One Kiss for My Last Month
The day my parents divorced, I turned my back on the mother who loved me and clung desperately to my cheating father.
In my previous life, I chose my mother without hesitation.
Because the family never accepted me, she spent the rest of her life suffering for my sake, enduring endless scorn and hardship.
This time, as I looked into her heartbroken eyes, I walked away without a backward glance.
Five years later, I was scraping by at a seafood market, spending my days gutting fish amid the stench of saltwater and blood.
Just as I expertly sliced open a fish's belly, my mother appeared.
Her heels clicked across the damp floor as she navigated around puddles left by melting ice and approached me.
She covered her nose in disgust, looked me up and down in my stained, shabby clothes, and let out a cold laugh.
"No matter how hard you wash, you still reek of fish. This is the life you chose when you picked him over me.
“The Cooper family's notorious young heir is about to form an alliance with our family through marriage.
“As long as you kneel and beg me, I'll give you a chance to live a better life. What do you think?
“You know I always mean what I say.”
The contempt in her voice was unmistakable. I swallowed the metallic taste rising in my throat, flashed a carefree grin, and stepped closer.
“Not only am I not kneeling, but you’ll have to kiss me first if you want me to go.”
Just one kiss would be enough to get me through the last month of my life.