Chapter 1

1

I encountered a great white shark during the Labor Day holiday.

My husband is a professional marine animal trainer.

Yet, he deliberately cut our daughter's finger, using her to lure the shark away.

He did it all just to save his first love's daughter.

By the time I arrived, the blood had already stained the sea crimson.

I called my husband, desperate for an explanation.

But all I got was his impatient roar through the phone.

"I'm sick of this! The rescue team is already there, what more do you want? I taught her how to swim, so what if she had to stall for a bit?"

I looked at my daughter's mangled body, my eyes burning a deep, vengeful red.

This marriage should have ended a long time ago.

Now, I'm going to make sure every single one of them pays the price.

……

By the time I reached the scene, the rescue team had already taken down the shark with a tranquilizer gun.

But the ocean was already dyed red.

I dove into the water without a second thought, clutching my daughter Chloe's mangled body.

Tears wouldn't stop streaming down my face.

I had only been away for less than an hour to buy some water.

How did my healthy, vibrant little girl turn into this?

When Chloe saw me, her fading eyes flickered with a final, desperate spark.

She struggled to open her mouth, whispering something with the last of her strength.

I leaned in close, only to hear her sobbing weakly.

"Mommy, it hurts... it hurts so much..."

"Mommy, I... I don't have hands anymore, do I?"

"Mommy, why... why didn't Daddy want me?"

I began to tremble violently, screaming at her as her eyes started to close.

"Chloe! Chloe, stay with me! Look at Mommy, okay?"

"Mommy wants you... please, just look at Mommy..."

There was no answer.

The paramedics rushed over and pulled me away.

"Ma'am, please step aside! Every second counts for the resuscitation!"

I watched as tiny, blood-covered Chloe was lifted onto a stretcher.

That night, I stood outside the emergency room under the glowing red sign, afraid to even blink.

From beginning to end, my husband Travis―Chloe's own father―never even thought about calling.

But I could easily see what he was up to.

Because he was on the news.

The hospital television was broadcasting a report about the shark sighting in the deep waters of the Bay Area.

Travis was being hailed as a hero.

The news said he had saved a seven-year-old girl from the shark's jaws.

That girl was Carly, the daughter of his first love, Jocelyn.

On screen, he was holding a terrified Carly, whispering sweet comforts to her.

He didn't spare a single thought for his biological daughter, whom he had left to be eaten.

He introduced himself as a marine animal trainer, and the host praised him as a "Hero of the Ocean."

He actually had the nerve to blush and smile.

I stared at the screen, a fire of rage erupting in my chest.

A so-called hero who would rather save a child he wasn't related to than his own flesh and blood?

Is Jocelyn's daughter the only child who matters?

Is my Chloe just trash to him?

My fury reached its peak when I saw the surveillance footage a friend helped me recover.

It was taken from a nearby lighthouse, and every single one of his movements was crystal clear.

The video showed him leading both children toward the deep-water zone.

At first, everything seemed normal, aside from the fact that Travis only had eyes for Carly, completely ignoring Chloe.

Then Carly screamed as a thirteen-foot great white shark appeared nearby.

What Travis did next turned my entire body to ice.

He grabbed our daughter, who was actually the furthest away from the shark, and yanked her toward it.

Before Chloe could even react, he bit her finger hard!

Blood began to leak from her fingertip, and she looked at Travis, crying in confusion.

But this man didn't have an ounce of pity left in his soul.

Travis simply grabbed Carly and swam away as fast as he could.

He left Chloe behind, struggling to paddle with her tiny limbs.

The blood from her finger spread through the water as she tried to follow him.

The next scene was pure carnage.

The shark closed in effortlessly, opening its massive, jagged maw.

A massive cloud of crimson exploded across the surface of the sea.

My husband could have seen the horror if he had turned around just once.

But he never did.

My hands shook so hard I couldn't even hold my phone.

Tears soaked my face before I even realized I was crying.

I started slapping my own face, over and over.

I hated myself for not being there sooner.

I hated myself even more for not taking Chloe away from this monster years ago.

My poor Chloe.

She was the kind of kid who pouted and acted spoiled just from getting a routine shot.

How much pain must she have been in when that shark bit her?

How much despair must she have felt the moment her father abandoned her?

I couldn't imagine it. I didn't dare to.

It felt like a cold hand was squeezing my heart, cutting off my breath.

Travis, she was your daughter.

How could you be so heartless?