Ashes on the Line

Ryan's POV

By the time I carried Daisy out of the rubble, Evelyn Mercer and Marcus Hale finally rushed over.

Her eyes widened. She reached for me in disbelief.

I shoved her hand away.

Marcus immediately stepped forward to steady her, his voice full of wounded innocence.

"This is all my fault, Ryan. Don't blame Evelyn."

Evelyn waved him off and looked at me with a sorrowful expression.

"I'm fine. I came too late. Of course Ryan blames me."

But out of habit, she stepped in front of Marcus and his daughter, Chloe, shielding them from me.

Just like every other time.

Only this time, it wasn't some petty fight about Daisy taking Chloe's toy or Marcus living in our house.

This time, my daughter was dead.

I stubbornly wiped the dust from Daisy's face.

No matter how hard I wiped, I couldn't get her clean.

My heart hurt as if someone were carving it open.

Before Daisy left for her tutoring class, she had still said to me, "Daddy, if Mom won't spend your birthday with you, Daisy will buy you a cake and celebrate with you."

Yesterday had been my birthday.

Daisy and I waited the entire day, but Evelyn never came home.

Only today did I learn that she had taken Marcus and Chloe to an amusement park.

I was still waiting for Daisy's cake, but she had left me forever.

Evelyn's expression darkened. She said calmly, "Daisy is already gone. Try to accept it. We should let her go soon."

As she spoke, she reached out to take Daisy from me.

"Let go."

My voice was hoarse.

Evelyn frowned at me.

During the struggle, Daisy's clenched fist loosened.

A little daisy pin fell to the floor.

Evelyn glanced at it casually, then froze.

My shoulders shook as well.

That was the birthday present Evelyn had given Daisy when Daisy was five.

It was also the last birthday gift Evelyn ever gave her.

After that, Marcus and his daughter moved into my home.

To keep Marcus and Chloe from feeling bad, Evelyn deliberately made Daisy act like the older sister and give in to Chloe.

Even though Daisy was five months younger than Chloe.

Evelyn stopped giving Daisy presents. She stopped attending Daisy's parent-teacher meetings. Outside the house, she held Chloe's hand instead.

Even after all of that, Daisy still loved her.

She acted stubborn with her mouth, but right before she died, she was still hoping her mother would come save her.

My voice shook with grief.

"Evelyn, how can you live with what you've done to our daughter?"

Evelyn withdrew her gaze and frowned.

"I didn't want Daisy to get hurt either. What good does blaming me do?"

Marcus saw that we were about to argue again and walked toward us.

I glared at him.

That single look made Evelyn's tone turn icy.

"Ryan, don't shift the blame. This has nothing to do with Marcus."

"Weren't you the one who took the rescue team somewhere else? How else would Daisy have missed her chance to be saved?"

I stared at her in disbelief, my brows knotting together.

She didn't know that her future self had lied to me.

Just as I was about to say it, Marcus suddenly cried out.

"Evelyn! Come here! Chloe cut her leg!"

Evelyn released me without hesitation and turned around, her concern plain to see.

"The living matter more. I'll look at Chloe. You go handle the registration. I'll come find you later."

Her retreating back made the words clog in my throat.

I went to the registration desk alone.

When the staff member saw Daisy, she sighed again and again.

"Please fill out the information and leave the child with us. We'll arrange a proper burial."

I picked up the pen.

In the family member column, I ultimately wrote only my own name.

Sitting outside the hospital sanitation room, I saw Marcus's social media post.

It was a photo of Evelyn carefully treating the cut on Chloe's leg.

The caption read: [Thank God you're all right.]

They looked intimate enough to be the real family.

Just as I was about to block them both, Evelyn Mercer from five years in the future called me again.