We encountered a natural disaster on the road and my mother was hit on the head by a falling stone and was seriously injured.

The ambulance was slow to arrive, so I begged my wife Alice Lorenz to take us to the hospital.

However, Alice forcefully pushed my mother out of the car and angrily scolded me.

"Today is Nolan's birthday. She won't die if 911 arrives a little late. Damn! The blood is all over the car."

Then she drove away.

My mother died from excessive blood loss.

I finally gave up our marriage and showed Alice the divorce agreement.

But Alice, in tears, knelt at my feet and begged for my forgiveness.

——

It was eight hours after the accident when my mother was taken to the hospital.

The mountainous terrain and the typhoon made it very difficult to rescue her.

The doctor came forward to check my mother, who was already unconscious and covered in blood, then he looked at me, shook his head, and sighed deeply.

"Young man, if you had brought her earlier, she wouldn't have lost her life..."

Before the doctor's comforting hand could fall on my shoulder, I flung myself to my knees and pulled the doctor's pants tightly.

My mother was the only relative I had in this world, and she was also a very important belief in my life.

I repeatedly knocked my head heavily on the ground.

Tears mixed with the blood of me and my mother and smeared messily across our faces, giving off the smell of despair.

"Doctor, please... I can't live without my mother..."

Once when such scenes appeared on TV, I even talked to my mother about it.

"If kneeling down works, there will probably be no dead people in the world..."

My mother sighed as she ironed my shirt.

"Vincent, if I have such a day, you will probably..."

I hurriedly covered my mother's mouth.

I never expected that it would actually come true.

In the most desperate moments, people only wanted to pray to God for a ray of hope.

The doctor bent down and patted my shoulder forcefully.

"Young man, your mother has passed away, but you must stay strong..."

Then he instructed his colleagues to assist me in handling my mother's affairs.

It was so cold in the morgue.

I took out a tissue and gently wiped the blood stains off my mother's face.

Although we lived a better life now, my mother's face was still covered in wrinkles.

My mother had been kind and generous throughout her life.

Especially, she treated my wife even better than me.

We went out in bad weather this time because Alice wanted to drink the soup from the outskirts of the city.

After the accident, my mother never blamed her. Even at the end of her life, she was still admonishing me.

"Vincent, don't blame Alice. I can understand her. It's indeed inauspicious for the new car to be stained with blood. Women should be kindly treated. Don't be so indifferent to her."

Since Nolan Watson returned to New York nearly a year ago, my marriage with Alice had long been in name only.

The reason for still maintaining it was mostly because I didn't want my mother to worry about me.

But at that moment, I realized that my mother had long been aware...

My mother didn't know that Alice would never be grateful.

I had been working hard for eight years, and so had my mother.

But our efforts couldn't win Nolan's 300 days.

I gently wiped my mother's cold face over and over again.

As I wiped, the wound on my mother's forehead was exposed.

The wound was not very big.

If Alice hadn't left, my mother would definitely not have died.

The scene of Alice driving away kept appearing in my mind.

I seldom spoke to her in a pleading tone, but for the sake of my wounded mother, I almost got down on my knees and begged her.

But what I got in return was her increasingly excessive insults and abuse.

"Vincent Hill, your mother is just as poor and pathetic as you. She has a worthless life and is also as pretentious as you!"

While speaking, she pulled my mother, whose head was covered in blood, out of the car.

Then she slammed the car door.

The ear-splitting sound of the door closing seemed to be a heavy hammer that hit me hard in my heart.

At that moment, I knew that if something happened to my mother, my marriage with Alice should also come to an end...

As I was sorting out my mother's clothes, my phone kept ringing with notifications.

Nolan's messages came.

[Vincent, today is my birthday. Alice has already arrived. Why haven't you come?]

Then came a video shot by a mobile phone.

It was a lively birthday party, and everyone was celebrating.

Alice in the video was coaxed by the crowd to drink a cross-cup wine with Nolan.

At the moment when their arms crossed, Alice blushed.

The people surrounding them cheered excitedly.

After drinking a glass of wine, Nolan glanced in the direction of the phone with the corner of his eye.

Slightly raising his head, he said in a perfunctory and slightly sarcastic tone.

"Vincent, don't mind. It's just a joke between old friends."

As a man, I could understand the provocation behind his words.

Upon hearing Nolan's words, Alice immediately looked towards the direction of the phone.

She noticed that someone was recording the video and immediately put down the wine glass in her hand and punched Nolan in the chest.

"Nolan, look at them..."

But her punch not only did not make the scene quiet, on the contrary, let the already ambiguous atmosphere further.

The people around started to laugh loudly.

"Oh, Nolan, Alice looks like a newlywed wife..."

The video ended here.

Then Nolan added in WhatsApp.

[Vincent, I know you're not that petty. Don't be angry...]

When I put away my cell phone, I realized that in the cold morgue, my back was soaked with sweat.

It was impossible to say that I didn't care about the eight-year relationship...

Looking at my mother lying in front of me, I gently covered her cold hand with mine.

The thought that the owner of these hands had been separated from me forever, I felt my heart was like being torn apart in pain.

Things should come to an end.

I took a last look at my mother and left the hospital.

When I returned home, it was already dawn.

Alice hadn't come back yet.

The sun, which had not yet fully risen, shone on the house, making the already cold home even colder.

Eight years ago, everything in this house was organized according to Alice's preferences, and now it seemed to be such an irony.

For nearly a year, Alice and I had been living apart.

But there were still some clothes in the bedroom.

The moment I opened the bedroom door, I smelt the scent of Alice's usual fragrance.

The smell that used to be pleasant made me a little nauseous.

I quickly held back the urge to vomit and searched for my clothes in the wardrobe.

The moment I went out and closed the bedroom door, I heard Nolan's voice outside.

"Alice, you know I came back just for you. I don't want to send you back here after my next birthday party."

With Nolan's words, there was a moment of silence.

Nolan outside the door and me inside the door were waiting for Alice's answer.

After a moment, Alice's voice came from outside the door.

"Nolan, what you think is also what I want, but you need to understand my difficulties. Let's take it slowly..."

I couldn't help but sneer.

I didn't know what I was expecting just now.

Was I expecting Alice to give this marriage one last piece of decency?

It seemed that I had overestimated her.

Just after Alice finished speaking, before Nolan could respond, the huge wedding photo hanging in the living room fell to the ground with a loud 'bang'.

The glass covering the photo shattered all over the floor, just like our broken and miserable marriage.

I stopped packing and sat on the ground, laughing.

Maybe even God couldn't stand it...

The loud noise in the room caught the attention of two people outside the door.

Soon I heard the sound of the door opening.

Nolan stumbled into the door, reeking of alcohol, with Alice in his arms.

Perhaps because he saw me at home, Nolan's arm around Alice seemed to be a little tighter.

Seeing me, Alice subconsciously broke away.

It seemed that even Alice, who was usually arrogant, also knew shame.

Nolan laughed when he saw that I had no reaction to these.

"Vincent, you're still angry. Come and support her. You're a good man. It's not urgent to tidy up the house."

Alice also thought that I was definitely going to come forward to help her, so she symbolically took two steps in my direction.

But the next second, seeing that I was still standing in place, she returned to her usual attitude towards me.

"Vincent, are you trying to lie on the ground? Don't you know to help me when I come back?"

I packed up the clothes I had just taken out of the bedroom and stood up.

Then I took out the divorce agreement that had been prepared long ago and slapped it on Alice's face.

"Alice, let's divorce."

The moment I got close to Alice, the feeling of revolting just now surged up again.

Alice, who was reeking of alcohol, clearly froze for a moment.

Bending down, she picked up the paper that had just slipped to the ground, read it carefully and then rubbed it into a ball with a face full of disdain.

"Vincent, have you been watching too many dramas recently? Have you learned to play these tricks? Are you trying to scare me? Aren't you afraid that I will actually sign it?"

I couldn't help but laugh out loud at Alice's questions.

She probably wouldn't have dreamed that I would file for divorce, because eight years ago, I loved her dearly.

Despite all her misconduct over the past year, I had still been patient and tolerant towards her.

But she didn't know it wasn't because of her, but because of my mother.

Now that my mother was dead because of her, the last bit of bonding had disappeared with her departure.

I took the crumpled paper from Alice's hand, stretching it out and handing it to her again.

"I will be glad if you can sign the agreement, saving the trouble of going to court. The distribution of the family's assets is clearly stated in the agreement, and I will not settle for anything less than what is written."

Maybe it was my calmness that made Alice believe a little bit more or less.

Her arrogant and domineering attitude just disappeared.

Leaning on her favorite cabinet, she stood frozen in place.

That disgusting feeling of nausea just came back.

I didn't want to stay here for another minute, so I picked up the things I just packed and left the house.

Nolan, who had been standing at the door, must have been startled.

He quickly moved aside for me.

At the moment the door closed, I felt as if I had just turned over a swamp.

Even though I was covered in mud, I had a sense of relief that I had broken free from the shackles.

As I waited for the elevator, I heard Nolan's voice from inside the door.

"Alice, don't just stand there, take a look at how the property is divided in the agreement..."

He was so disgusting.

This time, I didn't want to hear Alice's reply anymore.

I walked quickly into the elevator and pressed the close button.

As the elevator door closed in an instant, I took a long breath and the disgusting feeling gradually disappeared.

I thought I would never come back to this place in my life.