Chapter 5

And she'd been raising an ingrate all along.

Claire sighed.

"What does this have to do with me? Mom stopped wanting treatment a long time ago. She was afraid of becoming a burden. You were the one who kept insisting.

"And even if you'd paid for the transplant, so what? She was old. Do you know how risky a heart transplant is at her age? Even if she survived the surgery, how much longer would she really have had?

"Stop putting her through all of this. Maybe letting her go sooner was a mercy."

Something inside me snapped.

I grabbed whatever was within reach and hurled it in her direction.

"Get out! I don't want to see you!"

Claire left.

She didn't come back.

I returned home in a daze and packed my mother's belongings.

The truth was, if it hadn't been for Claire and me, Mom might never have worn herself down so badly.

When Claire's company was just starting out, it had been buried in debt.

Mom worked multiple jobs to help us. She never spent money on herself. She wouldn't even buy decent food if she thought the money could go toward us instead.

And after all that, I had never managed to give her even one truly comfortable year.

By the time I'd finished packing, Claire had transferred the $150,000 back.

For the first time in our marriage, she also offered freely to pay for Mom's funeral.

But at the service, she still kept her distance.

She came as my boss, not as my wife.

When Mom was alive, Claire used to wrap her arms around her and call her "Mom" in the sweetest voice.

Now that she was dead, Claire referred to her stiffly as "Mrs. Cole."

I should have been furious.

Instead, I had nothing left.

No anger. No energy. No feeling at all.

People kept telling me they were sorry for my loss.

I barely heard them.

Ryan came too, carrying a bouquet of white lilies.

He made a point of walking straight over to me.

"Mr. Cole, Claire and I picked these out together. I'm sorry for your loss."

I knew exactly what he was doing.

He was showing off.

This time, even Claire seemed to hear it. She hurried to explain.

"He said he didn't know what flowers to buy, so I went with him. They're from him, not from us. Don't read into it."

I said nothing.

Claire looked awkward and walked away to help with the service.

Ryan stayed behind.

He leaned close and lowered his voice.

"I was the one who made sure Claire's transfer got held up. I did it because I wanted you to finally understand who she really loves."

My mother had died because of his pathetic little test.

I couldn't take it anymore.

I punched him once in the face.

Ryan dropped to the floor and immediately started howling like I'd nearly killed him.

Claire heard the commotion and rushed over.

"Why did you hit him?"

I didn't explain.

When someone doesn't love you, every explanation sounds like an excuse anyway.

"No reason. I wanted to. What about it?"

Ryan covered his bleeding nose and waved a hand weakly.

"Forget it. He's grieving. I'm not going to hold it against him. Claire, can you take me to the hospital?"

Claire shot me a furious look and left with him.

Before she went, she sent me a message.

"I know you're hurting, so I'm not blaming you this time. Once I get him checked out, we'll go home and talk properly. I'll give you an explanation. Let's put this behind us and make this work from now on."

I didn't respond.

I was leaving.

There was no "from now on" for us.

After my mother's funeral was over, I submitted my resignation again.

This time, it was approved.

I went home and took only the things Mom had bought for me, along with my passport and personal documents.

I left the divorce agreement on the table.

My friends went with me to the airport. I said goodbye to them one by one, carried my mother's ashes onto the plane, and left the city that had taken everything from me.