I stood at the door, and my hands trembled as one clutched the death certificate. The other’s fingers’ almost tore through my skin.

Matthew, you wanted to repay your comrade, but you did it using my son’s life.

I did not push open the door to confront Matthew. Instead, I went back to the hospital on my own. Henry had always been scared of the dark, and I could not bear for him to stay alone in the cold morgue.

The following day, while I was on my way to the crematorium, I received tons of calls and messages from Matthew. I ignored them all. I held my son’s urn close to me and started contacting both friends and family to tell them about Henry’s death.

That took me an entire day.

Once I got back to our rental house, I found my husband sitting in his chair. His expensive suit had been replaced with cheap clothes. The moment he saw me, he jumped forward to hold my hand.

“Why weren’t you home yesterday? You even turned off your phone! I didn’t even eat; I rushed back home immediately after work, you know?” he admonished me gently while looking at me attentively.

I looked back at him and simply found the entire thing hilarious. He could be called a great actor, but I could smell expensive perfume on him, and it was pungent in this dilapidated rental house.

“I kept Henry company,” I said calmly before turning to our room.

Of course, Matthew understood that I was unhappy, so he wrapped his arms around my waist and comforted me softly. “Don’t be mad, Wendy. I’ve been busy with work trips lately. I know that I’ve neglected both you and Henry, but I’m working hard to give you two a better life, aren’t I?”

I raised my head in sheer stubbornness and forced myself not to cry.

Work hard?

By “working hard,” he meant throwing a party for his dead comrade’s son.

That perfume wafted into my nose, and I found disgust crawling all over my skin, so I struggled to get out of here. However, Matthew refused to let go. Despite my resistance, he dragged me to bed and held me, as if doing this would show that he still loved me.

“Wendy, I’ll make it up to you and Henry in the future.”

Those words were like a sharp knife that pierced through the final barrier in my heart. In the end, I was still unable to stop my tears from falling.

Henry was already dead. How could he possibly make it up to him?

With all my strength, I shoved him away. “Sleep. I’m not in the mood.”

When Matthew saw how uncooperative I was, he got angry and left to make a call. I watched him leave while lying back in bed limply. Heavy tears slid down my cheeks as I stared at the peeling ceiling, yet I somehow found myself relaxing.

Over the past eighteen years, I had worked day and night and nearly bled myself dry for this family. For Matthew.

It was time to put an end to all of this.

On the day Henry was to be buried, Matthew came back to the rental house with clothes and toys.

“Wendy, get dressed. Let’s pick Henry up to go see some fireworks.”

Pick Henry up? We could not pick him up anymore.

I ignored the hickeys on his neck and just stared at the educational toys he had brought back. He must have forgotten that Henry had just turned eighteen and had even sat through his SATs. It had been a long time since he had needed such childish toys.

“Hurry up, now. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Henry. He must miss me!”

Henry urged me to hurry up and move while anguish filled my heart. He actually knew that Henry missed him?

“Sure. Let’s go see him.”

I sent the South Hill Cemetery’s address to Matthew.

When we got closer to that place, funeral songs began playing around us, and Matthew started sounding impatient.

“What is Henry doing in these suburbs? There are funerals being held everywhere. That’s so ominous.”

I sat in the front passenger’s seat quietly. I was quite curious as to how he would react upon seeing Henry’s memorial photo in the mourning hall.

Suddenly, his phone rang, and I could hear Rose’s voice through the phone.

“Matthew, Zack suddenly got sick, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Calm down. I’m coming over right now!”

Matthew turned around without hesitation. In his haste, his car ran over Henry’s funeral wreath and crushed it.

“The company suddenly said that I need to do overtime. I have to go back right now.”

I got out of the car and watched Matthew drive away before walking into the cemetery’s mourning hall on my own. Then, I stared at Henry’s black-and-white memorial photo.

Before passing away, Henry had wanted to see his father one final time. Unfortunately, his last wish was not granted.

I welcomed my friends and family as I hosted the funeral.

When it was over, I personally placed my son’s urn into his grave.

I kept recalling the moments I spent together with Henry, and sadness filled every inch of my body so violently that I coughed up blood and fainted in front of my son’s grave.

When I woke up, I was already in the hospital.

I pushed myself up and walked out of my room. Matthew was there, but not with me; he was sitting beside a bed in another ward and tenderly wiping Zack’s forehead.

This was his overtime, apparently.

Even though I knew that Matthew had come to see Rose and Zack, seeing it with my own eyes was something else; I could not stop my heart from hurting.

In the past, whenever Henry got sick, he just endured in silence. I had heard him call out to Matthew a few times when he was in pain, but Matthew had never pitied him.

I sucked in a deep breath and wiped away my tears.

Henry had already left. There was no longer anything in this family worth staying for.

“Why are you here, Wendy?” Rose called out to me.

Matthew stopped his action before clearing his throat and explaining, “I just finished work and came to visit when I heard that Zack was sick.”

I forced myself to smile. Was there really any need for him to continue lying to me at this point?

“Matthew, I’ll leave Zack to you for a bit. It’s been years since I last met Wendy, and I have so much to say to her!” Rose ordered Matthew around playfully, and she did it in such a matter-of-fact way that it was as if she were ordering her own husband around.

Then, she dragged me out of the ward, and that gentle look on her face turned provocative.

“Matthew is a really good father. Look at how serious he looks when he takes care of Zack.”

I clenched my fists tightly and said nothing. Rose then cast me a glance before admiring her newly done manicure.

“He’s the one paying for our daily needs. He even said that since it’s tough for me to be a single mother, he got me the membership for a beauty salon. As for you, how did you end up so tanned?”

Over the past eighteen years, in order to care for our family, I worked fourteen hours a day and lived a frugal life to save up money. Henry also picked up plastic bottles to sell them after school. Everyone looked down on him since he was a kid.

Disappointment filled my heart, and I had no energy left to even refute her.

“A man’s love is where he spends his money, you know? Matthew no longer loves you. If you know your place, just pack up and leave.”

I simply listened and did not argue, because I knew that she was right. Matthew had only ever cared for Rose and Zack. Since the beginning, Henry and I had been just clowns.

Suddenly, Rose drew closer and whispered, “By the way, Matthew bought Zack a race car a few days ago, and when he was speeding, he killed a student that had been on his way to his part-time job. I wonder who that boy was. That’s so sad…”

“What did you say?!” I whipped my head to Rose, who had already taken a step back before intentionally falling on the floor.

The very next second, Matthew rushed over to instinctively kick my stomach before gingerly helping Rose up. She leaned in his embrace and pretended to be strong, despite her bruised calf.

“I’m fine, Matthew. Rose might have misunderstood our relationship. Things will be fine after she hits me to vent it out.”

Matthew shielded Rose before glaring at me coldly.

“Wendy, Rose already has a hard time being a single mother, and you’re still bullying her?! How could you be so evil?!”

I crashed to the floor and felt as if someone had driven a spike into my stomach. Blood gushed to my throat. When the medical staff heard the commission, some of them ran over to help me up.

“Take care of Rose first!” Matthew snapped at the medical staff.

“But Mr. Foster, your wife is coughing up blood—”

“Let her suffer! She just hurt Rose. This is her punishment!”

I curled up on the hospital’s cold floor while sweat pearled over my forehead. My stomach clenched in pain, and it was getting worse by the second.

“It hurts… Help…” I struggled to cry out for help.

As my vision grew increasingly blurry, all I could see at the end was Matthew’s indifferent gaze as well as him leaving with Rose without hesitation.

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

“Miss Lane, due to you overworking and having a poor eating and resting schedule, you have terminal-stage stomach cancer. You only have one month left now.”

Feeling drained, I leaned against the headrest and mumbled to myself as tears slid down my cheeks.

“Wendy!”

When Matthew opened the door, he saw me crying, and he patiently defended himself, “Rose’s husband saved me on the battlefield all those years ago, and I promised that I’d take care of his family. Zack did well at his SATs and is almost one of the top scorers. From now on, I’ll keep you and Henry company, alright?”

I stared at Matthew blankly. “Do you know about Henry’s SAT scores?”

Matthew was surprised. “Henry sat for his SATs this year too? Don’t worry. Even though his marks aren’t as good as Zack’s, I can still think of a way for him to get into an Ivy League university.”

“You won’t have that chance.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Matthew’s gaze turned dark. He could sense that something was off and was about to continue demanding answers when Rose called.

“Matthew, a lot of police officers came into Zack’s ward. You have to come here…”

Matthew hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he still left. He did say this before leaving, though. “Rest. Once I’m done with Rose, I’ll pick both you and Henry up, and then you’ll live good lives.”

Then, I watched Matthew leave before shaking my head in agony. I could no longer remember how many times Matthew had left me behind, but this time, I was not going to wait for him anymore.

I bought the earliest plane ticket out of the country and caressed Henry’s photo before forcing a broken smile onto my lips.

“One month… Don’t be scared, Henry. I’ll keep you company very soon.”

…

When Matthew arrived at Zack’s ward, two police officers were about to arrest him.

“Zack Xavier, you’re under suspicion for a hit-and-run. Please come with us to the police station.”

Matthew immediately stopped them. “He just killed someone. Zack is still young and immature. Who’s the deceased? I’ll compensate his family.”

The police officers cast a glance at Matthew and stayed silent for a while before saying, “The deceased is Henry Foster, one of the top scorers of this year’s SATs.”