Love Turned to Ashes and Disappeared

When Megan’s voice sounded again, there was a touch of awkward praise in her tone.

"Ugh, you have a good taste. I'm going to wear this match to the branding event tonight."

After a brief pause, she added, "Send me your address. I'll send you the custom-made suit that I ordered for the anniversary."

I refused her offer, "That won't be necessary. I don't have the same taste as Charlie Smith."

Charlie was Megan's "perfect" first love.

The man had become part of his life ever since he returned from abroad because he immediately became Megan's personal assistant. He would manage every single thing in her life, like deciding her schedules, or what kinds of presents she would give to others. So, in a way, every aspect of her daily routine was dictated by him.

As soon as I said Charlie's name, Megan mocked me with a sneer in her tone, "Who do you think you are? How dare you to compare yourself with Charlie!"

I let out a quiet laugh. "Yes, you’re right. I don’t measure up to him. That’s exactly why I’m telling you not to waste anything good on me."

I did not hear any response from her. Clearly, she was dumbfounded hearing my response.

I looked at the clock on the wall, then spoke again, "Please tell Charlie to schedule a day at civil family agency to process our divorce. Just text me the date. You don't need to call me."

When I was about to hang up, Megan suddenly spoke again, "Wait! My daughter is beside me. She wants to say something to you."

However, before Selena could say anything to me, I hung up the phone just as quickly and decisively as she had blocked me that day.

I put my cell phone down and sat down beside my grandfather to accompany him watching the Opera that he loved so much.

A week flew by in the blink of an eye.

While I was waiting for someone in the hotel lobby, I received a call from an unfamiliar number. Turned out, that it was a call from the dean of Selena's school.

He informed me that Selena had pulled a classmate’s hair after an argument broke out. The reason for the fight was that the other girl had repeated a rumor in front of the entire class and then asked Selena why her parents were getting divorced.

I paused for a moment and said calmly, "That’s not a rumor. Her mother and I are, in fact, divorced. I don’t have custody of the child, so you’ll need to contact her mother to resolve this issue."

After a brief, awkward silence, the dean explained that Selena had only provided my number.

So, I asked the dean to put the phone on speaker mode.

In front of the injured student and her parents, I spoke directly to Selena. "You were wrong to hit someone and when you’re wrong, you need to admit it. Isn’t that the principle you and your mother have always believed in?"

I continued, "Also, from now on, whether it’s you or your mother, don’t call me again. Selena, you need to understand that your mother, you and I … we no longer have any connection."

With that, I hung up, set my phone to Do Not Disturb and waved with a smile to my old friend David Cooper and his son, who had been waiting behind me.

When Megan was pregnant with Selena, she always told me she hoped for a son, because a son would protect her alongside me. However, I’d always fantasized about having a daughter.

Heaven had granted my wish, sending Selena into my life. I’d cherished her, doing everything I could to raise her with love and care.

Before she turned six, Selena would mourn the cartoon animals that died in her favorite shows and plant tiny trees in the backyard in their memory. After preschool, she’d run into my arms, while giggling and ask, "Dad, isn’t the little duck I drew cute?"

However then, as Megan started taking her more and more to her family mansion, something changed. By the time she was eight, she no longer asked for hugs or smiled at me the way she used to.

She began looking down on the red-brick farmhouse where my grandfather lived and said it couldn’t compare to the fancy city apartments. With disdain in her voice, she once told me, "You grew up in a place like this? No wonder Grandma never respected you."

David’s son’s hearty laughter snapped me out of my thoughts.

Seeing I had come back to reality, David clapped me on the shoulder and asked if I could help him with something.

He was my friend for so many years, so of course I didn’t even wait for him to explain before smiling and agreeing to help.