---- Chapter 10 The moment the call connected, the sound of Jennifer's crying came from the other end of the line, and Mike's voice sounded flustered. But right after, he let out a cold, chilling laugh. "Shannon, what are you pretending to be pitiful for this time? Melanie is perfectly fine-how could anything happen to her?" He paused, and his tone grew even colder. "That day, I was kind enough to spend time with you both, but you didn't appreciate it and pushed me away. Now that Oliver has a severe allergic reaction, you're stirring up trouble out of jealousy again? What tricks are you trying to play this time?" I felt a sharp, bitter taste in my throat, and just as I was about to explain, the call abruptly ended witha string of cold beeping tones, ruthlessly cutting off the last thread of connection. At that moment, despair surged over me like a ---- relentless tide, drowning me completely. I felt as if 1 had fallen into an endless abyss of darkness. I thought Melanie would cry in fear, but to my surprise, her face was deathly pale as she lay on the hospital bed, wearing an oxygen mask. Her tiny, fragile body looked so weak, yet her eyes were unusually calm, filled with a maturity and sorrow far beyond her age. After a long while, she opened her mouth slightly. Her voice was weak but incredibly firm. "Mommy, this time... Daddy really doesn't want Melanie anymore, does he?" As she spoke, she forced a sensible smile and raised her trembling little hand to gently wipe away the tears that kept falling down my face. "Don't cry, Mommy. If Daddy doesn't want me, then I won't want Daddy either." Looking at her like that, it felt like a thousand needles were piercing my heart, and the pain made it hard to even breathe. ---- With nowhere left to turn, I finally called my father. Upon hearing what had happened, he didn't hesitate for a second. He pulled every string he could, using the connections he had built over decades, and managed to rush a top specialist over from a neighboring city. In that desperate race against time, every single second felt like an eternity. I prayed with all my heart, hoping Melanie would make it through safely. During the days she stayed in the hospital, Mike completely disappeared -as if he had vanished from the face of the earth. He never showed up, not even once. Yet outside the hospital, the world remained as noisy as ever. The television news looped endlessly with reports of Mike's "heroic deed" of mobilizing all the city's medical resources to save a patient. On the screen, his face was full of worry-an image of a powerful, concerned CEO-but at that moment, it struck me as ---- utterly ridiculous. I sat beside Melanie's hospital bed, staring coldly at the screen, as hatred and determination burned ever brighter within me. 'Mike, since you love them so much, fine. My daughter and I will leave you to them.' The day Melanie was discharged, the sun still shone as brightly as ever, but my heart was colder than ever. I calmly completed the cancellation of our domestic identities. With trembling fingers, I deleted Mike's contact details, then snapped the SIM card in two- like that could sever all the painful ties to the past. Finally, I took Melanie's hand and walked away without looking back, leaving behind this city that held far too many bitter memories...