The Names on Her Grave

As I stared blankly at the gravestone, the elderly cemetery caretaker approached and struck up a conversation with me.

"Sir, do you know Old Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan? I don't think I've ever seen you here before."

It was such a simple question, yet it made my heart throb in pain all the same.

After all, who am I when the place that should have belonged to Jessica's husband had already been engraved with Christian's name?

Although I was standing under the sunlight, I felt like some lowly rat that ought to hide in the shadows. How could I stand before these gravestones when I didn't have a respectable identity that I could claim aloud?

Still, I swallowed the bitterness clinging to my tongue as I replied lowly, "Just a distant relative."

The old man nodded in understanding and replied, "That makes sense. If you were a close family member, you should've been here three years ago when Ms. Sullivan dropped by with her family. You have no idea how grand it was.

"Ms. Sullivan personally reopened the family chapel, invited hundreds of people to conduct rituals, and even had her husband carry their son while paying their respects. Afterward, they hosted a banquet for three whole days, and she introduced her husband and child to everyone.

"Her husband was incredibly handsome. He looked like some movie star. I even have a photo of it with me. Here."

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and showed me the picture.

I saw Christian wearing a white suit while holding an infant in his arms and smiling. Jessica was standing right beside him. She was leaning against him and looking at him with a bright smile on her face.

Even though it was only a photograph, the undisguised love in her eyes was so vivid and intense that it pierced straight through me.

I had never once seen her look at me that way.

Then, my gaze drifted to the date in the lower-right corner of the photo, and my breathing froze.

It was November 6th, which was three years ago.

Jessica's medical examination results had come back the day before that same date, stating that she was pregnant.

I was overjoyed when I learned the news before she did.

At the time, I wholeheartedly believed that Jessica would cry tears of happiness just like I had, eager to finish our wedding and give the child a complete family.

However, the smile on her face disappeared the moment I told her the news.

"Chris, I've told you countless times already. Neither marriage nor children are part of my plans for these next few years. This child came at the wrong time, so let's not keep it for now. We can wait until the right time, okay?"

At that moment, I couldn't help but feel that she was a completely different woman from the one I'd first met—a frightening woman who was wearing the face of the woman I loved.

In the past, I would always cave to her demands, no matter how unreasonable they were. I just couldn't bear to see her angry.