6
“Old man, that body was fake. Ethan’s been devastated since that woman’s death. Should
we tell him? Besides, Sarah’s involvement in
his mother’s death was a misunderstanding.
Ethan has been wronging her all these years.
Those two children…”
“Don’t say it. Let it be. I never liked Sarah anyway. She seems obedient but isn’t home-
body at all, she dances around outside even
after marriage, scandalous, such a woman
isn’t suitable to be our daughter–in–law. It’s a
good thing she didn’t take Tommy away,
otherwise I’d have a fit!”
<
The Shu and Song families were old friends.
Ethan and I were childhood sweethearts, we agreed to marry when we came of age.
In a plane crash, my parents died, and my sister developed depression and committed suicide by jumping into the sea.
Witnessing my family’s deaths, I developed PTSD and relied on medication.
On the anniversary of my family’s death, my condition worsened, and I tried to jump into
the sea.
Someone jumped in to save me, Ethan’s
mother mistook it for Ethan who had jumped
- in.
I was saved, but Ethan’s mother died in the
sea.
Fourteen–year–old Ethan came home from
school, saw me shaking his mother’s arm,
crying by the sea.
“Mrs. Song, wake up…”
Ethan believed I killed his mother.
He hated me.
When his father died in a car accident when
he was young, he poured his love for his
father onto his mother.
And his mother died because of me.
Ethan began to show signs of avoidant
attachment disorder.
He constantly tested my love.
For nine years of marriage, he played around
with all the women in the entertainment
A
industry. When he was tired of the
entertainment industry, he moved to the art world, even getting intimate with female
teachers in the dance studio in front of me.
Only my unwavering presence allowed him to
feel loved.
Every time I thought of Ethan’s mother’s
death and his avoidant attachment disorder, I
felt guilty.
I repeatedly accommodated Ethan, treating
him like a patient, forgetting that I was also a
patient.
On April Fool’s Day, Ethan even fabricated
news of his plane crashing into the sea to
test my sincerity.
He knew the sea was my trauma.
Many nights, I dreamt of struggling in the sea,
waking up in tears.
The people I loved, all died in that sea.
Hearing about Ethan’s plane crash, my PTSD
resurfaced.
I couldn’t control myself and went to the sea.
Ethan and his friends watched from the
shore, thinking I was killing myself for him.
Actually, I stopped loving Ethan long ago.
The truth revealed, Ethan clenched his fists,
his knuckles white.
“How could this be? I’ve wronged Sarah all
these years. Back then, I thought she jumped
into the sea because she couldn’t handle it, but she had PTSD. What have I done…”
Ethan’s grandmother’s words echoed in his
mind.
“The body is fake, Sarah may not be dead. I
have to go and see…
Ethan walked towards the cemetery, and from
afar, he saw a familiar figure standing in front
of the tombstone.
