His face got darker and darker. The air was
as cold as an ice cellar.
At that moment, the doorbell rang.
Alex got up: “I can go open it.”
I also got up and rushed over to the door.
<
Chris was at the door.
He grabbed me and stood in front of the two
of them.
“It’s getting late, and I’m here to take my
Karen home.”
Jake didn’t say anything; he just looked
seriously at a point.
He was looking at the wedding ring on the
fourth finger of my left hand.
Chris had a matching ring; when we got
married, he designed a lot of things, and I had
someone help make them.
The ring wasn’t a designer ring or a special
ring, but it was unique.
Six years had passed, and it had been worn
away.
Jake’s face darkened, and he looked closely
at me, saying one word at a time: “Where’s
our ring?”
“I threw it away.”
The first day that I came back, I threw it in
the trash.
The ring had lost its romantic label; it was just a pretty rock.
Jake couldn’t help but get angrier, looking at
Chris.
“Do you know that the woman behind you
used to be my wife?”
<
Chris squeezed my hand and we smiled at
each other: “Really? I recommend you get a CT scan, I think you’re sick.”
After we got home, my son hadn’t gone to
sleep.
When he saw me, he ran over to hug my
It was hand: “Mom, dad said that it wasn’t safe for
you to be out so late, so he wanted to go pick you up. I wanted to go too, but dad didn’t let
me.”
I looked at Chris, and then rubbed my son’s face: “Dad just wanted you to go to sleep so
that you could go to school.”
Parents shouldn’t put their issues on the kids,
even if they’re young.
<
After my son went to sleep, I asked Chris:
“Aren’t you curious as to who that person
was?”
“After the Mid–Autumn Festival, I thought that
something was different, I don’t know what,
but you seemed more emotional and
homesick.”
“And that kid. I knew he wasn’t just a friend’s
kid.”
I touched his nose: “I didn’t know you were so
thoughtful.”
He pulled me close: “You know I studied art.
I’m allergic to romantic feelings.”
He paused, saying, “But I knew that your
hadn’t changed, and that you must have gone
<
through something. I wanted to wait for you
to tell me.”
I told him about the things that had happened
over the last fifteen years. He listened
intently, and when I told him about Jake’s
humiliation, his eyes grew cold.
He was afraid that my throat would hurt the
next day, so he poured me some water.
At the end, he cried: “We weren’t by your
side. You must have been so tired.”
He felt bad for me, and what I had gone
through.
I don’t know when I fell asleep, I just
remember lying in Chris‘ arms, feeling warm
and safe.
<
That night, I had a long dream.
I went back to the tenth anniversary of Jake’s company from fifteen years from now. Alex
called me and said that he had left his speech
at home.
When I got there, the banquet had started.
Jake and Sarah were standing on the stage,
under the spotlight. I didn’t fit in.
Alex came over to me, telling me, “Dad should
be with someone as shiny as Sarah. Don’t try
to trap him with me anymore.”
The crowd laughed at me, and Jake and
Sarah laughed at me too.
At that moment, the door opened, and Chris
く
walked over to me with my son. They took my
hand.
“Mom!”
“Honey, let’s go home!”
I suddenly woke up from my dream, smelling
toast in the air.
I pushed open the kitchen door, and Chris
was drawing on the toast with salad dressing.
I grabbed his eyes from behind.
He put his arm around my waist, and lifted
me up with one arm.
He looked focused and sincere.
I hid my face in his arms, but my heart felt
<
I hid my face in his arms, but my heart felt
clean.
Everything was good, everything had passed.
My husband and son were here, and that was
worth it.
After that, Chris was worried about my safety,
so he always dropped me off and picked me
On the weekend, I took my son to the park.
Even though it was the afternoon, the sun
was still strong.
An umbrella suddenly covered the sun, and I
smiled, turning around, saying, “Chris,
you’re…”
<
I couldn’t say anything else because of what I
saw.
The man had a tall figure, and his hand
looked like it was cut from bone. As time had
passed, he had gotten a different kind of
maturity.
Jake followed my gaze, saw my son, and laughed: “I know you like kids. That boy looks
pretty cute. I saw you looking at him.”
I…
He kept saying, “I knew that you might have
been betting on me, but let’s just say that for
what happened. Let’s get back together, my
son and I miss you.
Right then, my son happily ran over to me:
<
“Mom.”
