two hands.

But Emily, now, no longer cries and laughs, much less reaches out with both hands, her little milky voice sweetly calling me mommy for a hug.

For the past few days, Charles has not asked anything about the kids, he just takes my words for granted.

The family was in a state of chaos, with relatives and friends coming from all directions to see Emily off for the last time.

"How can such a good boy be gone?"

My mom even cried into tears, after learning the news was admitted to the hospital, a few days could not eat a grain of rice, all rely on the infusion of nutrient solution hanging.

It wasn't until the night before the burial that Charles made a rare unsolicited call.

"Hey, where's Emily? After all these days, and I've given her time to think about it, has she thought it through yet or not, and how should she apologize to Faith MacDonald, she's not done with the whole intentionally pouring coffee on it thing, she has to come to the door and apologize in person."

"For this matter, I've been busy at her house for the past few days to make amends, and the herniated discs are wearing me out."

The first words out of your mouth aren't concerned, they're scolding, and that's what a self-righteous "good father" is all about.

"Charles, are you incapable of understanding human language? I'm telling you, Emily is dead, she's dead! Tomorrow is her burial time, so if you have any conscience at all, come back and give her one last ride."

Charles immediately exploded when he heard this, "Don't threaten me with this matter of death, even if she dies, she has to be plowed out from inside the grave to apologize!"

My voice was cold to the point of shaking, "You don't deserve to be Emily's father."

In the end, it was the family in-laws who stepped in and called Charles back personally.

The family hired a Taoist priest and always burned incense.

Charles opens the door with a scolding, questioning what all this pandemonium is about.

But as he got closer and closer and saw the urn sitting in the center of the hearth, the skepticism on his face was replaced by horror, "What is this."

I suddenly raised my voice and appeared behind him, "Dear good father, how could you not recognize that these are your daughter's ashes? Open your eyes and take a good look!"

"The Taoist priest said that her spirit had refused to leave the house. Have you seen Emily? She wanted to see you before she died. Even after she died and turned into a stern ghost, she wanted to haunt you all the time! She followed you day and night and wouldn't give up!"

Charles' eyes looked as if they were going to stare out, muttering, "How could it be, obviously a few days ago he was fine, he grew up healthy and didn't get sick, how could he die all of a sudden? You guys are working together to cheat me aren't you?"

I took out the death certificate and threw it at his heels, my heart in my mouth.

"It's written in black and white that Emily ran out of the service area after you kicked in the car door and ran into a drunk driver, and there's no way the car could have stopped in time at that speed."

"You told her to die, you told her to jump, and now she's really dead. As you wished, satisfied?"