登入It was the eighth year of my marriage. As I was driving my daughter to school, I took a call on speaker. "Is this Mr. Andrew Benedict? Your wife, Ms. Clara Miller, left her diamond ring in our executive suite." My hands froze on the wheel. Andrew was my husband. Clara was my best friend. I rushed to my brother's office, desperate to prove it was a mistake. He didn't even look up from his desk. He wasn't surprised at all. "Summer, drop it," my brother, Aaron Walter, said calmly. "They have a child together now. Just pretend you don't know. "He lied to you to spare your feelings," he added. "We all kept quiet for your own good." I felt my blood cold as it ran through my veins. "He's right, Summer," a soft voice chimed in from the couch. "Don't blame Clara. You're both mothers. You need to understand her side." It was Olivia Walter, my sister-in-law. The three of us used to call ourselves inseparable. Now she was asking me to pity the mistress and the bastard. In family, friendship, and love, I was the only outsider.
查看更多Days bled into weeks, and everyone remained trapped in the wreckage of their own making.Andrew lost all interest in his business. Company operations ground to a complete halt.He gave up his luxury home and moved into a cramped, dilapidated apartment, drowning himself in alcohol day and night.Whenever he sobered up, he sorted through Chloe’s and my belongings, staring at old family photos. Every single picture broke him into violent sobs.He made daily trips to the cemetery, regardless of rain or storm, kneeling beside the grave for hours.---After filing for bankruptcy, Aaron laid off every employee, leaving him with nothing but a small, run-down house.Whenever he and Olivia cross paths, they would spiral into endless screaming matches.Olivia repeatedly brought up their teenage years, weeping over how her jealousy destroyed her best friend.Aaron blamed himself constantly, knowing that if he had stood up for his sister, none of this tragedy would have happened.Whatev
The farce at the chapel was over. Clara was taken into custody, awaiting a long trial.The huge hall was left in total disarray.Andrew slumped onto a cushion, physically drained. He stared at our side-by-side black-and-white photos, sitting alone until dawn.As the light broke, he drove straight to the cemetery.Andrew dropped to his knees on the freezing mud, the damp cold sinking deep into his bones.He set down a bouquet of white roses and traced my features on the gravestone over and over.Memories rushed back like a tidal wave.He remembered our youth, when I defied my family to share a cramped room with him, splitting a bowl of instant noodles in half.Those days were tough, but we were happy.Perhaps some people are meant to endure hardships together, but can't survive prosperity.During the hardest year of his startup, I gave him my mother's retirement savings to keep his business afloat, without a single word of complaint.When I was pregnant with Chloe, I suffered
Three days later, a joint funeral was held for my daughter and me. The hall was covered in white roses, our favorite flowers.Only a few friends and relatives showed up to pay their respects.Aaron stood on the left side of the altar. He hadn't slept for three straight days. Dark circles bruised his eyes, and the purple slap marks remained fresh on his swollen cheeks.He burned memory notes, whispering endless apologies to my picture. He had aged ten years in just a few days.Oliviastood quietly nearby. Neither of them said a word to each other.Both of them knew they had helped kill me.An unbridgeable chasm now split them apart forever.Andrew knelt directly beside my casket, silent tears streaming down his face. He kept repeating the words ‘I'm sorry’ under his breath.As solemn music played for the moment of silence, the heavy doors of the chapel burst open.Clara charged inside, her hair tangled, her clothes disheveled, and a hysterical look in her eyes.The moment her
My soul hovered in the air, watching Andrew lose his mind.He lunged toward the wreckage, his whole body shaking as he stared at the two figures lying in a pool of blood. He couldn't even figure out whom to hold first."Summer, Chloe... please open your eyes," he sobbed, begging the cold pavement. "Look at me, please..."Only silence answered him.Why was he weeping? Wasn't this what he wanted all along? Now he and Clara could live happily ever after.Minutes later, a man stumbled through the crowd. It was my brother, Aaron.He had stayed behind at the cemetery to oversee the relocation of my mother's headstone. After getting the phone call, he had driven like a madman to get here.When he saw the scene, his legs gave out. He fell hard onto his knees in the muddy water.Aaron buried his face in the bloodied rain, wailing like a broken animal."Summer, my little sister! It's all my fault! I did this to you!"He slammed his forehead against the asphalt, over and over ag
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