Over the years, John and I had grown apart.

But I always thought he still cared deeply for Lily.

That's why I never divorced him.

I wanted to give Lily a complete family.

But now, I knew Brandon Scott was more important to him than Lily.

I struggled to get up from the floor.

I held Lily's body close.

Don't be scared, Lily; Mom is taking you home.

After Lily was cremated, I held her urn, ready to go home and plan the funeral.

That's when the police gave me her personal belongings.

In the clear evidence bag, there was a pink cell phone, her competition pass, and some paper and pens.

Lily's science and math grades were excellent; she was always top of her class.

She felt really good about this physics competition.

If something hadn't happened to her, Brandon Scott would never have gotten that guaranteed spot.

But something terrible did happen.

The police told me they'd reviewed the security footage.

That monster pretended to be a hotel employee to get into Lily's room.

Then he forced himself on her.

He decided to kill her because she fought back so hard.

Hearing that, my heart ached so much I could barely breathe.

If John hadn't left to be with his first love, Lily would be safe!

I truly regretted not being there with Lily myself.

But it was too late to fix anything now.

I knew I had to pull myself together to arrange Lily's funeral.

After booking the burial plot, I set the funeral for three days later.

Then I went home and placed the urn in Lily's room.

Seeing the stacks and stacks of practice tests on her desk, tears streamed down my face again, uncontrollably.

Even though John Miller is a top high school principal.

He never gave Lily any special favors.

He always told her, "Don't think you can slack off just because I'm the principal."

Honestly, Lily never expected him to help her out.

She always believed she had to work hard for everything, just like any other student.

She got into the top high school where John worked based on her own merit and always studied diligently.

In contrast, John was happy to pull strings for Brandon Scott, getting him into the top high school even though his grades were only good enough for a regular one.

He even paid for private tutors for him.

John's excuse was, "Lily's had us helping her with school since she was little."

"But Brandon lost his father early, and his mother can't help him study, so as principal, I have to support my students."

Several times Lily told me, "Mom, sometimes I feel like Dad sees Brandon as his real kid."

"Every time Brandon makes a little progress, Dad praises him and buys him gifts."

"But when I get first place, Dad just asks me why I didn't get a perfect score or why I had any mistakes."

Back then, I didn't know how to explain it to her.

I just told her that fathers are often stricter with their own kids, saying it's how they raise successful people.