This Thanksgiving, Elmer Fuller finally agrees to go on a trip with me.

But when I wake up in the hotel, I don't see him anywhere.

I spend the entire day desperately searching for him, only to stumble across a social media post from his first love.

It's a selfie of her and Elmer having a cozy family dinner with her parents. The caption reads, "Someone's finally meeting the parents on Thanksgiving night. Mom and Dad can stop pressuring me to get married now!"

Around her neck is the scarf my mother knitted for me before she passed.

I left a comment. "Stop using my things to flirt with my husband. Take the scarf off—you can have him."

Not long after, she posts an update.

The scarf is shredded into pieces and tossed into a dog bed, with the caption, "What trash—too filthy even for a dog!"

Elmer likes the post.

"Moira, Risa's family was pressuring her like crazy. She had no choice but to ask me to pretend to be her boyfriend. We just needed to get through Thanksgiving, it's not like we're actually dating.

"But then you had to leave that passive-aggressive comment on her post. Who else did you think she was gonna take it out on?"

Elmer Fuller had called me not long after I commented, trying to explain why he had ditched me at the hotel.

But I couldn't calm down.

"I'm not joking, Elmer. You gave her the scarf my mom left me before she died. I want a divorce."

Then I heard Larissa Marrow crying on the other end of the line.

"Moira, I'm sorry. It was thoughtless of me. I'll replace the scarf. I didn't mean to upset you. Please don't fight with Elmer."

Every time Larissa cried, Elmer forgot everything else. And sure enough, his voice turned sharp with impatience.

"Moira Stephenson! It's just a stupid scarf. Are you gonna keep harping on this? You've ruined Thanksgiving for everyone. Are you happy now? I'm not coming back. Think about what you've done."

Then he hung up.

When I tried to message him, I saw that I had been blocked.

My nails dug deep into my palms.

In a city that wasn't mine, with fireworks lighting up a thousand homes, I sat alone on the hotel bed in the dark. I buried my face in my knees and sobbed until I couldn't breathe.

…

I regretted bringing that scarf the moment I left home.

I could still picture my mom, frail and fading, carefully knitting the last rows. Her sunken face lit up with the softest smile.

"Here, try this on. I made it for you. When it gets cold, wear it, okay? That way, I won't worry."

There wasn't a scarf in the world warmer than that one. And now it had been unraveled, thrown into a dog kennel, and soaked in filth.

I didn't stay for the rest of the trip. I went straight home.

Elmer came back two days later.

I was sitting on the couch when he walked in and tossed a scarf at my head, the tags still on. He was grinning like nothing had happened.

"Here. Risa bought it for you. Cost her a pretty penny."

I stared at the scarf, its rough, careless stitching glaring back at me. My face stayed blank as I tossed it straight into the trash.

"That one was hand-knit by my mom. This piece of crap doesn't even come close."

Elmer frowned when he saw the scarf in the bin, then sat down beside me.

"I know. But the dead won't come back, Moira. What's gone is gone. Risa didn't mean any harm, and it was you who pissed her off first, wasn't it? Come on, don't be mad."

He reached out like he always did, trying to pat my head.

I avoided his touch.

His hand froze mid-air, awkward, then slowly dropped back to his side. He looked down at the bowl in front of me.

"You didn't make me any?"

I took a sip of soup without looking at him. "Are you stupid? Why not have dinner with Larissa before coming back?"

"Moey, what kind of thing is that to say?"

He tried to scoot closer, his voice soft and coaxing. "Come on, it's you and me. We're a family."

I set the bowl down. "Let's get a divorce."

…

Elmer froze.

"What did you just say?"

I pulled out the divorce papers I had already prepared and handed them to him. "Take a look. If there's anything you don't agree with, we can talk."

He pushed the papers away without even glancing at them. "Why?" he asked.

Then he reached into the trash and picked up the scarf. "Don't tell me this is all because of this?"

"It's all because of this," I said flatly.

His jaw tightened.

He hurled the scarf back into the trash and got up, pacing the room. "How many times do I have to tell you? Me and her, it was just an act!"

"Risa's mom has a heart condition, and her biggest wish is to see her daughter get married before she passes on. Why can't you just understand that?

"You're always accusing me of something! I married you, Moira. How's that betrayal? What more do you want from me?" Elmer said.

"You already betrayed me," I said, looking at him coldly.

"It's not just sleeping with someone else that counts as betrayal. The moment you left me at that hotel without a word, we were done. And then you gave her the scarf my mom made me."

"I didn't tell you because I knew you'd overreact. That's the only reason I left like that. Risa gets cold easily, so what if I brought a scarf for her?"

"And what about next time?"

He blinked. "What?"

I let out a bitter laugh. "Her mom's still alive. Her wish was to see her daughter get married, not just bring a boyfriend home for the holidays."

"Moira!"

His voice snapped sharply, cutting through the air. "Don't you dare curse her mom like that!"

I laughed through my tears, unable to stop them from falling.

So my mom was just in the past tense now, but that precious Larissa's mom was sacred and untouchable?

I shook my head and slid the divorce papers toward him again. "Sign it."

His fists clenched, knuckles cracking. His jaw was locked tight. "You're serious?"

"Yeah." I picked up my bowl like he wasn't even there.

The next second, he snatched it from my hands and hurled it at the wall. It shattered, soup splattering across the floor.

He stared at me. "If we're getting divorced, what the hell are you still eating for?"

Then he turned and stormed out, slamming the door so hard the frame rattled.

I stood up. "Elmer…"

But everything suddenly went black. I reached for the table but missed, and slammed into it, knocking it over with a loud crash.

I hit the floor hard. A glass cup rolled off and shattered near me, shards slicing into my skin.

Pain bloomed in my lower abdomen, sharp and blinding. I struggled to lift my head. Through the blur, I thought I saw the door open again.

Elmer's figure rushed toward me. "Moey!"

…

"It hurts…"

Cold sweat broke out across my back. Just saying one word made my entire body tremble.

Elmer completely forgot we were in the middle of a fight. Without hesitation, he scooped me into his arms.

"Don't be scared. I'm taking you to the hospital right now."

But just as the words left his mouth, his phone rang at the worst possible moment.

The caller ID was "Risa".

One arm around my waist, he answered with the other, his voice sharp with irritation. "What is it?"

Larissa sounded a little hurt. "Elmer, you're leaving like that? My parents aren't coming home tonight, I'm scared of being here alone. Can't you come stay with me?"

"I don't have time."

He hung up without another word and adjusted his hold on me carefully.

The phone rang again almost immediately. Elmer let out a frustrated sigh. "I've got an emergency."

"Elmer!" Larissa started crying.

I felt Elmer's body stiffen.

Her voice on the phone was soft, pitiful.

"You used to never treat me like this… Whenever I said I was scared, you'd drop everything and come right away… But now that you're married, you've changed, haven't you?"

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore.

I snatched the phone from his hand, pain shooting through me as I growled into the speaker. "Call again, and I swear you won't even know how you died."

Then I hurled the phone against the wall.

The screen shattered on impact. I clenched my teeth, glaring at Elmer. "Can you take me to the hospital now?"

He froze, then gave a small nod, lifting me back into his arms.

As we stepped out the door, the smashed phone lit up again.

Beneath the broken glass, a message popped up. "If this is your choice, then I wish you well. From now on, we're strangers. Our paths will never cross again."

Suddenly, I slipped from his arms and crashed to the ground.

Elmer let go of me without thinking and grabbed the phone, bolting out the door without so much as a glance back.

I used every last bit of strength to call his name, but his footsteps only grew faster, farther.

Pain twisted through my abdomen, and the world spun violently. His silhouette in the hallway kept shrinking until it vanished.

Everything went dark, and I lost consciousness completely.

…

I had a miscarriage.

One of the neighbors found me collapsed outside, lying in a pool of blood. They rushed me to the hospital without wasting a second.

When I woke up in the hospital and heard the doctor talking, I still felt a little dazed.

"It was caused by emotional distress. Have you been going through something lately? Ma'am, are you listening?"

The nurse's voice sounded far away, like it was drifting from above the clouds.

I closed my eyes, and tears flowed silently down my cheeks.

My baby had left me before I even had the chance to feel him.

Suddenly, I remembered the night Elmer and I got married. He held me tightly and said, "Let's have a baby. I know you've always wanted one."

He was right.

Before my mom passed, her last wish was to see me settled down, with a family of my own. But she was in too much of a hurry.

She finished knitting the scarf, and then she left.

All these years, I kept blaming myself. If only I had brought Elmer to meet her sooner… If only we had gotten married earlier… Maybe she could've seen her grandchild before she died.

Maybe it would've made it a little easier for her to go.

My phone buzzed.

It was a new post from Larissa on social media.

In the photo, Elmer was asleep on her bed, fully clothed. The caption read, "I knew you wouldn't really leave me."

Larissa's free hand was resting lightly on Elmer's chest. On her ring finger was a wedding ring that was clearly too big for her.

I recognized it instantly.

It was our wedding ring.

I gave the post a like, then left a comment, "How sad, having to sneak a ring off his finger. Since you like picking up trash so much, why don't I just give him to you?"

Right after I posted it, my mother-in-law called.

"Moey, you and Elmer are back from your trip, right? Come home for dinner tonight, we'll have a little family gathering."

My father-in-law chimed in, "Yeah, your mom and I made spare ribs. Why so quiet? You guys aren't home yet?"

I gripped my phone tighter, but I had already made up my mind. "Dad, Mom… I'm getting a divorce."

After hanging up, I sent them everything that had happened over the past few days—screenshots of Larissa's posts and all.

…

As soon as they heard the news, my in-laws rushed to the hospital.

They ran around taking care of me, and even spent a lot of money buying supplements to help me recover.

Even though Elmer had a habit of abandoning me, his parents had always treated me like their own daughter.

But I still refused my mother-in-law's attempts to talk me out of it.

"Mom, I can't pretend like nothing happened and keep living with him. Once I'm better, I'll file for divorce."

That afternoon, though, my in-laws didn't come to the hospital.

I didn't ask why. Instead, I called a lawyer to start discussing the next steps.

That night, Elmer showed up.

I was sitting up in bed reading when he suddenly yanked me down with brutal force, his face twisted with rage.

"What the hell did you tell my parents? Why the hell did they go to Risa's work?"

I froze.

So that was why his parents hadn't come earlier. They went to confront Larissa.

That was when I noticed someone crying at the door.

Larissa stood there, her eyes red and watery.

"Moira, I know I can be immature sometimes… but you shouldn't have turned Elmer's parents against me. They're old, and it hurts me to see them get upset over misunderstandings."

The moment Larissa started crying, Elmer lost control just like always.

He grabbed my arm roughly.

"Do you even realize Risa had a meeting with a major client today? Because of your baseless accusations, she lost the deal, and now my parents are caught up in this, too! Come here. Apologize to her!"

He jerked me forward so hard I nearly fell to the ground.

"Stop faking! I know you're not even sick!"

Ignoring my condition, he yanked harder on my arm.

"Sick or not, you owe her an apology!"

I couldn't even stand up properly, I was almost kneeling. But Elmer, furious, just kept dragging me toward Larissa.

Desperate, I grabbed onto the table, knocking over a stack of papers—my hospital discharge papers for the miscarriage.

I slapped them hard against Elmer's chest.

"If you think I should apologize to Larissa, then what about you two? You're the ones who made me lose my baby!"

Elmer's hand froze mid-air. "What did you say?"