My husband,Richard,passed away when he was sixty.That year marked our thirtieth wedding anniversary.

When we got married,he told me that he had been injured in a car accident and could no longer be intimate.For thirty years,I willingly remained in a marriage that was all for show,a perfect couple in name only.

"It wasn’t until after his death that I discovered the truth—he had been saving himself for his first love,his'one true love,'Margaret."

After Richard died,I secretly took pills,hoping to follow him.But unfortunately,I was saved and survived.

The overwhelming grief turned my hair completely white in just a few days.

I rented a small apartment next to the cemetery,visiting him every morning and evening,talking to him as if he were still alive.Everyone praised us as the model couple.The TV station even came to interview me about our beautiful love story.I used to think that spending my life with him was my greatest fortune.

Although we never shared a bed in all those years,I always believed we were soulmates,perfectly in tune with one another.

Then his memoir was published.

Every word in that book spoke of his undying love for his first love,Margaret.His writing said:

"I was trapped in a marriage.How I wished to wake up with you in the morning and watch the sunset with you at night.When you were here,the world was only you.After you left,no one else compared.My body and soul belonged to you and only you."

Such passionate words of love—words I never received from him.

It was at that moment I realized that Richard wasn’t incapable of love;he just didn’t love me.

He hadn’t been unable to have children;he had simply remained celibate for another woman,for thirty years.

I will forever remember this year when I turned sixty.I lost the man I loved twice.

The memoir became a sensation online.One by one,I read the comments:

"For the first time,I cried over a love story in a memoir.Are my tears free?"

"The CEO of a top company and an internationally renowned fashion designer,such a perfect match!It would’ve been ideal if not for his wife."

"The one who isn't loved is the real third party.I hope his wife’s health gets exchanged for their next life together."

Even the higher-ups at the company knew about it.

In front of me,they’d sigh and say:"Mrs.Grace,you’ve worked so hard all your life,nearly giving up your own for Mr.Richard.What a deeply loving woman."

But behind my back,they’d say:"Thirty years of marriage,and she didn’t even bear him a child.Grace was a barren hen.She’s already halfway in the grave and now she finds out Mr.Richard loved someone else.Serves her right."

The love story the TV station once planned to air about Richard and me was scrapped,replaced by a scandalous report on a love triangle.

I had become the laughingstock of the city.Wherever I went,I saw people looking at me with either pity or mockery.

Then I got a call from Richard’s father,summoning me back to the family home.

He tried to comfort me,saying:"Grace,what man hasn’t made a mistake?He was loyal to you for a lifetime.Don’t hold a grudge over his feelings for Margaret."

The rest of the family echoed his sentiments:"He’s gone now.A little romance like that doesn’t matter anymore.Just let it go."

They were all afraid I would make a scene,damage the family’s reputation,and tarnish Richard’s image.

Not one of them cared about how I felt.

I spoke calmly:"Dad,Richard remained loyal to me for a lifetime,and I was loyal to him.But I never had anyone else in my heart."

The old man cleared his throat and said,"All these years,you couldn’t give him a child.Richard never complained.He’s already done more than enough for you.You shouldn’t ask for more."

I laughed.

It was Richard who said the car accident had left him unable to be intimate,and that’s why I spent thirty years in a marriage without physical affection.

In the end,my inability to have children became my original sin,a fault that was laid solely at my feet.

I treated Richard’s family as if they were my own,and I saw his father as a father to me.But when it came down to it,they saw me as an outsider.They kept rubbing salt into my wounds.

It was then I realized:just because you marry into a family doesn’t mean you’ll truly become one of them.

But what’s the point of arguing?Who can win an argument with a dead man?

The meeting with Richard’s family ended on a sour note,and I returned to the home we shared,feeling lost.

When I walked in,Daniel stood up immediately.

He looked at me,guilt flickering in his eyes.

Daniel is Margaret’s son.

At the time,Margaret had just lost her husband and was completely absorbed in her design career.She had no time or interest in caring for a child.Determined to further her education abroad,she left Daniel in our care,with Richard and me responsible for raising him.

In a new and unfamiliar environment,Daniel was hostile toward everyone.It was me who patiently soothed him,prepared his meals during the day,and rocked him to sleep at night until he slowly warmed to us.

I raised Daniel as if he were my own son.

After a long silence,Daniel hesitated before speaking:"Mom,Aunt Margaret wants to take some of Dad’s belongings...it’s what he wanted too."

He avoided eye contact as he said this.

What right does Margaret have to ask for my late husband’s belongings?Was she his childhood sweetheart,or the woman he remained loyal to for thirty years?

I wanted to ask him that,but the words stuck in my throat.I didn’t want to embarrass Daniel.

Memories of him learning to speak flashed before my eyes.

I still saw him as the child I’d lovingly raised,the one who was always close to me.

Yet now,this son,whom I cherished like my own,had not only helped publish Richard’s memoir to clear Margaret’s name,but he also came to me now,asking for my husband’s things on her behalf.

I stared at Daniel in silence,searching for traces of the child I once knew.

He paused,then continued,"Mom,you loved Dad so much.You should honor his wishes."

Yes,I loved Richard—so much that I wanted to be buried beside him.But he didn’t even want to leave his belongings in my care.

Sensing the tension,Daniel stood awkwardly and said,"Mom,you can’t force love.He’s gone.It’s time to let go."

With that,Daniel left,leaving me alone in the empty living room.

I had never felt this house was so big,so hollow.

The butler,Mr.Chandler,clenched his jaw in frustration."You’ve been married to Richard for thirty years.Who is this woman to come in and drag your name through the mud like this?Young Daniel is so ungrateful.Has he forgotten who raised him with such care?"

I couldn’t say a word.My heart felt cold.It was like a giant hand had gripped my chest,the pain unbearable.Only now,after all these years,did I realize how blind I had been.

The husband I had loved with all my heart had always belonged to someone else.

And the child I had raised for thirty years turned out to be nothing more than a thankless betrayer.

All those sayings about how raising a child is what truly matters,or about growing old with the one you love—they have all become nothing but cruel jokes.

At Richard's memorial,Margaret returned from abroad.

The media quickly caught wind of the return of the memoir's muse,Margaret,and the story gained attraction again.

She stood by Richard’s grave,burning a wedding dress with her own hands.The public couldn’t stop talking about it.While some admired the undying romance she and Richard seemed to have shared,others quickly dug up details about the designer of that wedding dress.

It was from Margaret’s own brand,an independent label she’d started.Without lifting a finger,she had effortlessly catapulted her niche brand into fame.

After doing all that,Margaret showed up at the Richard family mansion.

She wore all black,a white flower pinned to her chest,her eyes swollen like walnuts—she looked more like Richard’s grieving widow than I did.

Through her tears,Margaret begged,"Can I have Richard’s belongings?They’re all we had left of our memories together."

She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue,looking elegant in her grief.Her delicate fingers were pale and smooth,nothing like my rough,work-worn hands.

No wonder Richard pined for her for thirty years.

When I didn’t reply,she pressed on,"You’re right to hate me.It was my fault for being immature back then.I was so stubborn,refusing to let him have children with anyone else.If it weren’t for me,you two would have had your own family by now.I’ve regretted it for so long...the missed chance of a lifetime.You understand that feeling,don’t you,Grace?"

She was asking me to empathize with the love she shared with my husband.

I stared at her quietly before replying,"But why should I pay the price for your regret?"

At my words,Daniel,who stood off to the side,frowned but stayed silent.When he first saw Margaret,a"Mom"had almost slipped from his lips.But remembering I was there,he swallowed the rest.

Margaret wiped her tears,her eyes casting a pleading look at Daniel,who gazed back at her with clear sympathy.

The sight of their tender bond made me feel like an outsider in my own home.

Suddenly,Margaret dropped to her knees in front of me,pleading,"We truly loved each other.I’ll do anything if you just give me his belongings."

I stayed silent.

Disappointed,Daniel looked at me and said,"Mom,Aunt Margaret has gone this far.Why won’t you give in?Is your heart made of stone?"

If my heart were made of stone,I should’ve let him fend for himself years ago instead of raising him with all my love,only to watch him become someone else’s dutiful son.

Suppressing the bitterness rising in my chest,I turned to Margaret."Anything?Then how about trading the shares of Richard’s estate he left you?"

Both Daniel and Margaret stared at each other in shock.They hadn’t expected me to know about the will so soon.

Margaret,visibly flustered,stammered,"What shares?You must be mistaken."

I didn’t care who Richard left his assets to.It was his memoir where he wrote,"She’s an idealist,so pure it hurts."

I wanted to see if she was really that pure.

A little disappointing,wasn’t she?

Daniel rushed to interject,"Those were meant for me.Margaret is just—"

I waved my hand,cutting him off."The belongings are in the first room upstairs.Take everything."

Daniel was stunned,and Margaret forgot to cry in surprise.

As Daniel helped her up the stairs,she glanced back at me several times,doubt etched across her face.

I sat on the sofa,numb,gazing at the furniture and decorations around me.Every single piece had been carefully chosen by me.Richard had only ever nodded in approval.

I thought he loved me,which was why he went along with all my choices.But now I realized—it wasn’t that he loved me.He just didn’t care.

Maybe on the day Margaret left for her studies abroad,Richard’s heart had left with her.

He’d coaxed me into raising Margaret’s child,and even after his death,he publicly declared his love for her.

After all these years,they had found their resolution.I was the only one left in humiliation.

My head spun,and my body ached.These were the consequences of the kidney I’d donated to Daniel when he was a child.Along with the effects of the pills I’d taken not long ago in a failed attempt to end it all,my body had weakened.

As I sat there waiting for them to come back down,I said to Margaret,"Now that you’re here,you should take Daniel back.He’s your son,after all."

Daniel stared at me in shock.His lips quivered for a moment before he said nothing.

I knew he wouldn’t dare refuse.He feared I might change my mind.

After all,what’s better—a famous designer mother with Richard’s company shares,or a sick and powerless woman?Daniel knew which side to choose.

Mr.Chandler,the butler,wiped his tears at the door,heartbroken for me.

Margaret nodded,her face now dry,with freshly applied makeup.Her flawless eyes held a glint of triumph as she said,"This house was left to Daniel by Richard.You’ve lived here for thirty years,so even if you didn’t build it,you at least earned the right to retire here."

Her patronizing tone made me pause.She spoke as if this was her house now,as if I were the intruder.

A strange sense of humiliation washed over me.

So,Richard hadn’t even left me a roof over my head.

Had he simply assumed I’d follow him in death,or had he been so focused on securing Margaret’s future that he forgot all about me?

Probably the latter.Why would Richard care whether I lived or died?

With a bitter smile,I replied,"No need for that.I’ll move out tomorrow."

Margaret could barely contain her joy.

I rose from the sofa,my steps unsteady as I made my way upstairs.Daniel stood beside Margaret,watching me leave with indifference.Each step I took crumbled the pillars of everything I’d once believed in.

It was only today that I truly understood what it meant to"love by association."

Richard loved Margaret,and that’s why he loved her son.He couldn’t wait to leave every good thing for her and their child.

Only now did I accept that Daniel’s name wasn’t a reminder of the bond between me and my husband—it was Richard’s ultimate act of devotion to Margaret.He’d never once forgotten about her,even though she was across the world.

I wanted to hate him,but I was too old.I didn’t have the strength to hold onto that kind of anger anymore.If I could choose,I’d rather owe him nothing in this life and never meet him in the next.

With that thought,I absentmindedly reached the top of the stairs.My foot slipped,and I fell down.

All I could hear were Margaret’s screams and Mr.Chandler sobbing.

When I opened my eyes again,it was the year I had just married Richard…