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Perhaps feeling guilty for abandoning me last time, Ethan has been much kinder to me lately.
And I’ve been too lazy to argue with him, so a brief calm has settled over our home.
One night, a sudden thunderstorm broke out. For some reason, I felt uneasy deep down.
Sure enough, after dinner, my cat Whiskers, who had been my companion for years, started vomiting uncontrollably. I cried in fear, holding her as I begged Ethan to take us to the vet.
He initially suggested waiting until morning, but seeing how distraught I was, he reluctantly agreed to drive us to the animal hospital.
On the way there, my hands kept shaking as I held Whiskers. She was a gift from my mom, and my last connection to her.
But just as we neared the hospital entrance, Ethan’s phone rang like an ominous spell.
It was Melody again.
Her excuse was laughable – “I’m scared being alone during the
storm.”
Yet it was this very excuse that made Ethan abandon me once
more.
Ethan’s justification was equally absurd – “How can a pet compare to a person?”
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We weren’t far from the animal hospital, but getting a cab in this downpour would be nearly impossible.
I couldn’t afford to waste a second. I took off my coat, wrapped Whiskers in it, tucked her into my arms, and dashed out into the pouring rain.I arrived at the pet hospital, and after examining Whiskers, the vet asked me to prepay $10,000 for the surgery.
But I didn’t have that kind of money on me.
Since graduating, I’ve been a housewife. Ethan gives me a monthly allowance of $10,000, and he often comes home for meals. I’m responsible for all the household expenses, so that money only covers our basic living costs.
With no other choice, I called Ethan. The phone rang five times before he finally answered.
“Ethan, can you lend me $10,000? It’s for Whiskers‘ treatment.”
“Scarlett, it’s just an animal. It’s not worth spending that much money on.”
“But you can easily afford it. Please, I promise I won’t argue with you anymore.”
“Alright, then you—”
He was about to agree when Melody called his name, and then the call was abruptly disconnected.
The money? Ethan didn’t give it to me.
The phone? It wouldn’t connect anymore.
I had no choice but to beg the vet. I placed everything valuable I
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had on his desk and got down on my knees, pleading with him to save my Whiskers quickly.
The vet couldn’t bear to watch. He helped me pay the fee.
I waited outside for a long time, but when the vet came out, he just shook his head.“Miss Carlisle, if we had come a little earlier, there might have been a chance, but now…”
I walked back from the hospital alone, holding Whiskers, soaked in the rain, like a walking corpse.
I buried him under the sweet osmanthus tree in the yard, the wedding gift my mom gave me when Ethan and I got married, also her last gift to me.
Seeing me settled down, Mom finally found peace and went to join Dad on a quiet night.
Mom’s gone, Whiskers is gone, and soon, Ethan will be gone too.
I sat by the small mound in the yard all night.
When Ethan came back the next day, he found me looking
withered and haggard.
“Ethan, let’s get a divorce.”
