The Price of Indifference

Seven years ago, I had a drunken one-night stand with Alexis Sterling, the high-powered CEO, and we ended up with a daughter, Lily.

I ditched my career and moved to her city, practically becoming part of the Sterling family as a stay-at-home dad.

But the night Lily was fighting for her life, Alexis was off tending to her "soulmate," who'd broken his leg.

She acted like our daughter's constant health issues were just an inconvenience, something to be avoided.

She also looked down on me because I wasn't bringing anything to her business.

Then Lily died, and I just couldn't fake it anymore.

And that's when Alexis was down on her knees, begging me, "Honey, can't we just start over?"

1

The small coffin held my seven-year-old daughter, Lily.

I was a wreck, face drawn and eyes bloodshot, staring at her pale, still face.

It was the second day after Lily's death, and her mother, my wife Alexis, was still MIA.

Some of Alexis’s relatives came over to give me the typical platitudes, "Lily was so sick all these years, she's probably better off now. You shouldn’t grieve so hard."

"Yeah, a real angel taken too soon. At least she had a good dad like you."

I looked at them with a cynical eye, seeing how they masked their glee behind fake sympathy.

Lily had been born with a weak heart, spending most of her life in and out of the hospital.

Even though she was the Sterling family’s oldest grandchild, they didn't care for her, and neither did Alexis. She endured so much unnecessary pain.

Whenever I was the only one to visit her, her eyes would get all misty, asking me,

“Dad, when is Mom coming to see me? I miss her.”

"Soon, sweetie, Mom's just super busy at work. She'll make time to see you."

“You just gotta take your medicine and your shots, and then Mom will show up!”

Lily would nod obediently, and I'd feel a pang of guilt because I knew damn well that Alexis wasn't coming.

Alexis was a golden child, excelling in academics and athletics, and just couldn’t accept that Lily was born with a chronic illness. She even tried to keep it a secret from everyone.

Lily never had breast milk, and Alexis never spent a full day with her, never gave her any maternal love.

Whenever I asked Alexis to come see Lily, she'd just dismissively say,

"Wasn't I there a few months ago? She's so frail, it's depressing. I think it’s best if she rests."

But in reality, it had been over a year since she last saw Lily, even hugged her.

Slowly, Lily stopped asking about Alexis, stopped expecting anything from her. She would just stare at the ceiling, quietly.

Seven years ago, after that one-night stand, Alexis insisted on marriage and I agreed.

I walked into the Sterling family as a husband, becoming the family joke, a subject of gossip.

But I didn't care. I liked Alexis, hard, ever since I first saw her.

And then Lily was born, and all the snide remarks faded into background noise.

But I wasn’t a fool.

I knew about her secret dates with her old flame, the ‘one who...