After We Said Goodbye

I leaned back against the sofa, a small suitcase resting beside me.On the table in front of me lay the divorce papers.From the doorway came the sound of movement—Angela Band and her mother, Greta Mormont, had finally returned.When they saw me, both looked slightly surprised.“Why are you home so early today?”Angela asked casually before heading straight into the bedroom, while Greta went into the kitchen.“You just sit there doing nothing the moment you come home? You can’t even think of making dinner?” she said, holding a pot lid in one hand and a small piece of cake in the other.“Get something prepared now. I’ve been shopping all day and I’m exhausted. After dinner, I want to take a long bath and rest.”But this time, I didn’t move. I didn’t obey like I always did.“Angela, come out,” I called out. “I need to talk to you.”“What is it? Can’t it wait until after dinner? I want to try on my new clothes first.”“It’s important.”She came out reluctantly. “What is it?”

It seemed I had touched a nerve.“You still have the nerve to ask!” she snapped. “If it weren’t for you, the Band Corporation would have gone public years ago! You held us back, and now look at us—stuck in this mediocre state!”“That’s something your nephew told you, isn’t it?” I said calmly.Her nephew, Hank Mormont, had returned from studying abroad five years ago. With her connections, Greta secured him a position at Band Corporation.From the moment he joined, he accused the company of being outdated and called me—its manager—a coward who hindered progress.He pushed for aggressive financing, expansion, and a fast track to listing the company. But what he never understood was that back then, I was already struggling to keep Band Corporation afloat.After graduating, I started at Band Corporation as a junior employee and worked my way up to management step by step. It was during that time that Angela’s father noticed me and arranged for us to be together.At first, I di

“Say what, exactly?” I asked quietly. “Angela, you’ve already got Ben—why can’t you just let me go?”Greta bent down and picked up several of the medical reports scattered on the floor. After scanning a few lines, she suddenly laughed—a cold, sharp sound.“Well, it seems like there is God after all!”Darren exploded.“You old hag, do you have no conscience at all? If it weren’t for him working himself to the bone for your family, how would Callum end up with an illness like this at his age?“Do you even realize—”“Darren!” I cut him off sharply.I had endured ten years of humiliation already. The last thing I wanted was to lose even the shred of dignity I had left.“Why shouldn’t I say it?” he shouted. “If you don’t tell them, they’ll go on thinking you’ve taken advantage of them!”“Enough, Darren. Please.”“Tell me,” Greta sneered, “what great sacrifice did he make that we should feel we owe him anything?”Darren turned on her with blazing eyes.“When Callum first

So the moment I received the report, I made up my mind: I would divorce Angela and cut ties with the Bands while I still had a shred of dignity.But I hadn’t expected them to be even more heartless than I imagined; the only surprise was that Angela refused to divorce me.I believed she truly didn’t want me to die, but I also knew her feelings for me were no longer what they once had been.If trust had already vanished between us, what reason remained to sustain this marriage?“Angela, just tell me—what would it take for you to agree to a divorce?”---Angela shot Greta a subtle glance. “Go back to the company and fix all the mess, and finish what you started with that new product plan.”Ha! In the end, it still came down to money.My ten years had truly come to nothing.I nodded without hesitation. “Fine.”But they did not know that I hadn’t shredded the new-product proposal out of spite; I had destroyed it because I knew that if I left, they couldn’t carry it out—and more

Daisy often brought me delicious food, and even Darren, who used to quarrel with me constantly, had begun to give in to me in everything.Just as Angela tried to speak again, another woman’s voice cut through sharply.“Ugh! Seeing something so distasteful first thing in the morning—what a bad omen!“Darren, go get some detergent later and scrub this place clean!”With that, Daisy walked in, carrying a pot of something fragrant.I touched my stomach and realized that lately, I had been fed so well I’d gained weight.But could a terminal stomach cancer patient really gain weight?While I was still doubting, my phone rang.“Sorry, Mr. Smith,” the voice on the other end said, “the test results got mixed up with another patient’s biopsy. Any losses you’ve suffered—we’re prepared to compensate you.”My mind went completely blank as I hung up.Across from me, Daisy and Darren watched with concern.At last, Darren couldn’t hold back and asked, “What happened?”“The doctor said it w