In the fifth year of my love with Lucia Morgan, she finally agreed to let me take my mother to the old house for the Luminaria Festival.

My mother was very happy. In order to leave a good impression on her future in-laws, she dressed up carefully for the whole afternoon and wore a long dress that she had not worn for many years.

On the way to the old house, Lucia suddenly received a call from her childhood sweetheart, John Barton. She left us halfway and drove away in a hurry.

Less than a minute after getting off the car, my mother fell to the side of the road due to a relapse of her old illness of heat stroke and cardiac arrest.

I desperately called Lucia's phone. Because there was an AED emergency device in the car, as long as she came back, my mother would be saved. But I called several times in a row and was hung up.

Finally, I finally got through, but her tone was full of impatience.

"Why are you so annoying? I told you to take a taxi by yourself. You don't understand what I'm saying, right?"

"John's old stomach disease has come back, I have to go see him quickly."

"Please let your mom bear with it. I will apologize to her in person when we get to the Morgan Mansion."

She hung up the phone directly after that. When I called again, it was turned off.

I hugged my mother, crying and watched her die in my arms.

An hour later, John updated his social media. He and Lucia stood in the courtyard of the old house and cuddled sweetly, each holding a snack in their hands.

"Celebrating the festival with the one I love the most is the greatest joy and happiness in my life!"

I felt as if I had given up hope and threw all the engagement letters and wedding rings I had prepared into the trash can. Then I liked and left a message.

"I wish you a happy Luminaria Festival and a long-lasting marriage."

——

As soon as I left the message, Lucia, who had been turning off her phone, called me immediately,

"Gerald, what do you mean? John just posted an update on social media, why are you being so sarcastic in the comments? Also, it's dark now and we're going to have dinner soon."

"John had an upset stomach, but he still forced himself to make his aunt's favorite sweet and sour pork. Our whole family is waiting for you."

"When will you and your mom arrive?"

Hearing her questioning tone, I was surrounded by sadness and my heart was as calm as dead water.

After my mother died, I thought a lot and saw through a lot.

I said lightly, "We won't go, you guys can have dinner by yourselves."

Lucia's voice instantly rose several degrees, "Gerald, you'd better think it through! My parents invited you to dinner, the main purpose is to discuss our marriage. If you choose to go home because of a trivial matter, then I think it's better not to talk about marriage."

I nodded, "No."

I took a deep breath, "Lucia, let's break up."

Lucia was stunned for a full ten seconds.

In the five years of love, we have had conflicts and quarrels. But I have never proposed to break up.

She couldn't believe that this sentence came from my mouth.

Suddenly, John's voice came from the side, "Lucia, my stomach seems to be a little uncomfortable again. Can you help me go back to the room to rest?"

Lucia said yes without hesitation and then said coldly to the phone, "Gerald, this is what you said."

"Let’s just break up if you want to break up, just don't regret it when the time comes."

I didn't say anything and pressed the hang-up button.

It had been a week since I finished my mother's funeral alone.

In the past few days, Lucia had not called or sent a message. Her social media had not been active, but John updated it every day, more diligent than clocking in at work.

Watching the festivals today and swimming at the beach the day after tomorrow.

Lucia was in every carefully framed photo. The comment section was also very lively.

"Congratulations to the class monitor, you finally got together with the school beauty."

"Lovers finally get married, I wish you all the best."

"I said it before, you two are the most suitable."

"Class monitor, when can I drink your wedding wine, we are so eager to wait."

***

After returning home, I sat on the sofa and looked at the scorching sun outside the window and stayed quietly for the whole afternoon.

After dark, the sound of keys turning came from the entrance.

Lucia was back.

When she saw me on the sofa, she was slightly stunned.

"Gerald, it's dark, why don't you turn on the light?"

I looked up at her and said nothing.

Lucia took off her stilettos and sat down next to me.

"Why? Are you still angry with me?"

When she approached, I smelled the thick smoke and the smell of men's perfume.

The beautiful red lips pressed against mine and I moved back half a body without making a sound. Lucia was stunned.

In every quarrel in the past, no matter how angry I was, I couldn't resist her tenderness and passionate kiss in the end.

But now, not only did I refuse, but she could also see boredom in my eyes.

Lucia frowned, "Gerald, how long are you going to make trouble? It's a big holiday, I don't want to quarrel with you."

I pursed my lips and still didn't speak.

Her expression eased a little, "On the Luminaria Festival, I didn't do a good job of leaving you in the middle of the road. But John had a stomachache and I couldn't just ignore him.

“And I said at the time that I would apologize to your mom in person. Just because of this little thing, you and your mom broke the appointment."

"Do you know how long my parents prepared for this dinner? And how disappointed and angry they were when they knew you weren't coming?"

"If John hadn't tried his best to explain for you, our marriage would have been a failure long ago."

Lucia took out a gold-stamped red card from her bag and placed it on the coffee table.

"My parents have arranged the engagement party, which will be held on the day of the Bloomhaven Festival. I will call your mom right now, I believe she will be very happy."

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down, "There is no need for this, we have broken up. And she won't answer your call."

Lucia frowned again, "Gerald, you are an adult, can you stop being childish? Do you know how much your mom loves me and spoils me? She once said that she dreams of the day when I marry you. How could she not answer my call?"

Hearing this, my heart seemed to be grabbed by an invisible big hand and it hurt so much that I couldn't breathe.

What Lucia said was right, my mother really loved her and spoiled her and had long regarded her as her daughter-in-law.

When she said she wanted to drink soup, my mother would get up at four or five in the morning and rush to the vegetable market to buy the freshest ingredients.

She thought the servants she hired didn't clean well, so my mother came to help us clean on time every day, regardless of wind or rain.

I was not at home when she had a high fever. When my mother found out, she rushed to the hospital immediately. She almost fainted due to a heart attack because she was overworked after staying up all night.

After living together for seven years, my mother's love for Lucia was no less than mine.

So when the Morgan Family invited her to have a New Year's Eve dinner, she agreed without hesitation. In order to leave the best impression on her future in-laws, my mother started preparing early in the morning.

She was styling her hair, applying foundation, drawing eyebrow lines...

On the way to the Morgan Family's old house, my mother kept talking and laughing with Lucia.

After receiving a call from John, Lucia's smile quickly disappeared. She suggested that we take a taxi ourselves, but I refused. Only my car had AED emergency equipment and I couldn’t take this risk.

My mother saw Lucia's anxiety and eagerness and winked at me. I had always been filial, so I didn't dare to go against my mother's wishes and finally got out of the car.

But I never expected that within a minute of getting off the car, my mother would suffer from heat stroke and cardiac arrest...

The more I thought about it, the colder my heart became and the more it hurt.

I wanted to slap myself in the face.

If I had been more resolute at that time, perhaps my mother would not have died.

Seeing that I had not spoken, Lucia lost her patience.

"Gerald, I am so disappointed in you. Well, since you like to get stuck in a dead end, I will let your mom judge and see who is right and who is wrong in this matter."

Just as she picked up the phone, the ringtone suddenly rang.

A very special exclusive ringtone from her phone. It was exactly the same as the one I heard in the car on the Luminaria Festival.

Lucia's expression changed slightly and she walked quickly to the balcony before answering the phone.

Some voices came faintly.

"Who are you? What? John is drunk and passed out on the roadside?"

"... OK, thank you, I'll be there soon!"

Lucia left in a hurry. She didn't even bother to explain to me.

Just as resolute and decisive as when she left me and my mother on the Luminaria Festival.

Bitterness appeared on my face. No matter what time, John was irreplaceable in her mind. In this case, it was time for me to leave.

In addition to seeing me get married and have children, my mother's most cherished wish before her death was to travel to Luxembourg. That was where she and my father first met and there were too many beautiful memories.

In order to take care of Lucia over the years, this wish has not been realized.

I decided to take my mother's precious thing and take a trip around the world.

The last stop was in Luxembourg.

While I was looking up information and searching for guides, John's social media was updated again. I didn't want to see it, but my fingers still clicked it.

In the first photo, Lucia, who had never been in the kitchen, was cooking noodles without touching the water. In the second photo, Lucia was feeding John noodles, her face was full of concern and heartache and tenderness that I had never seen before. In the third photo, Lucia was carefully cleaning the stains on the carpet and sofa.

My heart was once again filled with sorrow and bitterness.

Last Bloomhaven Festival, for an important project of Morgan Group, I drank three bottles of red wine with my clients and vomited all over the place.

Lucia looked at me drunk on the sofa and was at a loss and finally called my mother to help. While my mother was busy, she covered her nose and stood far away, disliking that my vomit was too smelly and too pungent.

But in front of John, she didn't dislike it at all and was more considerate than a real wife.

Lucia didn't come back overnight and didn't show up in the next few days.

I didn't care about these and was busy preparing for my global trip.

On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, Lucia's secretary called and informed me that a new product launch conference would be held tomorrow.

I didn't want to attend, but I agreed when I thought that this was the result of my hard work for many years.

After confirming my relationship with Lucia five years ago, I declined the high-paying position of the world's top 500 companies and joined the Morgan Group.