This year brought an unprecedented heatwave. My boyfriend's mother, Maggie James, living in the countryside, suffered a heart attack from the heat and urgently needed hospital care.

My boyfriend promised to come back as soon as possible, but we waited at home for a whole day and didn't see him.

Instead, we saw an update from his secretary on Instagram.

The photo showed them cooling off in a room with air conditioning. Her hand intimately entwined with his arm, captioned: [No matter how long it's been, I'm always your first choice. Meeting you is my greatest happiness.]

The background of the photo was our newly purchased, yet unfinished home.

Later, Maggie saw the social media post, and her condition deteriorated rapidly, leading to her untimely death.

After confirming Maggie's death, I braved the scorching sun, running around to inform their relatives in the village.

My fair arms got sunburned, and my whole body felt feverish.

Yet, my boyfriend, John White, seemed to have vanished. No replies to messages, and his phone was unreachable.

Despite their improved financial situation, Maggie would spend every summer in the countryside to escape the heat.

This year's severe heatwave, however, was unbearable even in the rural areas, making everyone anxious.

John was busy with work and asked me to stay with his mother. I never imagined such a tragic event would occur.

I sat blankly at the entrance of the house, watching unfamiliar faces come and go, offering their condolences, my heart sinking into despair.

Maggie had always treated me like her own daughter.

How could I just stand by and do nothing?

With trembling hands, I took out my phone and reluctantly called John again.

But the cold, automated response echoed in my ear.

"Still haven't reached John? It's hot these days, and if you leave it at home for too long, it's..."John's uncle, Jack, said to me.

He didn't finish the sentence.

I knew what he wanted to say.

I choked and shook my head.

Trembling, I said, "Jack, can you give him a call?"

I thought he was just avoiding my calls, afraid I'd know who he was with.

But Jack also failed to reach him.

He shook his head in disappointment. "Such a good kid normally, how could he fail at such a critical moment?"

My eyes welled up with tears.

Yes, he wasn't like this normally.

Why did he change whenever it involved his secretary?

"I'm sorry. I'll try to reach him again."

I forced myself to calm down and started contacting John's friends.

But either by coincidence or intention, they all claimed they didn't know where he was and couldn't reach him.

In desperation, I contacted his secretary, Emma Summers.

As soon as she answered, I yelled, "Tell your man that John's mother is dead! She's decomposing at home!"

A familiar, cold voice interrupted. "Lily Green, even jokes have their limits."

That one sentence was enough for me to recognize John's voice.

They were together all along.

No wonder his friends evaded my questions.

I trembled with anger, feeling the injustice for Maggie.

Before she died, she was excited about his return, wanting to make him pizza to cheer him up.

She told me, "He has been busy with work recently and has neglected you. Don't take it personally. Once you get married, he will naturally focus on the family."

I believed her words.

I always understood John.

But what about him?

What did he do?

He ignored his mother's safety and my feelings and went to be with another woman.

My voice shook as I asked, "John, do you find disappearing fun?"

"What are you playing at? Just because I didn't answer your call in time, you say this about my mom? Lily, when did you become so vicious?"

Vicious?

If I were truly vicious, I'd have walked away by now!

Not stayed here taking his crap!

"John, I'm not joking. Maggie..."

"Enough! Lily, stop your tantrum! I know my mom's health better than anyone. Don't curse her!"

As he finished speaking, a voice from beside him tried to calm him down.

"John, girls have tempers. Just try to soothe her..."

Emma's gentle and composed voice came through.

Her rationality and detachment made me look like a raving lunatic.

Because of her words, John grew even more impatient, sneering coldly, "Let her throw her fit. I won't soothe her this time. She's getting more and more out of hand!"

My palms were slick with sweat, and I clenched my fists instinctively.

What does he mean by soothing me?

Every argument, it was always me who backed down first.

How did I become the unreasonable one in his narrative?

I was too angry to speak, but seeing his uncle approach, I forced myself to stay calm. "If you don't believe me, fine. But you should believe your uncle..."

With that, I called his uncle over.

His uncle took the phone but said, "Weren't you just talking to John? What's going on?"

I took the phone in confusion.

I realized that John had hung up right after his last sentence.

I laughed bitterly, feeling a weight on my chest, making it hard to breathe.

Maggie had always treated me well, but I hadn't married John yet.

Technically, I wasn't even qualified to handle her funeral arrangements.

I couldn't arrange for her burial, so I contacted someone to take her body to the funeral home.

John's uncle tried calling him again.

But as expected, there was no answer.

He looked at me, sighed heavily, and said, "You're a good kid. She was lucky to have you with her at the end. We can't do anything about this. It's up to you to deal with John now."

After he said this, he waved and left.

I was exhausted after seeing off all their relatives.

I bought a ticket and headed back to the city.

John's hometown was only four hours away from the city.

But I felt like a lifetime had passed.

By the time I got home, I was so tired that I didn't even have the energy to drink water.

I washed up and collapsed into bed, sleeping deeply until the next evening.

When I woke up again, it was already the evening of the next day.

The funeral home sent me another message.

Maggie's body could only stay there for three days; I needed to handle the final arrangements quickly.

Staring at their reminder, I sighed deeply.

Looking around at my familiar room, I felt an overwhelming emptiness.

I couldn't understand.

How did John and I end up like this?

We met through a blind date and decided to be together after only three meetings.

We had been together for three years now.

In those years, he gave me endless security.

Every day he went between home and work.

And he never smoked or drank.

He said secondhand smoke was harmful to others.

He couldn't bear to see me hurt.

He always prioritized me.

Many people praised my good fortune.

Even Maggie said he had changed a lot after meeting me.

So, I took his behavior as a sign of love.

But then Emma Summers appeared.

Her presence made me doubt everything.

Whenever something happened, she contacted him first.

And he was always there for her.

He even brought her to gatherings with his friends.

For this, I once expressed my displeasure.

He said, "She's my secretary now. I pay her. It's her job to handle things for me."

At the time, I didn't see anything wrong with his words.

Many bosses bring their secretaries everywhere after all.

But now, thinking back, it felt especially ironic.

Since when did his secretary become more important than his own mother?

I was filled with suppressed anger.

Getting out of bed, I planned to make dinner.

Just then, John came home.

Seeing me, he looked surprised, then his expression turned to displeasure.

"Did you come back alone?"

I ignored him and walked towards the kitchen.

He followed me. "Lily, what are you doing? You left my mom alone back there?"

"Am I your maid?"

I turned around and said to him coldly, "That's your mom, not mine. Why should I handle everything for your family?"

He was stunned, clearly not expecting me to speak like that.

His handsome face turned angry, and his deep eyes looked into me. "We are about to get married. What do you mean by this?"

"I mean, I don't want to take care of anyone in your family anymore.

"I'm not marrying you."

My tone was calm, devoid of the initial breakdown.

Now, I felt completely serene.

After all, she wasn't my mother.

Why should I be so angry?

If he, her own son, didn't care, why should I exhaust myself emotionally?

Besides, her death had nothing to do with me.

"Why are you making a fuss for no reason? The invitations are sent out, and now you tell me you're not getting married?"

I sneered and asked, "Who were you with yesterday?"

He paused, his anger giving way to a moment of guilt, then he said confidently, "It was nearly 100 degrees yesterday. Without air conditioning, people could die from the heat. So I let her stay at our place to cool off."

"You knew it was nearly 100 degrees? Did you know your hometown had power outages recently? And that's our marital home! I haven't even been there! And you brought another woman?"

As I laid out the facts, I realized how unfamiliar the man before me had become.

I suddenly wondered, John, known for his love for his mother, how would he react if he knew his mother died because of him?