With that, I showed him the divorce agreement I had prepared ahead of time.
“Leo, let’s get divorced. There is no need to put ourselves through this for Dianne’s sake.”
Leo took a large gulp of ice water as if to quell the burning anger in his chest. Then, he began his long-winded rant, “Are you still upset about me donating Dianne’s kidney to Rosette? Can’t you just give it a rest and stop holding it against Rosette who is still recovering?
“I provide you a roof over your head. Isn’t that good enough? Do you think you could live a better life without me? Do you think I would stick it out and stay with you if it wasn’t for Rosette?
“I know you have no problem with being an unqualified mother, but I still have my principles as a father!”
I looked at the man who I had once loved with all my heart and felt an urge to cry, feeling desolate.
Then, he went on, “Where is Dianne anyway? Even Rosette has been discharged, so I’m sure Dianne has been discharged before her. Tell Dianne to come out of her room. I bought her favorite mango cake for her eighteenth birthday tomorrow. I can’t join her birthday party tomorrow, so I’ll have to celebrate earlier for her.”
I sneered when I looked at the cake he had prepared for the occasion. He would rather skip his daughter’s eighteenth birthday, a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, all so he could spend time with Rosette.
“Leo, she’s about to turn eighteen. Don’t you know she is allergic to mangoes?”
Leo frowned sharply and regarded me with a disgruntled look. “What nonsense are you going on about this time? She’s always ecstatic whenever I buy her cakes!”
“She’s only doing that because she’s a sensitive girl and didn’t want to hurt your feelings. You always talk about how much you love your daughter when the truth is that you don’t understand her at all.
“All your affection for her has always been nothing but a show you put on. What she truly wants is a complete and functional family that gives her the love she needs, not these pathetic performances.
“She went as far as to donate her kidney to Rosette just to get you to stay with us. She thought if she saved Rosette, you would dedicate yourself to our family. It’s such a shame that she would never get what she wanted even if she died.”
Smack!
Leo slapped me across the face.
“I warned you to not disrespect my daughter’s name!”
He was so furious that his breathing had become ragged. Then, he glared at me before stomping toward Dianne’s room and pounding on the door.
“Dianne, Daddy’s home! Are you feeling better?!”
He waited for two minutes, but nobody responded. He turned to me and fixed a cross look at me before opening the door.
The room was completely vacant. A pink box was set on the table.
“Clarice, where did you hide our daughter? She needs time to rest and recover. Don’t use her as a weapon against me!”
Every word he said seemed to cut into my flesh like a scalpel. I could feel my flesh shredding off. I turned hysterical. I wanted to ask him why he would rather take care of Rosette than look after our daughter.
When the words came to my lips, I realized I no longer had the energy to argue with him. I wonder how he would feel if he found out our daughter was gone.
Upon reaching this thought, I smiled a cynical smile and gestured at the pink box containing Dianne’s ashes.
With a tragic chuckle, I motioned. “That’s right. I hid our daughter. I hid her ashes inside that pink box over there.”
