Thirty Years Too Late
On the day of Claire Brooks, my wife's funeral, a grieving stranger arrived carrying white lilies. After placing them beside her portrait, he walked straight toward me.
"I've envied you for thirty years," he said.
Confused, I frowned as his eyes lingered on her photograph.
"For thirty years, she gave me everything—her love, her time, her money. She never held anything back."
He paused before looking at me with quiet resentment. "The only thing she forbade was letting you know I existed."
My heart skipped a beat. "What are you talking about?"
He let out a bitter chuckle. "It means that while you were married to her for thirty years, she was with me for thirty years too."
Then he walked away, leaving me frozen beside her coffin.
I stared after him, struggling for breath. Thirty years of betrayal and lies. The shock sent my blood pressure surging, and I collapsed in the middle of the funeral hall.
When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day Claire and I were supposed to be married.
"Nathan Brooks, will you spend the rest of your life with me?"
After a long silence, I took the ring from her hand and, without a moment's hesitation, threw it down the drain.