When Love Was Gone in a flash

Jude and I spent most of our lives together. We had both a son and a daughter and walked hand in hand all the way to our golden wedding anniversary.

When Jude was gravely ill and near death, our son asked him if he had any final wishes.

“After I die, bury me together with your aunt,” he said. “That is my only wish in this life.”

Everyone was stunned, exchanging glances and looking at me with pity.

I nodded and agreed, “Let’s do as he says.”

People laughed at me, saying that after all these years of serving my in-laws, supporting my husband and raising our children, I still couldn’t win my husband’s heart in the end. I had become a joke.

But what they didn’t know was: if there were a next life, I would still never marry Jude.

When I opened my eyes again, we had been reborn, back to the day of the wedding.

As expected, Jude ran away, leaving me behind to face everyone's judgment and scorn.

But I didn’t feel humiliated. On the contrary, I felt relieved.

My gaze slowly turned toward the man in the suit standing in the corner.

“Yosef,” I said, “I’m short one groom. Would you be willing to take his place?”

——

As soon as the words left my mouth, the entire room fell silent.

Even the man who had been tilting his head back, drinking in silence, froze mid-motion, stunned. He looked up sharply, disbelief in his eyes.

“What… did you just say?”

A faint redness lingered at the corner of Yosef’s eyes and a flicker of light danced in his gaze as he looked at me.

In front of all the guests, I smiled and walked firmly up to him.

“I said I want to marry you. Do you want to marry me?”

Yosef stared at me in a daze, his lips trembling slightly from the surge of emotion.

Before he could respond, Jude's mother grew anxious and rushed forward, grabbing my hand to try and persuade me.

“Leona, good child, I know that brat wronged you today, but I’ve already sent someone to bring him back. He’s just immature, acting out of foolishness.”

“Don’t worry,” she added. “As long as I'm here, the bride can only be you. Don’t act on impulse or marry someone else just out of spite.”

I smiled and gently withdrew my hand.

“Deyna, forcing a relationship that isn’t meant to be won’t lead to happiness. I was never set on marrying Jude to begin with. You should just let them be.”

In my past life, it wasn’t that I didn’t know the woman Jude had always loved was my younger sister, Femma.

But Femma had dated several boyfriends, had three abortions and had ruined her health.

The doctor said she’d never be able to have children again.

When Deyna heard that, her face immediately darkened. She was firmly opposed to the two of them being together.

But the marriage alliance between our families had been arranged long ago.

Jude and I had grown up together as childhood friends and I had secretly loved him since I was a child. So naturally, the marriage fell to me.

In our past life, everyone said we were a rare, loving couple who made it all the way to our golden anniversary.

But whether it was truly a happy marriage, only the two of us knew the truth.

Out of our sixty years of marriage, we spent fifty-five living apart.

Jude resented me.

Even the day I was in the hospital struggling through a difficult labor, he never showed up, not even once.

Every year on our child’s birthday, he would spend the whole day at the cemetery.

He often drank himself into a stupor and in his sleep, he always called out Femma’s name.

At first, I believed love could grow with time and past wounds could be forgotten.

But year after year passed and it wasn’t until Jude and I had become a bitter, resentful couple, that I realized that it was never that simple.

Now that I finally had a second chance, I would choose to let him go and free myself as well.

When Deyna saw Yosef and me holding hands, her face turned pale with urgency.

“Leona, you’ve long been the daughter-in-law I’ve recognized. How can you marry someone else? I’ve never been able to stand Femma and her fake sweetness. I don’t care what reason she had for calling Jude away today, but I will never allow him to bring that kind of woman into this family.”