Chapter 2

Originally, I had planned to let Kevin use the house for school; it was something we'd agreed on a year ago.

But I was only lending it to them temporarily, and after seeing that so-called agreement today, I would never agree to give them the house, not if my life depended on it.

I went home, knowing Cyril wouldn't let it go.

But I wasn't afraid. I had already decided to divorce him.

The truth was, I'd looked into divorce matters a long time ago. The year my son Leonard first had his accident, I had a feeling my relationship with Cyril wouldn't last long.

But over the years, Cyril and I had both been so careful, and that was the only reason our marriage had lasted this long.

I felt this was the limit.

I first checked the savings under my name; there was only 500,000 dollars. As for the assets on Cyril's company side, I wasn't too clear about those.

After we got married, we owned two houses. The one we'd argued about today was left to me by my parents.

The year I gave birth to Leonard, we'd planned to save it for his schooling.

But Leonard only lived to be four years old.

The biggest reason I was angry today was that Cyril had forgotten that house was meant for Leonard.

And he'd brought up the fact that Leonard was already dead, right there in front of me.

Every mother who has lost a child carries a heart full of wounds.

Not long after I got home, Cyril came back too.

He walked in with a stern face, deliberately making a sour expression at me.

"Hazel, you really were in the wrong today. You clearly promised long ago to let Kevin use the house for school. You already put his name in for enrollment. How can you go back on your word now?"

Cyril's tone was a little gentler than before, but it still grated on me.

"What are they supposed to do now? Kevin is so young. The moment he heard he couldn't go to Lincoln Elementary, he kept crying and making a fuss."

I didn't want to respond to any of that.

In my heart, Cyril was no longer on my side.

"Did you read that agreement?"

When I asked him that, he paused for a moment before answering. "I read it."

"It's just an agreement. It doesn't change anything. Besides, there's no use in us keeping that house..."

He stopped when I looked at him.

"Cyril, I'm only 34 this year, not 43. If I wanted to have a child, I still could. And you know that house holds all my hopes tied to Leonard."

The moment I mentioned Leonard, my voice choked up again, and Cyril's expression turned bad too.

The truth was, Leonard wasn't only a wound in my heart; he was one in Cyril's as well.

When Leonard was not even two years old, he was diagnosed with leukemia. From the moment he was diagnosed, we did everything we could to cooperate with the treatment, but after more than two years, we still couldn't save his life.

Cyril knew what I was feeling, and he reached out and put his arm around my shoulder.

It wasn't until that moment that I finally cried out loud.

"I understand that you want a child. Haven't we been trying all these years too?"

"But having a child and letting Kevin use the house for school don't conflict. They're only borrowing it."

Cyril was still trying to persuade me.

"Cyril, I'm an actuary. I've seen countless contracts, countless clauses. I know where the loopholes are, and where a single step can drop someone into the abyss."

"It's not that I won't help them. It's that they're too greedy."

I knew saying this might make Cyril uncomfortable; after all, Rufus was his own younger brother.

"When I asked them about those clauses, I already had a clear idea in my head. I trust my instincts. What they wanted wasn't just the right to send Kevin to school."

My words left Cyril silent. He didn't say anything more, just reached out and held me tightly.

Two hearts that grieved for the same child could still, at certain moments, lean against each other.