Love Long Gone

Three years after my parents got divorced, I ran into my mom at a restaurant.

She was having dinner with her daughter. When she saw me, her expression looked a little uncomfortable.

Right before she left, she pulled up her phone and opened Venmo. "Here, let me send you some money. You and your dad can get yourselves something nice to eat."

I pushed her phone back. "No thanks, Sarah. It's not like you ever cared much about me or Dad before."

Her face tightened, and she frowned hard.

"Why do you have to be as stubborn as your father? If you had stayed with me, you wouldn't be working as a server right now. Tell your dad this—if he admits he was wrong, I'll take you back and give you a good life."

I just stared at her coldly and said nothing.

Did she not know? My dad had already been dead for three years.

Sarah Miller looked me up and down, taking in my dirty apron and my hands covered in chapped, cracked skin from the cold. She sighed softly.

"I never should have agreed to let your father take you. It's really been hard on you, hasn't it? If he can't afford to raise you, he should have let go."

I shot back coldly, "Don't worry about it, Sarah. We're strangers now. Talking like that might give people the wrong idea."

Her face darkened. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but in the end, she just fell silent.

After a long moment, she turned and walked away.

Once she was gone, I just stood there holding my tray, my fingers stiff. A coworker came over and quietly asked, "You okay?"

I shook my head.

Another coworker whispered, "Was that... was that Sarah Miller? From Miller Group? I heard she's still completely devoted to her ex-husband. She burned bridges with her whole family for him back in the day. I even saw an interview where she said the people she feels she failed the most are her ex-husband and her son."

I let out a cold laugh. "If she really felt that guilty, why would she have abandoned them?"

When they saw I didn't believe them, my coworkers rushed to explain. "She walked away with nothing for his sake. She gave up custody voluntarily. She was willing to start from scratch.

"I also heard she built a primary school in a poor mountain area and named it after her son. I think she's done more than enough."

I looked up at them, my voice calm and almost expressionless. "She pretended to be broke in front of her husband. When she left with nothing, she stuck him with all their debt. He had to donate part of his liver and sell his own blood to pay it off.

"My dad got a post-op infection and couldn't afford surgery. Meanwhile, she was at an auction buying her new boyfriend a million-dollar watch. She wouldn't even pay for my dad's medical bills.

"And to protect some guy she was seeing, she hit me so hard she damaged my ear. I can't play the piano anymore because of her."

Everyone went quiet. My coworker's eyes went wide. "You..."

I stayed perfectly calm. "Yeah. I'm her son."

They shut up immediately. Then after a moment, one of them couldn't help asking, "But didn't you just say your dad is already..."

I didn't answer. I just lowered my head and kept working, shutting out all the gossip.

After my shift, I went to a flower shop and bought a bunch of white chrysanthemums, plus a birthday cake.

At the cemetery, I put the flowers down and set the cake in front of the headstone.

My dad's smiling picture looked back at me.

I crouched down in front of the grave and softly sang "Happy Birthday."

"Happy birthday, Dad," I said quietly. "I ran into her today. I don't think she knows you're gone yet.