Chapter 2

My thoughts slowly came back to me. I packed up the things I needed for the memorial and took a taxi to the cemetery where my dad’s ashes were buried.

It had been raining in South City for the past few days, and the temperature had dropped sharply too.

Holding an umbrella, I shivered from the unpredictable weather.

I bent slightly and placed the white chrysanthemums I bought on my dad’s gravestone.

“Dad, how have you been in that world these past years?”

“Meng Die and I have been married for five years. Overall, things have been pretty good. Don’t worry about me. Those hard days from before are already behind us.”

Even though I was already deeply disappointed in Meng Die, I still didn’t want to bother my dad with the trivial mess in my life.

I stood there with my umbrella and talked nonstop at my dad’s grave for hours.

Only when my throat was dry and hoarse did I finally take my umbrella and slowly head home.

Halfway back, I got a call from Meng Die.

In a commanding tone, she ordered me, “Qiao Yu, come pick me up at the airport. It’s raining, and I don’t want to take a cab.”

I sneered. “I’m at the cemetery right now. I didn’t drive, so I can’t get there.”

Meng Die was silent for a few seconds, then started blaming me.

“Did you really have to go today? I said I’d go with you tomorrow. What difference does one day make? You’re so stubborn.”

“Can a dead person really be more important than a living one? Do you know how important that meeting was to me?”

“Meng Die, if my dad had found you five years ago tomorrow, do you think you’d still be alive today?”

“Likewise, if my dad hadn’t died that day, then the one who would have died would have been you. Do you still think it doesn’t matter?”

After that, before she could respond, I hung up.

By the time I got home, it was completely dark.

I opened the door and took off my half-wet coat from the rain.

Just as I switched on the living room light, I unexpectedly saw Meng Die sitting on the sofa, arms folded, staring down at me.

I paused for a second, then went on tidying my clothes as if I hadn’t seen her.

Meng Die couldn’t hold back anymore. Her voice was cold. “Qiao Yu, what exactly did you mean by what you said today?”

“Are you cursing me to die? I’ve stayed with you for five years. Do you even have a heart?”

I ignored her, took a towel from the balcony, and headed for the bathroom.

Meng Die took a few quick steps forward and grabbed my arm.

“Try acting dead in front of me again.”

I turned to look at her, my expression completely calm.

“I have nothing to say to you.”

The next second, Meng Die’s slap landed across my face without warning.

I froze, holding my cheek as I looked at her in confusion.

Meng Die seemed to realize her behavior had gone too far too. She stiffened, her face turning red.

“I didn’t mean it, but you forced me.”

“I clearly told you I’d go to the grave with you tomorrow. I’m so busy with work today. Why are you picking a fight with me?”

“You stay home all day doing nothing. Do you want me to be the same as you? You should be looking for the reason in yourself too when things go wrong.”

I laughed. “Are you really working? I have a friend who works at the same company as you, and she said you didn’t work at all today. So where exactly did you go?”

“I-I was of course on a business trip. What, do you think I’d lie to you?”

Caught red-handed, even Meng Die started stammering.

I said nothing and walked straight into the bathroom.

The second the hot water poured over me, it felt like a lot of things suddenly made sense.

For the past five years, it had been my one-sided endurance that kept this marriage going.

Meng Die probably chose to be with me out of pity and a sense of humanitarian duty. Maybe she had once had feelings for me, but now it was clear that our relationship was like a pile of loose sand. With even the slightest outside force, it would fall apart in an instant.

I didn’t want this kind of love, one that felt like walking on thin ice.