"No! It can''t be!" I shook my head violently, rejecting the mere thought that Lily could be dead.


    How could a healthy child die just from waiting too long at the Moonlight Fair? It


    was


    impossible. Olivia was just angry about my broken promise and my favoritism towards


    Emma.


    "You''re just trying to punish me," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "I understand you''re upset about how I''ve treated you both, but this is going too far."


    Deep down, I knew my reasoning was flimsy, but I desperately clung to it. The alternative was


    too horrifying to contemte.


    "Lily is fine," I insisted, more to myself than to Olivia. "She''s just staying with a friend, or at your mother''s ce. You''re keeping her from me to teach me a lesson."


    I was terrified of Olivia''s words being true. Terrified that it was toote to make amends for my


    neglect.


    "I''ve learned my lesson, Olivia," I said, my voice softening. "I understand now. I''ve been a terrible father. But I can change. The Moonlight Fair is just the beginning."


    In my mind, I could see the future clearly - Lily as my cherished daughter, showered with love and attention. We would ride the carousel together, eat cotton candy, and I would carry her on my shoulders just as she had practiced with Olivia.


    "I''ll be better," I promised. "Just let me see her. Please."


    Maxwell shifted ufortably beside me, his eyes fixed on the ground. His difort only fueled my determination to deny the truth.


    "Ethan," Olivia began, her voice gentle but firm.


    "No," I cut her off. "I don''t want to hear it. Just bring Lily to me. That''s all I''m asking."


    As I wrestled with my denial, the surveince footage continued to y on therge screen. The sight of my daughter waiting patiently for me was both beautiful and agonizing.


    "See? She''s fine," I said, pointing to the screen. "She''s just sitting there, waiting for me."


    Just as I reaffirmed my belief in Lily''s well-being, I saw her small figure sway precariously on


    < Chapter 99 The Truth Reveal...


    the bench.


    "Lily..." I cried out, my voice cracking as I reached instinctively toward the screen.


    +15 Points>


    What happened next would haunt me for the rest of my life. My daughter''s tiny body


    convulsed, and then she coughed - a violent, wrenching cough that sprayed blood across the


    pavement in front of her.


    "No!" I shouted, as if my voice could somehow reach through time and space to help her.


    I watched in helpless horror as Lily copsed, her small body crumpling to the ground like a


    discarded doll. Shey there, unmoving, in a growing pool of her own blood.


    Her face was so pale, stark against the crimson spreading beneath her. But what broke me


    Fair entrance until the very end.


    Still waiting for me.


    I could feel her gaze on me, using me: "Daddy, you promised you woulde. Why didn''t


    you?"


    I saw the unshed tears in her eyes, the hurt she tried so hard to suppress. Even in her final


    moments, she had clung to the hope that I hadn''t forgotten her, that I was just busy with


    duties, not unloving.


    The footage showed a crowd gathering, panicked voices calling for help. Someone performed


    CPR while another called emergency services. Through it all, Lily remained motionless, her


    eyes finally closing as tears escaped down her pale cheeks.


    My knees gave out, and I sank to the ground, a wounded sound escaping my throat.


    "Lily," I whispered, reaching toward the screen as if I could somehow pull her back from death.


    "My baby girl..."


    (Olivia''s POV)


    I had anticipated Ethan''s reaction. I knew he would deny the truth, just as he had denied his


    neglect of our daughter for years.


    Knowing the truth would eventuallye out, I chose this brutal method to deliver the news. I


    wanted to inflict pain on him as he had inflicted pain on me - on us.


    I had been crying since the video started ying, but my tears were for Lily, not for Ethan.


    Never for Ethan.


    15 Points >


    I watched his realization, his emotional breakdown, his remorse, with cold detachment. This was the man who had abandoned our daughter when she needed him most. The man who had chosen another woman''s child over his own.


    "Ethan Stone," I asked, my voice devoid of warmth, my emerald eyes hard as I stared at the man who had failed our daughter, "what happened to Lily? Didn''t I tell you?"


    His face contorted with grief and dawning horror. I could see the memories flooding back - all the times I had tried to tell him about Lily''s condition, all the times he had dismissed me as maniptive and attention-seeking.


    "I told you she was sick," I continued, my voice steady despite the tears streaming down my face. "I begged you toe see her. I pleaded with you to help us find a donor."