The shock was like a dagger stabbed into my heart, leaving me to freeze there. However, I ran into Raymond, who was welcoming all the guests.

He said, "Why did you come so late, Christopher?"

Rachel frowned at me. "What are you doing here? Today is Cole's big day, don't mess around."

Her words agitated all my sorrow and bewilderment as well as my tears.

"Why did Cole take Luna's place? Why did she die in the hospital so abruptly? Why didn't you answer my call?" I asked harshly.

Thinking of this, my heart ached.

The food I prepared was still on the table in my house, but no one would go back to unite with me.

My whole family had turned into cold ashes.

And now, my wife became someone else's son's mother.

Raymond hurriedly explained, "Luna voluntarily gave up her place. As a girl, the only thing she needs to do is to marry a good man. But Cole is a boy. He needs a career."

"Luna is dead, so are my parents, and you came here to celebrate with another man?" I questioned her with a hoarse voice.

The huge hotel was filled with guests and laughter.

But I could only stay at home and cry silently in front of the bone ashes of my beloved family.

"Christopher Simmons, can you stop being such a crazy man? Bone marrow donation has no effect on human body, not to mention the last time Luna did that was three years ago. Don't use her as an excuse to bring me home." Rachel paused for a second and continued, "Also, your parents have had heart problems for a long time and never go out for a long period of time, so how can they die all of a sudden? I don't want to talk to a liar anymore."

Rachel's rejecting glare made the words I hadn't finished saying get stuck in my chest.

My daughter died under unclear circumstances, and my parents also passed away because of this misery.

But all these miserable things were my scheme to win her heart from another man in her eyes.

After twenty years of our marriage, the initial passion for each other had long been worn out.

It was our common children who prevented this family from falling apart.

Middle-aged couples could always make do with their lives for the sake of their children.

But with my daughter and parents' death, the last bond between Rachel and me was broken.

I felt hopeless and didn't want to look at the woman in front of me anymore.

"Rachel, I will divorce you," I said.

Rachel frowned and said nothing.

Glancing at Rachel, Raymond sighed.

"It's not your fault to have no son with Rachel with your rather low-quality sperm, Chris. Rachel is Cole's godmother and will treat you two very well in the future. I know every man is a little paranoid about his face, but you can't ruin your family because of it."

Intense pain spread throughout my body.

Rachel and her family had long blamed me for not conceiving her a boy, even though I had been taking care of her for twenty years and persuaded my parents to help Rachel become the youngest dean in her hospital.

In order to win back her heart, I even believed in the folk remedy of having a son and watched as needles longer than my forearms pierced into my body.

But now, everything I did was so ridiculous.

Rachel didn't love me or Luna.

I suddenly remembered that when we began to date, Rachel accidentally got an orange. After tasting a slice, she knew it was the taste I favored, so she rode her bike for more than an hour to give the orange to me.

She gained the recognition of my parents through her unremitting efforts.

We lived happily and lovingly after marriage, and she took good care of me and our daughter.

She even took care of everything, including feeding Luna, coaxing her to sleep, and changing diapers in the middle of the night.

Every day when I woke up, I could eat the loving breakfast made by Rachel and get a kiss from her.

Such happy and beautiful days came to an abrupt end when my father retired due to illness.

She seemed like a different person after that, busy with social events all day and not coming home all night, which crushed her body; she had a serious kidney disease.

In order to save her, I donated a kidney without telling her and also lost the ability to work from then on.

However, she started to be picky about me since I couldn't work.

She despised me for being useless, for not being able to satisfy her sexually, and for not being able to get her pregnant with a boy.

There was even one time when I saw her hugging a younger man on the street.

As I waited day after day, I finally understood that Rachel married me only because she wanted to get the help of my parents to gain more power.

She had been having a secret affair with Raymond for the twenty years we had been married.

The lives of our family were not as important as Raymond and his son.

Now, she could even destroy my family for Cole.

Rachel said, "Don't embarrass yourself here. Look at what you are like now. Disappear in front of me now."

The messy me couldn't be compared to Raymond, who looked proud in that well-tailored suit.

Before I could open my mouth, Raymond suddenly covered his chest and fell down.

"Rachel, something's wrong with my body... I don't feel well!" he said.

Rachel looked at Raymond nervously and shouted at me, "Call Luna to come over for a bone marrow extraction now! His life is at stake. I don't have time to talk about this bullshit with you and your daughter!"

But Luna was dead!

In order to donate bone marrow to Raymond, she died alone in the hospital on her parents' 20th wedding anniversary.

"Luna is gone. Even if she is alive, don't you even care about her health when you forcefully tell her to donate bone marrow continuously in a short period of time?"

Rachel didn't even look at me and prepared to rush to the hospital with Raymond.

The nervousness in his eyes was an emotion I had never seen before.

Unable to contact Luna, she came home angrily and grabbed my arm to force me to do a bone marrow match.

She shouted, "You must have instigated that little bitch to hide. Raymond is a living person! I can't believe you actually want to kill an innocent life just because of jealousy!"

I struggled hard.

"Rachel, have you seen the bone ashes box on the table? Luna is dead. She died in your hospital to save your lover. My parents were also startled by Luna's death and died of a recurrence of heart disease. Do you even want me to die now?"

She glanced at the urn and sneered.

"When the hell did I ask Luna to donate bone marrow? I told you that the last donation was three years ago. You are addicted to lying. Come with me now. If I can't save Raymond today, I will let you pay."

My daughter's ashes were there, but Rachel still didn't believe what I said.

I struggled to shake off her grip and slapped her face.

"Open your eyes! Luna is dead and cremated right after her death..." I said.

I gathered all my strength in this slap, making her cheeks swollen. Then, veins popped out on her head.

She looked so indifferent. "Raymond said you must have bought these fake things to attract my attention, but I trusted you wouldn't do such a thing. I can't believe you let jealousy get the worst of you."

As she spoke, Rachel walked to the bone ashes box with a photo of Luna on it.

In that gray picture, she smiled like bright sunshine.

Rachel lifted it and asked, "Still acting, huh? Try it if you can after this!"

"Rachel, what are you going to do?" I stared at her with wide eyes in a panic.

Before I could get close to her, Rachel threw Luna's bone ashes to the ground.

"No!"

My heart was broken into pieces along with the place where she could temporarily rest in peace.

Gray ashes lingered around me, as if countless hands were strangling my neck and dragging me into hell.

I collapsed to the ground instantly and tried my best to put her bone ashes back.

"You acted quite convincingly. You've learned to be smarter than before to perform with a full set of plays. The props you made are quite realistic." Rachel stepped on the bone ashes on the ground.