Regret Too Late, It Means Nothing Now

On my daughter’s birthday, her only wish was simple, she just wanted her mother to take her to the amusement park.

Unfortunately, her mother, Regina, had other plans. To impress her first love, she went as far as renting out the entire city’s amusement park just for him.

When I arrived with our daughter, her assistant ripped up our tickets and scoffed, “This isn’t the time or place for jealousy. Director Seco is very busy.”

Through the fence, I saw exactly how busy Regina was: locked in a deep kiss with none other than Hector Galvez.

Our sixyearold Claudia, full of joy, wriggled under the barrier, calling out “Mommy!” and ran toward her with open arms.

Regina didn’t even hesitate. She kicked her away.

“You know Hector and I lost our baby. My emotions are all over the place. And you dare bring this little brat here to mess with me? You really are cruel,” she snapped.

Then, in front of my eyes, she shoved our sobbing daughter into the Drop Tower ride, slammed the start button and looked at me coldly.

“She begged and screamed to come play here, right? Well, now it’s all hers. So what’s she crying for?”

“No one’s allowed to stop the ride without my order,” she added. “Let her ride to her heart’s content. Maybe next time she’ll think twice before competing for attention.”

Then Regina walked off, arm in arm with her ex, leaving behind an empty park. She’d dismissed every employee on site.

By the time I shattered the control room glass and got to my daughter, blood from the ride had already soaked through the pavement.

I cradled her broken body and collapsed to my knees just as Gloria arrived, breathless.

“Regina killed my daughter,” I choked out. “She needs to pay. I’ll make her pay—”

——

“There’s still a chance!” a doctor who served the Seco family shouted after checking for a pulse. “We can still save her. We need to get her to a hospital — now!”

When we got to the emergency entrance, Regina’s assistant blocked our way again.

I fell to my knees, begging, forehead hitting the ground over and over.

“If Regina wants revenge, let her take it out on me! Just please, please let my daughter get help!”

Even Gloria, Regina's mother, pushed the assistant with all her might. “If you cost my granddaughter her life, I swear I’ll bury you with her!”

That’s when the assistant finally noticed the blood pouring from my daughter’s body. Panic instantly set in.

“But… all the doctors in this hospital were transferred by Director Seco,” someone finally said.

“Unbelievable!” Grandpa Frank shouted and immediately called around to other hospitals. However, every answer was the same.

Regina had pulled every doctor in Riveradale—all of them—spending a fortune to “prepare her body” for pregnancy, all in an effort to give Hector a replacement child.

My arms were shaking uncontrollably as I held my daughter’s body, her warmth slipping away by the second.

Then, we heard footsteps rushing toward us from the hallway.

“Director Seco sent me over…” someone said.

I leapt to my feet, hopeful—but he wasn’t a doctor. He was a food delivery guy.

“Ms. Seco asked me to bring these,” he said, handing over a bag. “She also told me to pass along a message: ‘It’s just some bleeding. She’s not dead. Don’t bother me over every little thing.’”

Gloria slapped the bag out of his hands. Bandaids spilled across the floor as she clutched her chest and collapsed against the wall.

“That bastard Galvez! He stole 300 million from the company and vanished, left us in ruins! Now he just waltzes back in and turns this family upside down. And Gina... she’s so blinded by him, she’d throw away her own child without a second thought. I swear, I’m not letting him get away with this.”

“I’m calling Gina right now. She’s going to come here and apologize for her unreasonable acts!”

No one answered. Instead, my phone rang.

I picked up and Regina’s voice came through, tight with suppressed rage.

“Luciano, seriously? Are you just trying to make my life harder today? If you hadn’t been so damn selfish, I never would’ve lost the baby with Hector. He’s devastated. And now I can’t even be with him without you dragging my mom into this mess?”

“And your daughter? God, she’s just like you — entitled and overthetop. A little blood and it’s the end of the world? I’m not a doctor, okay? What do you expect me to do?”

“You wanted the amusement park? Fine. Hector and I had gave up our time for you. Your kid was bleeding? I had sent over some bandaids. But if you come up with one more excuse to interrupt me and Hector today, I swear I won’t let it slide.”

Regina was still yelling through the phone, but I wasn’t listening anymore.

I just held my daughter tighter, calling her name, gently rubbing her little hands that had already gone cold and stiff.

“Regina,” I said quietly, “It doesn't matter if you want to believe me or not, but I never did anything to harm your baby with Hector. I didn’t even know you had one.”

I felt like the life had been drained from me. “Fact remains that you killed my daughter. I want a divorce.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line before I heard Regina scoff coldly.

“Still trying to play the victim, huh? Luciano, your performance is getting old.”

Then she hung up.

I stood there in a daze, still cradling my daughter’s body and walked over to Gloria.

The moment she saw us, she knew. Her eyes welled with tears. There was no saving Claudia now.

“This is my fault,” she whispered. “I should’ve never forced you to marry Regina just because I once saved your life. I used that debt to make you save the Seco Enterprises when we were drowning.”

Then she looked at me, her voice shaking.

“But Luciano… for the sake of everything we’ve been through, please… give Gina one more chance. Before Hector came back, you three were happy. She did love you. It’s just… she’s been blinded by him all over again.”

Her words stirred up memories I’d buried.

Ten years ago, Hector had left Regina in the hospital after a car crash, stole 300 million from the company and vanished. The Seco Enterprises collapsed overnight. They couldn’t even afford Regina’s hospital bills.

That’s when Gloria came to me. I was already a rising executive at a rival firm. She was an old woman then, but she still knelt in front of me, begging me to marry Regina and take over the failing Seco Enterprises.

And I said yes.

I had never forgotten how, when I was just a boy, Gloria had saved my mother’s life by finding a specialist when no one else could. She had paid for my schooling all the way through college.

I agreed to marry Regina out of gratitude.

Over the next three years, I rebuilt Seco Enterprises from the ground up. I stayed by Regina’s side through her stroke recovery, from her hospital bed to the wheelchair and eventually to her feet again.

After she gave birth to our daughter, I stepped away from work and devoted myself entirely to raising Claudia, so Regina could return to the career she loved.

For ten years, I gave everything I had to Regina and the Seco family. Now… I had lost my daughter. The only gift the Secos ever gave me was gone.

I looked at Gloria, tears streaming down her face and slowly shook my head.

“I gave her ten years of my life. My marriage. She didn’t deserve to throw that away like it meant nothing.”

“I repaid my debt to the Secos ten years ago. Now it’s time Regina repaid hers, to me.”

With burning eyes, I carried Claudia to the morgue.

The moment the mortuary attendant left after returning Claudia’s personal belongings, my whole body trembled.

“Claudia,” I whispered, “Daddy will make this right. I swear I’ll get justice for you.”

Gloria couldn’t stop crying.

“I’ve caused you so much pain... I have no right to stop you now. But Luciano, if Gina ever comes to her senses — if she truly changes — could you find it in your heart to give her another chance?”

I wiped away the last tear from my cheek and looked her straight in the eyes.

“When Claudia was crying and begged Regina to come, why couldn’t she give her daughter one more chance?”

Then I turned and walked out, Claudia’s death certificate clenched tightly in my hand.

I went home to pack up our things, mine and Claudia’s.

The moment I opened the door, I was hit by a thick, sickening scent... and the floor was littered with Smurf toys scattered on the floor.

Hector looked up at me, eyes glinting with smug satisfaction. He didn’t even stop. In fact, he moved harder, more deliberate.

“Gina,” he said mockingly, “your husband’s back. Should I get going? Or are you gonna make him watch? You know how he gets. Poor Claudia… had to start faking tears and playing games just to keep her daddy from losing it. Kid was a real little actress.”

“Luciano! Don’t you dare walk away from me!” Regina snapped. “You think I’m just gonna let this slide? You killed Hector’s baby—and I haven’t even started holding you accountable for that. What, you think I won’t come after you?”

“I already told you, I didn’t even know you were pregnant, let alone hurt anyone,” I said, voice cold and flat. “And I’m tired of saying it. Believe whatever the hell you want.”

She let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “Keep telling yourself that. It won’t change anything. Truth is, you were never fit to be Claudia’s father anyway. Maybe it’s time I let Hector take over, let him be her dad.”

I didn’t respond. I just turned and headed upstairs. But Regina grabbed my arm, her tone shifting.

“Fine, if you won’t let Hector raise Claudia, then I’ll give him another baby. But you’d better not get jealous — if he’s staying, you need to accept that.”

“Do whatever you want,” I said flatly.

A flicker of uncertainty passed through her eyes before she sneered again.

“If you’re really that understanding, then clear out the master bedroom. Hector and I will need it — you know, for the babymaking. And while you're at it, grab us some wipes and rip open some more of those damn Smurfs.”

“Oh, and Hector got a little too excited earlier — tore one of my limitededition lingerie pieces. Be a dear and stitch it up for me.”

She hurled a piece of damp and torn fabric at me, with a crushed Smurf doll. The edge of the foil packaging sliced across my cheek, leaving a shallow but bleeding cut.

Disgusted, I shook the lingerie off my shoulder and hurled the toy straight at them.

“You done now? Or do I get to leave?”

Regina blinked, unsure for the first time. Meanwhile, Hector still sprawled halfnaked beside her. He just smirked and picked up right where they’d left off.

I didn’t care. I turned away from their sick little scene and headed upstairs without another word.

In my room, I carefully folded Claudia’s tiny clothes and laid them in her suitcase. Then I pulled out the photo album, the one I had made just for her.

Page after page, her bright little face smiled back at me like she was still here, full of life. Then, the heavy unstoppable tears came.

Just a day ago, my daughter was still talking to me.

“Daddy, don’t be sad,” she had said. “Mom’s just really busy with work, that’s why she can’t be with us.”

“Mom works so hard… so this year, I won’t wish for her to come to the amusement park with me. I’ll wish for her to finally get a day to rest.”

I sobbed into the tiny shirt that still carried her scent. Claudia was so thoughtful, always trying to understand her mother. Yet, her mother chose to send her to her death on her birthday of all days.

After packing up all of Claudia’s things, I called my lawyer and made arrangements to leave.

As I came downstairs, I stopped short at the sight in the kitchen, two barelydressed bodies tangled together against the counter. Hector’s exposed chest was covered in red marks, as if proudly showing off their night.

“Mr. Andino,” he said with fake concern, “Gina only did this to make up for the pain you caused me. Don’t blame her. And maybe stop filling a kid’s head with your bitterness. What if she grows up to be just like you?”

Then, with an exaggerated sigh, he added, “I heard today’s Claudia’s birthday? What a shame. It also happens to be the 5,200th day since Gina and I first met. She swore she’d celebrate every one of our milestones in style. Guess that’s why she ditched you two.”

He smiled, full of smug pride despite his supposed apology. “Anyway, I baked a mango cake for you both, a peace offering. I hope you’ll accept it.”

I didn’t have the energy to respond to his acts. I just wanted to bury my daughter and be done with this nightmare.

As I silently left, Regina misunderstood. She thought I was giving Hector the cold shoulder.

“Where the hell are you going?” she snapped.

Then she ordered one of the bodyguards to grab me. The man shoved me forward, slamming me facefirst onto the kitchen counter.

“Did your manners rot along with your pride, Luciano?” Regina sneered. “Hector is being kind enough not to hold a grudge against you or your brat and you stand there acting like you’re too good for us?”

“Where’s Claudia?” Regina snapped. “Where are you hiding her? Bring her back so she can finish this cake and apologize to Hector!”

“Claudia’s dead,” I said through clenched teeth, fighting the burning pain in my chest. “If you want someone to eat that cake, let it be Hector—in hell!”

“You’re disgusting!” she shouted, eyes blazing. “Jealousy has made you so twisted, you’d curse your own daughter just to get back at me?”

Her fury boiled over. “Don’t think I don’t know what you did back then. After my accident, it was Hector who stayed by my side, he told me everything! I gave birth while I was still unconscious and you killed our child. You forced Hector out of the country, stole the company shares, did everything in your power to erase him!”

She was trembling with rage now. “I kept quiet all these years out of gratitude — for you sticking around, for raising a family with me. But you weren’t satisfied. You kept bullying Hector and now you're cursing my daughter.”

At her signal, the bodyguard twisted my arms behind my back and pinned me to the counter. Regina grabbed a handful of greasy mango cake and started shoving it into my mouth.

The scent hit me first, mango. I began choking almost immediately, my throat tightening, lungs gasping for air.

“Let me go!” I wheezed. “Regina… you know I’m allergic to mango—”

She paused for a second, but turned ruthless the next second.

“Oh, please. After everything you’ve done to Hector, you think this is some kind of tragedy? It’s just an allergy. You’re not going to die. Stop being so dramatic. You're a grown man. Now finish the damn cake and apologize.”

My throat swelled faster than I could speak. My eyes burned and puffed shut. Breathing felt like sucking air through a straw. Darkness started creeping in from the edges of my vision.

Then I stopped struggling. The moment my hands went limp, Regina froze. Panic flickered across her face.

“Where’s his allergy meds? The ones he keeps in the house! Find them! Now!”

Someone must’ve found them, because minutes later I was swallowing the bitter pills and little by little, air trickled back into my lungs. My vision blurred, my face burning, but I could breathe.

I opened my swollen, bloodshot eyes.

Regina let out a shaky breath, trying to compose herself. “Alright,” she said, her voice uneven. “You and Hector are even now. But I want your word—swear to me that from now on, you’ll never hurt Hector or his child ever again.”

“Hector’s a rising star in the business world now. He’s got real potential.” She smirked. “You, on the other hand, get to lounge around playing house all day. So do the decent thing—promise you’ll help him raise his kid. Treat the child like your own.”

She looked pleased with herself, already spinning fantasies in her head. “I’ll make time to visit you and Claudia once or twice a week. That should be enough.”

I said nothing. Her smile faltered.

“What are you even angry about?” she snapped. “If you hadn’t meddled all those years ago, our baby wouldn’t have died. Hector wouldn’t have been forced to leave the country. And I wouldn’t have had to give up everything just to marry you for the company shares. Don’t you get it? By now, our child would be the same age as Claudia.”

Her voice rose, “Everything you and Claudia have, it was all stolen from Hector! So what right do you have to be upset?”

I couldn’t take another word. I cut her off, my voice hoarse with rage. “Don’t you dare talk about my daughter again. I’m done. I’ve already sent you the divorce papers. You can go back to Hector.”

She laughed, “Fine. But don’t think I won’t fight for custody. I’ll hire the best lawyers money can buy. You think a deadbeat like you stands a chance?”

Then her tone turned mocking. “Unless you want to lose Claudia too, you’d better get on your knees and apologize right now.”

That was it. I pulled out the document I’d been holding and threw it at her.

“You want to talk about Claudia? She's dead! Read this!”

Regina picked it up, confused, then froze. It was Claudia’s death certificate. Her name—“Claudia Andino”—stared back in stark black ink on white paper.

Regina staggered back like she’d been physically struck. “No... That’s not possible…”

Before I could speak, Hector suddenly chimed in, glancing at his phone. “Wait, that’s weird. Claudia’s nanny just texted me—she says Claudia’s been crying nonstop, looking for you.”

“My assistant said you went to the hospital this morning,” Regina snapped. “Don’t tell me you went there to get someone to fake a death certificate.”

Before I could answer, her palm struck my face—hard. The force sent me tumbling down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom.

Above me, her voice thundered in fury.

“Luciano! Just because you’re jealous of Hector, you went so far to wish your own daughter's death? You actually bribed a hospital to forge a death certificate?”

“You don’t deserve to be a father,” she spat. “Even a wild animal doesn’t turn on its own child. You’re worse than a beast.”

I pushed myself up, pain searing through my body. “You’re an absolute idiot, Regina,” I muttered through clenched teeth.

I reached out to grab the photo album on the floor, but her high heel came down on my hand before I could.

“Get lost!” she screamed. “You filthy piece of trash! You'd use a child to manipulate me! Don’t even think about stepping foot in the Seco estate again. Everything that belongs to our family—our child, our home—you’re not taking any of it!”

Under her orders, the bodyguards smashed Claudia’s and my luggage, tossing the pieces into the trash bins outside. The photo album Claudia and I had lovingly made together was torn to shreds and thrown out like garbage.

Eyes red, I knelt down, trying to gather the scattered fragments of the last memories I had of my daughter. But the more I tried, the more they slipped through my fingers.

Then, Hector opened a nearby window. A gust of wind swept through, catching the torn photos and sending them fluttering into the air like confetti.

“Oh no,” he said mockingly. “I just thought the whole house was starting to smell like vomit after Mr. Andino’s little meltdown. Thought I’d let in some fresh air.”

“Forget him,” Regina said coldly. “He doesn’t care about his own daughter’s life—this is all just another act to get sympathy from me.”

I let out a bitter laugh.

“Regina,” I said quietly, “Remember what you did today, to me and to our daughter. One day, you’ll pay for it.”

I stumbled out and made my way back to the funeral home. One of the staff members, a kindfaced woman, handed me a small pink jewelry box shaped like a kitten.

“I heard your daughter’s birthday wish was to go to that pink kitty theme park,” she said gently. “So I found this for her. I thought… maybe it’d help her leave this world a little happier.”

My chest tightened as I held the tiny pink box in my arms, tears spilling down my face uncontrollably. A complete stranger had gone out of their way to honor my daughter’s final wish—something even her own mother couldn’t be bothered to do.

“Thank you,” I said, voice trembling. “From Claudia… and from me.” I bowed deeply, from the bottom of my heart.

After arranging the funeral, I went straight to my lawyer. I handed over the video from the day at the amusement park, along with a signed divorce agreement.

“She doesn’t deserve to be Claudia’s mother,” I said firmly. “I want the world to know what she did.”

Swallowing my grief, I used the last of my savings to have a suit custommade—one last gift of dignity, a way to properly say goodbye to my daughter.

While I was preparing for the funeral, Regina showed up at my apartment. The moment I opened the door, one of her bodyguards drove a boot straight into my chest, knocking the air out of me.

“You think I’ve been too patient with you?” she snapped. “You think you can just keep stirring up drama with Hector and I’ll let it slide?”

“I had a custom suit planned for Hector’s birthday,” she continued. “And you—you went behind our backs and blacklisted him from every designer in the city. What, you wanted to humiliate him in public?”

I realized right away what had happened—an old friend in the design world must’ve done it in solidarity with me. It wasn’t my doing, but I didn’t deny it either.

Wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth, I stared her down. “So what if I did? You two killed my daughter. And you think you still get to celebrate like nothing happened?”

That seemed to set her off. She kicked me again, the pointed heel of her shoe jabbing into my ribs.

“When are you going to stop with this obsession?” she shouted. “You keep dragging Claudia into this, like you’re trying to curse your own daughter!”

“How exactly did I kill my daughter?” Regina snapped, her voice sharp with indignation. “No matter how much I despise you, I would never lay a hand on my own child! If anything, I was more than good to Claudia.”

“You all tried to take over the amusement park I booked for Hector’s birthday—I gave it up. She insisted I go with her? Fine, I personally brought her there. What more do you want from me?”

She let out a dry laugh. “Oh please. Don’t tell me riding a carousel is deadly now. You really expect people to buy this ridiculous lie?”

Without warning, she yanked the suit from my hands and flung it to the ground, stomping on it with her heels.

“You say Claudia’s dead, yet here you are splurging on an expensive custom suit? What—planning to get dolled up and snag yourself a rich widow now that your kid’s gone?”

My heart twisted as I rushed to pick up the trampled suit, shoving her toward the door.

“Regina,” I said coldly, “I hope you can still talk this tough three days from now.”

She was still cursing at me from the hallway as I collapsed onto my bed, physically and emotionally drained. I drifted into a haze until night fell—then came another knock at the door.

Annoyed, I opened it, only to find Hector standing outside. Before I could say anything, he barged in like he owned the place. I rushed after him, ready to throw him out, but he spotted the pink box sitting on the coffee table and grabbed it with a grin.

“Well, look at that—she’s actually dead,” he sneered, cradling the pink box like it was a trophy. “Good. Your daughter’s gone. Once you’re out of the picture too, the entire Secos empire will finally be mine.”

“Put that down!” I shouted and lunged at him.

Before I could reach him, someone yanked my hair from behind and dragged me upright.

“You bastard,” Regina hissed. “Hector came here to apologize and this is how you treat him?”

Hector clearly hadn’t expected Regina to follow him in. Panic flashed across his face. Then, seeing her eyes drift toward the box in his arms, he quickly raised his voice,

“Enough with the lies!” Regina shouted, her voice trembling with fury. “You once tricked me and caused my baby’s death! I remember it like it was yesterday! And now he’s trying to use the same trick again, to kill me?!”

“You’re insane!” I roared. “That’s my daughter’s accesorries! Give her back to me!”

“Stop saying that! Why are you still cursing Claudia with death wishes?!” she screamed, slapping me hard across the face.

“Disgusting. What kind of man collected a girl’s accessories into a pink box?” she snapped. “Your lies are getting more and more ridiculous, all just to hurt Hector!”

Before I could stop her, she snatched the box from Hector’s hands. I screamed in horror, lunging toward her—but I was too late. He hurled it to the floor.

“No!” I cried, stumbling forward in agony, but she kicked me aside like I was trash. “Still trying to fight over some silly box, huh? You still planning to hurt someone with it?”

The box shattered with a sickening crack, scattering into pieces along with tiny accessory parts across the floor.

I screamed, a broken, guttural sound that tore from somewhere deep in my chest. I could barely breathe from the pain, my body trembling under the weight of grief.

Regina’s furious expression drained from her face, replaced by blank disbelief and a ghostly pallor.