After My Son Died, I Set My Husband Free

In the living room on the first floor, the large Chow Chow was gnawing on Matthew's urn.

Its drool had soaked into the black cloth wrapped around the urn, utterly disgusting.

In my mind, Matthew's last words echoed.

"Mom, when I'm gone, please bury me somewhere far away. I don't want to see Dad again."

"Mom, I want to be your son in the next life too, but please choose a better dad for me. Pinky promise."

To fulfill Matthew's final wishes, I carefully wrapped his urn in layers of black cloth before bringing it home.

Isabella sat eating grapes, her legs draped over the sofa as if she owned the place.

"Daniel, look how cute Matt is. How could anyone say he's a vicious dog?"

The dog's name was Matt, and my son's name was Matthew.

I had once told Daniel that Isabella had deliberately named the dog "Matt" to spite us, but he dismissed it as me being overly sensitive.

"Give me back my thing!"

I rushed downstairs, shouting at the Chow Chow to scare it away.

Isabella jumped, startled, and shot me a disdainful look.

"It's not like it's something valuable. If my dog wants to play with it, let it."

Daniel frowned, not understanding why I was so upset.

"What's the matter now? If it's that important, I'll just buy you another one."

"Daniel, you couldn't afford it!"

I lost control and lunged for the urn.

But the Chow Chow wasn't going to give it up easily. Isabella hadn't trimmed its nails, and it clawed at my arm, leaving deep scratches that bled.

I was beyond reason, furiously grabbing a plate from the table and hurling it at the dog. Startled, it scurried away.

Seeing that I was close to retrieving the urn, Isabella shot a glance at Tina.

"Tina, Matt was just playing nicely. Now that he's being bullied, why aren't you helping?"

Tina hesitated, but Daniel nodded silently.

"Pull her away."

Tina yanked me aside, forcing me to kneel in front of Isabella.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Wilson."

Kneeling there, I felt a deep, burning humiliation.

"Daniel, are you just going to let Isabella walk all over me?"

"Matt was only playing with something. You hit him and even threw a plate at him. Charlotte, you know full well how much Matt means to Isabella. When did you become so cruel?"

Instead of helping me, Daniel's tone was filled with reproach.

"I told you, that dog was biting something incredibly important to me!" I spat through gritted teeth.

Daniel frowned slightly, dismissing my concern.

"It's not like it's your son's body, why do you care so much?"

I shuddered, my eyes reddening as I fell silent.

"Daniel, I want a divorce."

Daniel walked over, towering above me as he looked down.

It seemed like he was seeing my resolve for the first time. Reluctantly, he conceded.

"Apologize, and I'll make sure Isabella forgives you."

"I'll never apologize to a mistress as long as I live." I bit down hard on my words.

Daniel frowned, letting out a quiet sigh after a long pause.

Seeing him soften, Isabella snorted coldly.

"Charlotte, you're so hypocritical. You claim to love your son, but when he was sick, instead of staying at the hospital to care for him, you came back just to cause trouble for me. You're a fraud."

"You have no right to talk about Matthew." Anger flickered in Daniel's eyes.

A trickling sound interrupted.

I turned to see the dog, Matt, lifting its hind leg and urinating on the urn.

My eyes turned crimson with fury as I wrenched myself free from Tina, rushing to clutch the now-wet urn to my chest.

Matt barked loudly, rabidly, as I tried to run upstairs, but it quickly latched onto my leg, dragging me back down.

"Ah!"

A chunk of flesh was torn from my leg, but I held the urn tightly against my chest.

Isabella, at some point, had walked over to me. She seized the moment to snatch the urn.

I reached out to grab it, and Matt lunged at me again, startling Isabella. Daniel reached out to protect her, inadvertently knocking the urn from her hands.

The urn hit the ground with a heavy thud, the black cloth unraveling, leaving the pale ashes to mix with the yellow urine.

My eyes welled up as I desperately tried to scoop the ashes back into the broken urn.

"You're disgusting, bringing someone's ashes into your home." Isabella took three steps back in disdain.

Daniel frowned, noticing the cut on Isabella's foot from the urn's shattered pieces, his expression darkening.

"Charlotte, even if you begged me this time, I wouldn't forgive you."

He picked up his phone and called Matthew's primary doctor, Jackson Bennett.

"Jackson, I'm ordering you to stop all treatment for Matthew."

Jackson's voice trembled.

"Mr. Wilson, Matthew passed away last night.

"Mrs. Wilson had his body cremated, and she must have taken the urn home this morning."

"Matthew is dead? Impossible! Why wasn't I informed?" Daniel's eyes widened in disbelief.

On the other end, Jackson hesitated.

"Mrs. Wilson tried to call you, but you didn't answer. When we tried to notify you, she told us your phone was off.

"And Mr. Wilson, Matthew's eyes were still open when he passed. He died with regret, and Mrs. Wilson cried all night."