Ashes of Love, We’ll Never Meet Again

On the fifth day, he posted a photo of himself having dinner alone. The afterglow of the setting sun lazily sprinkled on the old wooden table, stretching his shadow very long. 

There was steaming porridge on the table, but the taste seemed to be mixed with an indescribable loneliness.

Jackie's face was also deeply scarred. When he was young, he was very handsome, standing out among the crowd like a crane among chickens. 

Clara fell in love with him at first sight and she knew that she would be stuck with him for the rest of her life. 

Was the revenge on him a little ruthless? He was just an octogenarian.

On the sixth day, the phone was unusually quiet.

Clara just found it funny. Was his persistence only for five days?

That was good too, quiet and comfortable.

Still having not received any message from Jackie at night, Clara laid on the big bed and casually turned on the camera at home, which was installed by the children so that they could see their parents anytime and anywhere.

The lights in the yard were on. Clara looked carefully and saw Mara sitting in her usual rocking chair and Jackie was also sitting beside her drinking hot tea. 

The two of them were accompanied by the moonlight and it seemed that they were an old couple living a peaceful life.

It would be a lie to say that she did not feel uncomfortable at this moment. Although she did not want to care, she had lived with him a lifetime after all.

Since marrying Jackie at a young age, he had been her unwavering faith. For her family, her husband and her children, she convinced herself it was love at first sight.

But after enduring the trials of time, that faith crumbled. In the end, it felt like life had played a cruel, merciless joke on her.

Tears could not help but fall, Clara turned off the phone, snuggled into the warm cup and soon felt sleepy.

The lights were turned off and the room was pitch dark.

The next day, she was on a boat trip with her tour group when she received a call from her daughter, who was choking with sobs.

“Mom, why are you not home? Is something wrong?”

Girls were always thoughtful. Maybe she saw something in the video. In order to comfort her daughter, Clara pretended to be relaxed.

“Nothing, I was just traveling and met a lot of new friends.”

Her daughter wanted to say something, but instead, Clara said, “By the way, come home again in a few days. I have something to give you.”

“Okay.”

The two made an appointment and hung up the phone.

On the boat, Clara turned on the video at home. No wonder her daughter called her, it seemed Mara had already entered the house.

In the quaint courtyard, Jackie sat in a rocking chair while Mara sang Opera in front of the flower bed, posing and dancing. 

Her every frown and smile was delicate and artificial. Jackie listened with joy and clapped his hands to keep the rhythm.

After turning off the video, Clara curled the corners of her mouth in self-mockery.

The one-month trip ended quickly. It was already evening when she pulled her suitcase back home. 

Mara and Jackie were eating dinner at the dining table in the living room, she had one bowl and he had one. Clara's sudden intrusion seemed like a third party who broke the atmosphere.

Jackie stood up quickly and explained, “Mara has been feeling unwell and her daughter has not come back yet, so I had to take her over. Please sit down first and I'll serve you some food.”

Ignoring him, Clara went straight into the bedroom. She was stunned when she entered the room. 

The bed was neatly stacked with women's pajamas that did not belong to her and the bottles and jars in front of the dressing table were obviously not her cosmetics. 

The things that belonged to her were scattered in a cardboard box and thrown at her feet.

She frowned, turned and left the bedroom, looking at Jackie.

Jackie paused, as if remembering something, “After Mara came here, I let her sleep in the master bedroom. You're not here anyway. Also, don’t worry, I've been staying in the second bedroom these days.”

‘So, he let another old lady sleep in my bed?’ Clara sneered in her heart.