The next morning, I dragged my lethargic body back home with the cremated ashes of my daughter in my hands.
I sat on the couch and waited until the afternoon for Leo to come home.
When I was sixteen years old, I entered society with Leo, and we both tried to make something of ourselves. When we turned twenty-one, we started a small business, and then we got married and had children.
In the blink of an eye, my daughter had grown into an adult as well.
Twenty-three years of companionship turned out to be all for nothing.
Leo seemed taken aback when he saw me. “All I did was forget to tell you about Dianne wanting to donate her kidney to Rosette. Did you have to let yourself go and sink into such a pathetic state?”
I was disheveled and all the spark had left my eyes, appearing more like the dead than the living.
Leo was disgruntled. He kicked off his shoes and went to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water.
The kettle was empty. This set him off again. “Look at you! You’ve just been lazing around all day at home and haven’t been doing anything. I can’t even get a sip of water to drink around here! This is why I don’t like to come home!”
Then, he turned to the refrigerator to get cold water instead.
Ever since Rosette showed up, he often spent the night out. Rosette was often what sparked our arguments. She was also the reason Leo first brought up divorce. Upset, I agreed in the heat of the moment.
That was when our daughter, who was still in her second year of high school, came home. She overheard our argument from outside the house and started bawling her eyes out.
For the sake of our daughter, we never brought up divorce again.
Now that my daughter was gone, I no longer had any reason to stay with him.
With that, I showed him the divorce agreement I had prepared ahead of time.
“Leo, let’s get divorced. There is no need to put ourselves through this for Dianne’s sake.”
