Husband Lost the Game and Killed My Mother

Because of losing a bet, Tom Hardy had the heart to tell my mother to go all the way to Tinsel Town. He wanted her to pick the freshest lychees of the season.

As a result, my mother had to spend more than fifty hours trip while sitting on a seat train. The journey was too much for her. In the end, she lost her life because of sheer exhaustion.

Even when she was in her final moment, she clutched those lychees tightly, asking the train attendant to deliver them to me.

After the attendant called me, I immediately came and retrieved my mother’s body. As I was kneeling in front of her casket, I was so furious and tried to call Tom, wanting to confront him.

However, I had to call him several times before his secretary finally picked it up.

"Tom is picking lychees right now. Is there something urgent?” she asked.

Hearing this my body trembled with rage.

“My mom is dead! Tell him to come back now!” I shouted.

On the other line of the phone, Tom's irritated voice cut in, "Are you out of your mind? Are you that crazy that you'll say anything just to keep me away from Ava Turner, huh?"

Before I could say anything to him, he had ended the call.

A moment later, I saw the WhatsApp status uploaded by his secretary. In the photo, I could see Tom peeling lychees with so much care for her. His body bathed in summer sunlight.

The caption said, "It is so sweet to have you by my side in this summer heat."

I calmly sent him a divorce paper.

However, he still had the audacity to come back. Not only that, he bought someone with him.

***

It was already late when I arrived at home and I was so tired. Having to deal with my mother's funeral and added with being heavily pregnant, it was no wonder I was extremely exhausted.

The moment I sank into the sofa, I heard the sound of the passcode lock turning.

I thought it was Tom, so I got up to welcome him. However, the one I saw was the sight of Ava unlocking the door. Her hand froze over the lock as she saw me.

Tom was leaning against her. His face flushed red and his breath reeked of alcohol.

When our eyes met, Ava immediately explained in an awkward manner, "I always bring documents for Mr. Hardy here. So, I figured it was easier to register my fingerprint."

In the past, I would’ve demanded an explanation.

However now, I felt nothing, like a pool of stagnant water. Not even a ripple stirred within me.

My child wasn’t even twenty-eight weeks in my womb and after exhausting myself to handle my mom’s funeral, I was at my breaking point.

I turned to the bedroom to rest, but Tom blocked my path.

He smiled and with his glazed eyes, he stumbled toward me. "Natalie, I bought you some lychees. Come on, eat quickly.”

As he spoke, he grabbed a bag from Ava’s hand and handed it to me. When I opened there were lychees that had been oxidized and turned black.

Lychees. Lychees!

As I remembered my mother who was lying in the morgue with a pale face. A burning sense of rage surged inside of me. I ripped the back apart, spilling the lychees all over the floor.

Tom just stood there, stunned. When he came back to his senses, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Natalie Johnson, what the hell is wrong with you? I picked those lychees for you, straight from Tinsel Town!"

I laughed bitterly. "For me! No! Clearly, they're for her!" I pointed at Ava. My eyes filled with unshed tears.

Ava and Tom had grown up together. Ava had admired him since childhood and after she returned from studying abroad, she immediately started working as his secretary. They traveled together on business trips, spending more time with each other than I, his actual wife, ever did.

However, I did not blame Ava. After all, “where there's smoke, there's fire."

In the five years we’d been married, it was Tom who had slowly forgotten the promises he once made.

However, one thing they should never have done was cause my mother's death.

After I exposed them, Tom’s voice turned colder, "Ava is my secretary. She goes wherever I have to deal with my work. Stop making a scene."

I glared at him. My voice shook with anger, "If you were going to Tinsel Town, why did you tell my mother to go there?"

Tom’s face registered a brief surprise before an understanding look came into his face as if everything suddenly clicked in his mind. “Oh … was Mom upset? I was stuck at a drinking event and couldn’t leave, so I asked her to go to my place. She didn’t actually go, did she?”

He sounded both shocked and dismissive.

So, my mom died because of one of his careless jokes?

Thinking the "misunderstanding" had been cleared up, Tom’s expression relaxed and he laughed.

“Ah, it’s not a big deal. You know how much your mom dotes on me. I’ll just buy her a little gift and apologize. I'm sure she’ll forgive me.”

He then glanced at Ava before turning to look back at me. “Okay, wife, go make us some hangover soup.”

After saying that, he held Ava and sat on the sofa with her.

In the past, I would have rushed to make that soup the moment I saw he had been drinking. I knew how hard he worked at social events and he always told me my hangover soup was the best in the world.

I had spent countless nights waiting at home, tried comforting myself with those words. However now, I was at my limit.

When I didn’t move, Tom got up. Seeing at my red, swollen eyes, he frowned.

“Is this still about me not telling you about the trip with Ava? We’re just friends! It’s nothing. Do you have to make such a big deal out of it?”

I looked at him, my voice filled with pain. “Is this nothing to you? My mother sat on a hard train seat for over fifty hours because of your stupid joke!”

Tom stood there, momentarily dazed by my outburst. Ava, who was standing beside him, said in a soft, pitiful voice.

“It’s all my fault. I was the one who wanted the lychees. I never thought Natalie would mind it so much.”

She even started crying as she spoke.

Before I could say anything, Tom stepped in front of her to shield her from me as if I was the one who was attacking her.

“Natalie, when are you going to stop? I brought you the lychees, didn’t I? We didn’t mean for anything to happen to your mom. Why didn’t she just take a plane instead of the train?”

Smack!

I slapped him hard across the face.

“Are you seriously blaming my mom? Do you remember when your company was on the brink of collapse and she gave you her entire life savings to help you survive? After that, she scrimped and saved every penny, terrified something would go wrong again.”

“It’s only been five years, Tom. Are you seriously saying that you have forgotten everything that she had done for you?”