My dad was dead.

At this moment, he felt lighter than during his illness, reduced to the size of a small urn.

I clutched the urn tightly, but I couldn’t help but see the photo Chris posted on social media, where Grace was happily peeling an apple for him.

Chris was a junior of ours, and he used to date Grace.

They were on the verge of getting married, but when Chris suddenly went missing right after graduation, Grace, heartbroken, chose to marry me instead.

Because of this, she was always cold towards me.

I thought that if I treated Grace sincerely, she would eventually come to accept me. But on the day Chris returned, she vanished without a word.

That day was my dad’s birthday. We waited for her anxiously all night, but she didn’t come back home until noon the next day, reeking of alcohol.

Driven by an impulse, I followed the spot in the photo, holding my dad’s urn, and found myself outside Chris’s hospital room.

Grace was nestled against Chris, looking shy.

I couldn’t hold back anymore and pushed the door open.

“Grace, what a kind-hearted person you are! I couldn’t reach you, and here you are, taking care of someone else.”

Before Grace could respond, Chris jumped in, “Brett, don’t blame Grace. She’s just been so worried about me. I told her it was only gastroenteritis, nothing serious. It’s just hard for her to relax. Please don’t let me cause any arguments between you two!”

I ignored Chris’s words, my gaze fixed on Grace. “My dad is dead. Did you know that?”

She shot me an annoyed look and said coolly, “What’s with the dramatics? I told you that mattress is effective! Even if it didn’t work, it’s just bad luck. He was taking all those expensive supplements and sleeping on a fancy mattress, but none of it could save him. Sometimes you just have to accept fate.”

“Accept fate?”

Holding my dad’s urn tighter, I felt my anger flaring, “Grace, you have no heart. You traded my dad’s life for Chris’s career, and you expect me to just accept that? I won’t! You two are murderers! I want you both to pay for this!”

Chris, sensing the situation turning, hurriedly pressed the call button, shrinking back into his bed.

Grace, fearing for Chris’s safety, stood her ground against me.

Chris bit his lip, looking pitiful. “Brett, I know you don’t like me. Back in college, you were jealous of me and Grace being together, but feelings are unpredictable. You can’t keep making up lies out of jealousy and try to ruin me.”

I stared at Grace’s face, hoping to gauge her reaction, but all I saw was wariness. I scoffed and turned away, taking my dad’s urn with me. I couldn’t bear to witness this scene.

The house felt empty. I locked myself in my dad’s room, obsessively going through everything related to him.

My mom had a difficult labor when I was born, and for so many years, my dad raised me alone.

Grace was the daughter of his comrade. After her dad died and her mom remarried, she wandered to our home at just ten years old. My dad took her in, caring for her deeply, and the three of us became inseparable.

He never pressured us to get married, even knowing I liked Grace from an early age.

Suddenly, I felt fed up. I’d had enough of this one-man show.

I called Grace.

As expected, it didn’t connect.

She didn’t like me reaching out, so she rarely answered my calls.

I thought I would feel sad and lost, but it felt like a huge hole had opened in my chest, letting in a rush of cold air.

I numbly listened to the mechanical voice on the line until the city lights flickered on outside.

Finally, the call went through.

Chris’s cheerful voice rang in my ears.

“Brett? It’s late. What’s up?”

I paused for a moment. Even though I already knew they were together, I couldn’t help myself and punched the wall in frustration.

He sounded smug. “Grace has been working so hard; she’s already asleep. I didn’t want her to wake up from the noise, so I took the liberty of answering your call. I’m sure you won’t mind.

“If it’s not urgent, maybe call back tomorrow? I need to get some rest soon too.”

His tone was ambiguous, as if he was just kindly reminding me.

Before the call ended, I could hear Chris’s smug laughter.

In front of Chris, Grace had always seen my dad and me as just backup options.

Once again, he had won. He was her ideal, standing there without lifting a finger while I fell apart completely.

But this no longer mattered to me.

I was determined to divorce Grace.

Before I snapped my SIM card in half, I called Grace one last time.

“Brett, are you out of your mind? I told you, your dad was never going to have any issues. He must be fine by now! Can’t you just stop making things difficult for Chris? If it weren’t for him having connections to get those good products, your dad would’ve died long ago!

“You just want money from me. I’ll be honest: part of the cost for the mattress was covered by Chris. The fact that I didn’t ask you for money is already a favor, so stop bothering me!”

I already knew her attitude, but it still hurt to hear.

“Grace,” I heard my voice crack, “let’s get a divorce.”

The line went silent for a long time, then suddenly, I heard a cold laugh.

“Brett, put away your tricks. Do you really think I would believe you? You’re saying your dad is dead, and now you also want a divorce? Do you think that’ll make me to go back? Give up on that idea.”

All the last bits of strength drained from me.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms, forcing myself to stay calm.

“Grace, I’m not joking. I’ll mail the divorce papers to your office. The house was bought by my dad, and everything else will be yours.”

But Grace was yelling at me from the other end of the line.

“Brett, have you really grown a spine? I never mentioned divorce; how dare you? Do you think I want to be with you? Every day since we got married has made me feel sick!

“Don’t push your luck. Even if you kneel and beg, I won’t go soft.”

I was fed up with her and hung up, feeling a weight lift off my chest, finally able to breathe.

I touched my dad’s black-and-white photo. If only I had divorced Grace sooner, I might have saved the one person who loved me most in this world.

When my dad first got sick, I was running between the studio and the hospital.

During that whole time, Grace never showed up once.

When I called her, I heard Chris’s voice on the line. “Only thirty orders left, everyone! Get yours now and don’t miss out! Our mattress is amazing!”

Grace’s tone was anxious as she shouted, “Can you stop bothering me? It’s hard enough with your dad!”

Later, when my dad was recovering, I brought him home.

But one day, when I came back, I found him unconscious, bleeding from his mouth and nose.

That’s when I realized Grace had switched his mattress for the toxic one and coaxed him into taking even more harmful supplements.

Tears fell on my dad’s smiling face, and the rage inside me almost consumed me.

To my surprise, Grace showed up on the day of my dad’s funeral.

She rushed over, disbelief written all over her face. “How could this happen? I thought…”

I stared at her coldly, a whirlwind of brutal thoughts racing through my mind, but remembering it was my dad’s final memory, I held back.

Grace knelt by the gravestone, her eyes red. I felt nothing.

My dad’s death was caused by Grace, and I couldn’t understand why she was here acting like she cared.

I had warned her countless times not to buy products from Chris’s company, but she always thought I was just jealous of him, deceiving herself.

She even bought the toxic mattress, making my dad’s condition worse.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know! Chris said those products wouldn’t have any issues; Chris said…”

“Enough,” I interrupted, sick of hearing his name. “You saw it yourself; I wasn’t lying. My dad died because of Chris!”

She shook her head. “No way, Chris wouldn’t lie to me.”

I felt empty, sneering, “He wouldn’t lie to you? Grace, you’re so naive.”

Grace stared at me, confusion filling her eyes.

Just as she was about to say something, her phone rang.

After she answered, she turned to leave.

I grabbed her arm. “Where do you think you’re going? It’s Dad’s funeral today.”

“Sorry, Chris is sick. You know he just got back and isn’t familiar with the area. Let go; I need to be with him.”

Grace’s face was filled with urgency, and seeing her like that made me laugh bitterly.

“Grace, you really have no heart. While my dad was sick, you were off caring for someone else.

“Now he’s dead, and you’re still going to skip his funeral.

“Have you forgotten who brought you home that winter? Who hurt their leg just to buy you a new dress?”

Grace looked down, hesitating, but her phone rang again.

Chris’s voice came through the call.

“Grace, I feel awful. Am I going to die?”

Grace didn’t hesitate anymore. “I’m sorry, Brett, I have to go.”

I gave her a long, hard look, questioning calmly, “If Chris’s products are so effective, why doesn’t he use them himself?”

But Grace ignored me and left.