When My Mother Died, My Wife Was With Her Ex

On New Year’s Eve, my mother suddenly suffered a heart attack and was rushed into the ICU for emergency treatment.

I immediately called my wife, but the person who picked up was her first love. His tone was mocking.

“She’s making New Year’s Eve dinner for me. Is there something you need?”

I paused for a moment, then let out a faint smile. “Nothing. Happy New Year to you both.”

Half an hour later, my wife called back.

“Hubby, Evren Hansley was all alone and feeling down. I’m just having New Year’s Eve dinner with him. I’ll be home soon.”

I replied calmly, “Alright.”

But there was no need for her to come back. She could stay with him, for good.

——

The light outside the operating room stayed lit. I leaned tiredly against the wall, clutching my phone in silence.

One by one, relatives and friends arrived.

“Nash, how’s your mom?”

“What did the doctor say?”

“Where’s Morgana Hayes? Why didn’t she come with you?”

I lowered my head, unable to answer.

After my mother was brought in, the doctors issued a critical condition notice right away.

I watched as doctor after doctor filed into the operating room, yet not a single one came back out.

And Morgana?

Should I even mention that she had just posted on Instagram, clinking wine glasses and smiling at her New Year’s Eve dinner with Evren?

I could only bury my head like an ostrich, licking my wounds in silence.

Then my in-laws arrived.

Not seeing Morgana around, my father-in-law’s face darkened immediately. Without saying a word, he pulled out his phone and dialed her.

“Where the hell are you? Get back here, now.”

Before he could finish, Morgana’s irritated voice came through the phone.

“Dad, is Nash complaining to you again? I already explained things to him; he’s just being overly sensitive.”

My mother-in-law tried to interject, “Morgana, you…”

“Mom, don’t say anything. I’ll handle things between me and him. You and Dad don’t need to interfere.”

“I still have things to do. I’m hanging up.”

After the call ended, my mother-in-law looked at me, embarrassed.

My father-in-law’s face was thunderous, and he was about to dial again when I smiled faintly and stopped him.

“Dad, since she’s busy, let’s not disturb her anymore.”

The moment I said that, it felt like all the strength had drained from my body. I slid down the wall, exhausted.

Around me, murmurs rose; relatives and friends couldn’t hide their disappointment in Morgana.

She was my wife, my mother’s daughter-in-law. No matter how busy she claimed to be, she should’ve shown up. But she didn’t.

The light outside the operating room finally went out, and the doors slowly opened.

I looked up, hope surging in my chest, only to be met with the doctors’ solemn faces.

My hands trembled as I stepped forward.

The moment I saw my mother’s lifeless body, the dam inside me broke. Tears spilled uncontrollably.

Right then, I could no longer deceive myself.

There would never again be someone who loved me so completely, so selflessly.

I turned down the company of my in-laws and the well-meaning relatives and friends who had gathered. I asked them all to leave.

That night, I stayed in the hospital alone with my mother. Just the two of us. One final night.

At dawn, I called the funeral home to arrange her final grooming and prepare for the service.

I watched as they carried her body away. With trembling fingers, I pulled out my phone and typed a message to Morgana.

[Mom is gone.]

I stared at the screen, wishing, hoping, she would call at once, show up beside me, and wrap me in her arms.

But the message disappeared into the void like a stone sinking into the sea.

I let out a hollow laugh.

I had loved Morgana for ten years, from the moment I first laid eyes on her, love at first sight.

Five years of quiet companionship, three years of relentless pursuit, and two years of marriage.

I had gotten used to having her in my world.

But from this moment on, I had to learn how to live without her.

When we first met, she wore a white dress, her hair tied back in a simple ponytail, no trace of makeup, and her smile was the cleanest, purest thing I had ever seen.