The Last Christmas

I took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress the simmering rage that was about to burst forth.

Turning around, I lowered my voice and said into the phone receiver, "Ivana, Noelle is dying."

There was a second of silence on the other end before a scoff came through. "Cut the crap! One second you're going crazy in Charles' Instagram comments, and in the next you're using Noelle to gain sympathy."

It felt as if all the blood in my body had frozen solid at that moment. Grief and fury surged violently through my chest.

I looked at Noelle, not daring to shout in front of her.

Holding back the pain in my heart, I pleaded, "Ivana, I'm begging you."

Still, my tears fell uncontrollably.

I hurriedly asked a nurse to watch over Noelle while I ran into the hallway and roared into the phone, "Come to the hospital now! You promised Noelle you'd dress up as Santarina for her!"

Ivana snapped back almost instantly, "I've got no time for this. I'm helping Charles look for Bubbles. If Bubbles is truly lost, Charles will be heartbroken."

In the next moment, she added, "Besides, Christmas is tomorrow. You're in such a hurry for me to come over because you're jealous, aren't you?"

I closed my eyes and let the tears slide down soundlessly.

After ten years of marriage, I finally understood that to Ivana, Noelle and I weren't even worth as much as Charles' dog.

I took a deep breath and said icily, "Ivana, it was supposed to be your turn to stay with Noelle tonight. If you hadn't left, Noelle might not have…"

Ivana seemed to have lost her patience as she cut me off. "Enough. I checked on her earlier. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her! Besides, Charles was so kind as to come and visit Noelle, but she kept kicking and hitting Bubbles…"

I practically roared. "What? Noelle is afraid of dogs! How could you let Charles bring a dog along to visit her? Do you even have a conscience?"

Ivana suddenly fell silent on the other end. She had forgotten that Noelle was allergic to dog fur.

Could her sudden deterioration have something to do with that?

Charles' voice came through the phone. "Ivana, maybe Jeremiah really does need you for something urgent. I'll keep looking for Bubbles myself. It was the first gift you ever gave me. Even if I can't be with you, seeing it reminds me of you…

"You already work so hard managing a company as a CEO. I don't want you to be exhausted during your personal hours. If Jeremiah can't even give you a little bit of personal time, then you should just go back."

Ivana comforted him gently, "Ignore him. He always uses the child to threaten me."

I laughed bitterly to myself. There wouldn't be any more threats like that in the future.

I stopped waiting for Ivana's response and shouted back, "Ivana, you killed Noelle! You'll regret this someday!"

After saying that, I hung up immediately.

On the way back to the hospital room, my heart hurt so badly that I could barely breathe. In the end, I couldn't bear to let Noelle spend the last Christmas Eve of her life filled with regret.

I searched through every office on the entire floor and finally found a female doctor about the same height as Ivana. I begged her to pretend to be Ivana.

An hour later, the doctor appeared beside Noelle's bed, wearing a Santarina costume borrowed from somewhere on the street. She was holding Noelle's favorite doll.

Noelle cried tears of happiness. "I knew Mommy wouldn't abandon me."

I covered my mouth and pulled Noelle tightly into my arms.

A nurse took a picture of our final moment together. In the end, Noelle died on that snowy Christmas Eve.

I quickly notified my older sister, Jennifer Gilder, who was overseas. She was the only family I had left in this world. After that, I brought Noelle to be cremated by myself.

Noelle was six years old. I used to feel proud that she took after her mother, as she had a tall and slender frame despite her young age.

However, now, all that was left of her was a tiny urn of ashes.

Holding her in my arms, I whispered, "Noelle, you always said that you wanted to see the ocean. I'll scatter your ashes into the sea, okay?"

This world had been far too cruel to her. I would rather lay her to rest in the deep sea.

By the time I walked out of the funeral home, it was already morning.

Just half an hour earlier, Ivana had still been posting on Instagram, looking for the dog.

I, on the other hand, posted Noelle's obituary to say goodbye to this world on her behalf.

Then, before blocking Ivana, I sent her one final message.

"Let's get divorced."