Wife's Bombing of Top Scholar's Daughter Leads to Regret and Madness

I secretly sent Stella’s first love, the one she’d harbored for ten years, overseas. That very night, Stella kidnapped our daughter, who had just graduated high school, and hid her at a remote reservoir. A ticking time bomb was strapped to her body. Her eyes were eerily calm, as if she was just negotiating a deal. “David, you’d better tell me where Noah is. Otherwise, our daughter will be blown to bits because of you.” I screamed, losing it, “That’s your daughter too!” Stella didn’t flinch. She just glanced at the time. “You have ten minutes.” Agony ripped through me as I revealed Noah’s whereabouts, in exchange for the reservoir’s address. I ran, desperate, to the location. I saw my daughter tied up, and the rapidly shrinking countdown on the bomb—

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My hands trembled as I frantically fumbled with the ropes. But the bomb on Chloe, it just wouldn’t come off. The sound of the countdown shrinking pounded in my ears, like a death knell. Tears streamed down my face. I wished it was me tied up there. “Don’t be scared, sweetie. Daddy will save you. Daddy won’t let anything happen to you…” Chloe’s face was deathly pale. She was crying, saying goodbye to me. “Daddy, you have to go. Don’t try to untie it. I’m so happy to have been your daughter in this life. And Mom, you can have another sibling in the future. Don’t be sad for me…” Even then, Chloe didn’t know the person who kidnapped her was the very ‘Mom’ she spoke of. Tears wouldn’t stop falling. My emotions were spiraling out of control. I called Stella, begging for help. “Tell me! Which wire do I cut to disarm the bomb?!” Stella scoffed, her voice laced with suppressed fury. “Red. Cut the red one.” The next second, the call was abruptly cut. I stared at the countdown, found the red wire, and pulled it with all my might. The red wire snapped. Then, with a deafening BOOM, the explosion rocked the ground. I was thrown ten feet back by the impact. Ignoring the searing pain, I opened my eyes to find Chloe, but all I saw was a bloody mess. “Chloe—!” I couldn’t understand how this happened. I cut the red wire, exactly as Stella told me. I crawled over, cradling Chloe’s mangled body, sobbing so hard I couldn’t breathe. In the last moment, Chloe had pushed me away. But now, I could only watch her lie there. I mustered every ounce of strength to carry Chloe on my back, called for an ambulance, and stumbled onto the road. I was covered in blood – some mine, most hers. The doctors and nurses arrived quickly. They gasped in horror at Chloe’s condition. “Quick, rush her to emergency!” I waited outside the operating room. The nurses tried to treat my wounds, but I refused. I prayed again and again, offering my own life in exchange for Chloe’s. But what awaited me was a critical condition notice. I fell to my knees, grabbing the doctor’s scrubs, begging him, my forehead scraping the ground. “Please, save my daughter. She just graduated high school. Her life was just beginning…” The doctor looked pained. After a moment, he said, “I’m truly helpless. In this situation, only top specialists might be able to save her.” I rushed to beg the specialists as the doctor suggested, only to find out they had all been pulled away. And the one who pulled them away was my wife, Stella. I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. My hands shaking, I called Stella again. “Stella, Chloe is dying, she needs emergency help! You have to let the specialists—” Before I could finish, Stella cut me off, her voice icy. “David, there’s a limit to your lies. Don’t think you can use Chloe to trick me into coming home.” I pleaded, broken, “I’m telling the truth! Chloe was injured by the bomb!” Stella’s voice grew even colder. “Enough! Those bombs were fake! How could they hurt Chloe?! You’re truly a ruthless man, fabricating such lies!” The next second, the call was slammed shut. When I tried to call back, her phone was off. I collapsed to the ground, utterly shattered.