Chapter 2I Filed Divorce When He Saved Her First

When I pushed open the hospital room door, my daughter's eyes lit up for a second, then immediately dimmed.

She scrambled off the bed and cautiously wrapped her arms around me. "Mommy, you came to the hospital. Does that mean you forgive me? Please don't divorce Daddy. I don't want to be a child from a broken home."

I shoved her away in disgust. She stumbled and fell to the floor.

Craig rushed to her side, scooping her up and placing her back on the bed. He looked at the tears welling in her eyes, tears she was clearly fighting to hold back, and his heart broke.

He turned to me, his voice thick with accusation. "Charlotte, look what you've done to her. She saves up her own pocket money to buy you vitamins instead of spending it on herself. She's so afraid of waking you that she only lets me put her to bed at night. And every time there's a parent-teacher conference, all she wants is for you to be there, just once. Do you think you deserve a daughter as good as her?"

I let out a cold, amused laugh. "You're right. I don't deserve to be her mother. So just agree to the divorce, and we can all move on."

His mouth opened, but no words came out. He couldn't understand how I had become so cold, so cruel.

My mother stepped forward and slapped me hard across the face. "How could I have given birth to such an ungrateful monster? If you dare to divorce Craig, you will no longer be my daughter."

I cradled my stinging cheek, my eyes locked on hers. "Then please, draft the disownment papers immediately. I'll sign them without a moment's hesitation."

Her face flushed, then paled. She pointed a trembling finger at me, speechless with rage.

My mother-in-law forced a smile and took my hand. "Charlotte, Craig told me what happened. You and Anna both fell in the water. It makes perfect sense that he would save the one who couldn't save herself first. If it had been you and me, I'm sure he would have saved you. You know how he's treated you all these years. You have to be fair."

I snatched my hand away and wiped it on my pants as if her touch had contaminated me. "The fact that he didn't save me first proves that I'm less important to him than his little darling. And since he doesn't love me, I'm demanding a divorce. What's the problem?"

The smile vanished from my mother-in-law's face. She stepped back, her expression now as cold as mine.

Anna struggled out of Craig's arms and knelt before me again, her face a mask of pitiful desperation. "Mommy, if you think Daddy loves me more, I'll punish myself. Please, just give him another chance. It's all my fault..."

Without another word, she began slapping herself, hard, across the face. Her cheeks quickly swelled and turned red.

Craig grabbed her, pulling her into a tight hug. He roared at me, his voice filled with anguish. "Charlotte, look what you've turned our sweet, innocent daughter into! How long are you going to keep this up?"

A crowd had gathered at the door, drawn by the commotion.

"My God, what kind of mother gets jealous of her own daughter?"

"They say a daughter is her father's lover in a past life. It's only natural for a father to dote on his little girl."

"Didn't you hear? The daughter and this bitch both fell in the water, and the father saved the daughter first. Now she's throwing a fit and demanding a divorce."

A few new mothers in the crowd, their faces flushed with righteous indignation, stormed into the room. One of them grabbed a fistful of my hair and started hitting me.

"You bitch! Do you have any maternal instincts at all? You don't deserve to live!"

Seeing that someone had made the first move, others surged forward. Fists and feet rained down on me. I heard the sickening crack of a bone. A sharp, searing pain exploded on my scalp as a chunk of my hair was ripped out.