"Mom, why did you hit Kelly?"

The memories jumbled chaotically, frozen in a small photo in my hand.

That year, after divorcing Kelly, I burned all the things related to her, but I didn't expect there was still one left here.

Just as I was about to toss it into the trash, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

I thought it was Candice. She used to visit at this time of year, so I opened the door.

But instead, it was Leo with his arm around Kelly. He grinned widely.

“Mac, long time no see! You haven’t changed a bit after all these years.”

"Kelly could not say no to me. We hope our sudden visit won't bother you, right?"

I looked at the two calmly. “I won’t invite you in. What do you want?”

Met with a curt reply, Leo looked at the woman beside him with an aggrieved expression.

"Leo just wanted to see you and give you a gift, that's all."

Then she put the gift in her hand on the entryway cabinet.

Leo immediately began to introduce the product enthusiastically.

“This set of men's skin care products has become my favorite recently. It just so happens that there is one more set at home. We used to share our own things, so I wanted to give it to you.”

When I glanced at it, it seemed it was the same as the one Hans, the butler, used.

Leo looked at the photo I was holding and suddenly, his eyes welled with tears. "Mac, after so many years, you still can’t let go, huh?”

I crumpled the photo and tossed it into the trash casually. "Don't flatter yourself."

It seemed he was about to take my hand, but he stopped midway.

“I know you still have grudges. If you and Kelly were still together, it so happened that today would be your wedding anniversary.”

“What happened back then … was beyond my control.  If you really don’t care anymore, let us treat you to dinner. If there’s anything you need help with, tell us. After all, we're old friends."

I hardly needed to think and was ready to refuse … but suddenly, the candles in front of the shrine flickered. So I smiled faintly and changed my mind.

“Okay.”

Leo was more talkative than before. His small movements also became more frequent.

While talking about a romantic trip with Kelly in Turkey last month, he used his fingers to apply her own lip balm to her lips while waiting for the traffic light.

“Every fall and winter, I have to remind you to use this. Last time, when I kissed you a bit too hard, it bled. When will you learn?”

Kelly swatted his hand away, as if a bit irritated. “Stop fooling around.”

"Ah, Honey. I completely forgot about it. Mac, you don't mind it, right? Kelly and I always act like this."

I interrupted him with extreme patience. “Of course not.”

“I've already seen the two of you rolling in bed back then. Why would I mind something this mild now?”

Silence filled the car.

Finally ... it’s quiet.

I looked at the scenery along the way and remembered that if my mother were still there, she would be amazed by the changes now.

Back then, when my father insisted on divorcing my mother for Emily, it almost drove her insane.

And the fact that I married Kelly behind her back—killed her.

At first, I hated my father and Emily because they betrayed my mother and forced her to change from an invincible woman to a resentful woman who made a fuss about a trivial matter in a short period of time.

Time seemed to pass on her with extra force, taking away her vitality bit by bit.

Later, I hated myself.

After a heartbreaking funeral for my mother, I went south alone during what should have been my honeymoon and stayed for a month.

During that time, I never once resented Kelly. After all, she was a pearl that had been covered with dust. A child who was burdened by a tragic fate but powerless to change it.

Before leaving, I entrusted Leo to care for her.

And he did an excellent job. In our newlywed apartment we shared, he cooked with practiced efficiency. He prepared five dishes and a soup that looked absolutely exquisite.

I was sincerely grateful to him.

That year, the bond between the three of us grew stronger than ever.

Kelly treated me even better. She spent all the company’s first major profit on buying me the gemstone cufflinks I had admired. She lit fireworks across the entire city to celebrate my birthday. She always took a few days off every month, pushed off all offline meetings and accompanied me to work from home.

So, I never doubted that she truly loved me.

Until one day, by chance, I went to her office alone.

From the half-open, hidden door inside the office came the sound of rapid, labored breathing.

When I pushed the door, the scene before me stabbed into my eyes like a knife.

I screamed uncontrollably.

Her protective move toward the man was swift and decisive.

“Who let you in!”

“Get out!”

Like a madman, I grabbed everything within reach and hurled it at them.

Blood flowed from Kelly's forehead, but he still remembered to protect the man in his arms.

I smashed everything in the room. But I didn't dare to approach them. After all, the two of them were the people I loved the most in my life.

Fear penetrated my bones and my teeth chattered as I tried to calm myself.

"Leo, look at me."

With face red from crying, the man knelt toward me from beneath the tangled blanket.

"Mac, I'm sorry. Kelly and I shouldn't have done this, but our love has grown beyond control.”

“Please, just let us be together.”

His groveling posture mirrored the posture he had made at the first year we met, when he'd been cornered by thugs at the alley entrance.

It was also in the same year that, to protect him, I—a model student—had completely offended that gang. For a long time afterward, I dared not take shortcuts.

I once had Kelly personally hand him the wedding bouquet, wishing him the happiness he deserved.

And now he was lying in my wife's arms, begging me to give them a blessing.

Tears streamed down my face as I murmured, "When did it start?”

His lips trembled, unable to speak.

But someone answered for him.

“Does it matter? Are you done making a scene? This is the company, not your home.”

“Does it not matter?  Kelly! Does it not matter?” I asked her hysterically.

She stood there naked, but her gaze was unflinching.

“Fine! I'll tell you!”

“Last March, when you abandoned me and fled to the south, we were together.”

“I didn't mean to hide it from you. You'd just lost your mother and I didn't want to hurt you further. So I let you have your way and kept up this marriage.”

“Leo has suffered enough. I didn't want to see him worry about me anymore. I planned to ask you for a divorce after your mother's death anniversary.”

“Since you've found out, I might as well tell you.”

“Let's divorce. You can have whatever you want. I only want Leo.”

Only then did I fully comprehend. How heavy the slap I delivered to my mother when I sided with Kelly.

Before I divorced her, I still made a scene.

I photographed their disheveled forms in bed with my phone, printed countless flyers with captions and distributed them to every employee at her company.

Outside the office building, more and more banners exposing their sordid affair were unfurled.

I went to the school to report Leo for his immoral behavior.

The art academy forum where he studied was flooded with vulgar comments.

At his graduation ceremony, someone hired people to loop videos of our past joyful moments on the big screen.

The memories that I once cherished became the weapons I used to attack them.

And yet … Kelly still protected him. In the end, Leo successfully graduated from the nation's top art academy. He was even about to hold his own exhibition.

To protect him, Kelly was finally willing to look at me with respect.

"Leo's dreams are about to come true. This has nothing to do with our past grievances. Don't mess things up for him."

I was already blinded by rage. "Mess things up! I'm all set. Everyone at the exhibition will be delighted to see those masterpieces.”

Suddenly, a document was slammed onto the table before me.

“If you want to preserve your mother's final resting place in peace, be obedient. Sign this divorce agreement and stay far away from me and Leo.”

When my mother was buried, I was too grief-stricken to handle anything. So, Kelly, as her daughter-in-law, took care of everything, including choosing the burial plot and purchasing the land.

Perhaps due to land scarcity, even plots in the afterlife had become commodities.

As long as she was the one who signed the document, my mother would never rest in peace.

I threw coffee at Kelly's face.

That night, I cried myself to sleep on my mother's gravestone.

Then the next day, I went to the City Hall.

But, things turned out differently than I had imagined—Kelly only allocated me one of her family's old houses.

“You reported the company's tax issues back then. Now most of the funds are frozen in the accounts. This is all I can give you.”

“If it weren’t for Leo pleading on your behalf, you wouldn’t get a single cent.”

I could never win against her—not since childhood.

She was steady, meticulous and never acted on impulse. She skillfully used strategy and power to achieve her goals.

I, on the other hand, was always the type to charge headlong into things without a second thought and although it caused immense damage to my enemy, it caused greater injuries to myself.

I fell silent, just as she’d wanted.

Before selling the house and heading south, I still went to Leo’s art exhibition. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

A giant projection in the city center displayed the man’s handsome face. The exhibition was titled “The Key to the Heart”.

It was a phrase we’d often spoken in our youth. It symbolized the pure, untainted hope of adolescence. It is the most sincere and beautiful connection between friends.

With the last shred of near-masochistic nostalgia, I armored myself fully.

But the moment I stepped into the venue, I felt like a mouse peering into someone else’s happiness.

Until I saw the painting titled “The Key to the Heart.”

It showed two bodies.

There was a mole on the woman's shoulder blade, the one I had traced countless times.

The man crumpled the pillow in his grip. Behind them, a bed draped in pale purple sheets. Outside the window, magnolias bloomed in full splendor.

That flower's variety was the one that I had personally selected at the flower market.

Pink blossoms as large as lanterns, silent in their beauty.

That was my home. It was also the place where Leo and Kelly had first made love.

So, it turned out that his heart belonged to Kelly and the key belonged to Leo.

A wave of uncontrollable nausea surged through me and I threw up.

This startled the two people entertaining guests nearby.

A bright, concerned voice reached my ears. “Sir, are you alright?”

The key design on his cufflinks dazzled me; it perfectly matched the heart-shaped brooch on the woman's chest.