I tightly held Christine's hand resting on the bed. There was still a trace of warmth in her palm. But soon, she would lose all signs of life, becoming nothing more than a corpse. At the very least, I had to make sure she passed peacefully. With that thought in mind, I contacted the crematorium.

As I waited at the crematorium, memories of her life came flooding back. She had never married, only adopting Xavier as her child. In the time we spent together, she treated me like her own, filling the void left by my troubled childhood.

She was kind, and Xavier had once been loving. I thought my future would be happy until Eve Parker came into the picture and Xavier began staying out late.

At first, it was just one night. He came back, his eyes red, holding me close as he explained,

“It was just a reunion with old friends. The drinks were strong, so one of my buddies let me crash at his place for the night.”

I nodded, and I believed him. However, one night turned into two, and two became a week. Then, he started claiming he was working late, only coming home twice a month.

Sensing something was wrong, Christine took me to Xavier's apartment one evening.

The night was quiet, and we saw him through the floor-to-ceiling windows, holding a beautiful stranger in his arms. Their embrace was intimate, and right as we arrived, they kissed.

Christine slapped Xavier across the face. He covered his cheek, but even then, he shielded the trembling woman in his arms.

When he met my eyes, he was calm.

“Mom, it’s not Eve’s fault. Hit me instead. I've decided to divorce Sara. I want to have a future with Eve.”

His words stunned me, and my heart ached with a sharp, unbearable pain.

Enraged, Christine slapped him three more times, making his face swell. Still, he stood firm, his gaze unwavering, while the woman behind him whimpered softly.

In the end, he was still her son, and she couldn’t bring herself to punish him further. She decided to leave most of her estate to me, as compensation for the suffering I endured.

Under the pressure of her ultimatum, Xavier agreed not to divorce me, bound by his sense of duty to his mother, and I, as foolish as I was, chose to trust him again. Yet, no one could have predicted what came next.

The very next day, Eve disappeared into the artificial lake near our neighborhood. Surveillance footage showed that I was the only one who had been near the lake, and it wasn’t long before I was suspected of murder.

Even though Eve’s body was never recovered, Xavier still erected a gravestone in her honor. He forced me to kneel at the lake.

“Sara, if it weren’t for you, Eve would still be alive! How could you be so cruel? She was too pure and innocent to be destroyed by someone like you! I should’ve divorced you a long time ago.”

No matter how I tried to explain, Xavier refused to believe me. There was no body in the lake, so there was no proof that I had anything to do with Eve’s disappearance. However, blinded by grief and hatred, he blamed me for the death of his first love and forced me to kneel until my knees scraped raw.

When I returned home, Christine saw my injuries. The sight of them was too much for her to bear, and she collapsed in a fit of rage. Now, the woman who had loved and cared for me was gone. Her body had been turned to ashes, sealed in a small urn.

I held the urn close as tears streamed down my face. Never before had I felt so powerless.

I stumbled through the arrangements for her burial, numb and broken. Just before the burial, a voice called out, stopping me.

The cry was sad. It was as if emotions that had been suppressed for far too long were finally breaking free.

I followed the sound and saw Xavier. He was kneeling by a grave, his eyes red.

How ridiculous. For days, I had tried countless times to reach him, only to fail every single time. To make it worse, Christine’s ashes lay quietly not far from him, yet he was there grieving at Eve's grave.

Sensing my gaze, Xavier looked at me, his expression quickly turning cold. He stood up abruptly and stormed over, grabbing my shoulders in a fit of rage.

"When are you going to stop clinging to me? Sara, can’t you stop following me around? How shameless of you to disturb Eve's peace!"

My emotions hit me like a wave, and I slapped him hard across the face.

"Can you get a grip? You were grieving for Eve when your mother died, and now, while your mother is about to be buried, you’re still grieving for Eve! Is Eve the only person who exists in your world?"

Xavier froze for a moment, holding his face, speechless. He followed my gaze and saw the urn on the ground too. Confusion flashed across his face before it twisted in anger.

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? You’re using the urn to provoke me! You’re proud that you killed Eve, aren’t you?”

I felt like I was about to go insane. How could anyone reason with a person like that?

"The lake isn’t that big, and Eve’s body never surfaced. How could you possibly think I had anything to do with her death?

“Now, Eve may not even be dead, but your mom really is. And it’s because of you! She could’ve been saved, but you refused to save her because of your obsession with your maybe-dead first love!”

For a moment, there was a silence.

Xavier’s eyes flickered, like he might be moved by what I said. I thought he believed me, but the next thing I knew, he grabbed the urn from the ground, his expression looking even crazier.

“You’re still lying to me, huh? I’m a doctor, Sara! I know my mom’s illness has almost no chance of relapsing. You and she are in on this together!”

I panicked as he raised the urn high above his head, trying to stop him.

“Xavier, this is your mom’s ashes! I’m not lying to you. If anything happens to them, you’ll regret it.”

He snickered, and at that moment, I understood what his laughter meant because he threw the urn to the ground with all his strength.

I lunged forward but couldn’t catch it. All I could do was watch helplessly as the urn shattered, spilling most of the ashes across the ground. My knees scraped the ground in the process, leaving me bleeding.

Xavier’s cold voice sounded from above me.

“What are you trying to pull now? Why would I ever believe anything you say? Sara, even if you threaten to kill yourself right here, I won’t believe a single word you say.”

I bit my lip and started gathering the ashes back into the broken urn. Xavier, however, clicked his tongue in irritation and kicked the urn farther away. More ashes spilled out, scattering everywhere.

I watched as the urn became dented beyond recognition. Pain and sorrow flooded me, paralyzing me in place.

Xavier, seeing my pause, took it as guilt.

“Stop pretending! What, did you fill that thing with flour or something? What a performance! I never realized you had this talent when we got married.”

Suddenly, his phone rang. Xavier shot me a glance before answering. He spoke loudly, and I could hear the conversation.

“Mr. Grey, I’m your mother’s lawyer. I’m calling to discuss her estate. She left a will stating that everything goes to Ms. White. I just need confirmation that you’ve been informed.”

Xavier’s grip tightened on his phone, and his voice grew tense. “Can you stop with the games? Do you think it’s fun playing a fool of me?”

The lawyer’s voice remained cold. “No one is playing a fool of you. Your mother was buried today. We’re handling her affairs as she requested.”

Xavier abruptly ended the call. He walked over to the urn, crouched down, and picked up a bit of the spilled ashes. Ashes were nothing like flour, and the difference was obvious.

Time passed slowly as I watched his frustration and anger gradually fade. In its place came shock and pain. After all, he’d never seen Eve’s body, but right there, right then, those were undeniably his mother’s ashes.

Xavier wasn’t a fool. He knew exactly what that meant.

I watched as his disbelief gave way to realization, and in the end, he collapsed to the ground. He stared blankly at me, his voice trembling as he whispered, “Is this really my mom’s ashes? My mom is dead?”