After mom

7

After hanging up, I immediately blocked his number.

From then on, Jacob stopped bringing Lucas around.

I also pulled myself together and left the old house.

Jacob and I hadn’t finalized our divorce yet, and I still had my job in the city.

Mom came to me in a dream, telling me to pick myself up and live well.

3:01 PM

fo

I didn’t want to disappoint or worry her. I had to try hard to get better.

I rented an apartment near my company, which made commuting convenient.

My colleagues didn’t know about my mom’s passing; I had only told my boss. So when I returned to work, everything seemed normal, which made me feel a bit better.

I unblocked Jacob’s number and sent him a message, urging him to meet me at the civil affairs bureau at 9 AM the next day to finalize our divorce. After sending the message, I blocked him again.

But the next day, I waited at the civil affairs bureau until noon, and he never showed up.

I was about to call and confront him when my phone rang. It was an unknown number. Jacob’s anxious voice came through, “Lucas is critically ill. Come to People’s Hospital quickly!”

“Do you find it amusing to make up excuses to avoid the divorce?”

“It’s true. He caught a fever after getting caught in the rain with me that day. It’s been on and off for half a month. He was eventually diagnosed with pneumonia, and today his condition suddenly worsened. The doctor says it’s not looking good…”

I remained unmoved, “Jacob Thompson, do you think I’ll still believe you? You and your son are both liars. You don’t deserve to be my husband and son! Come sign the divorce papers right now!”

Jacob broke down, “Abby, I’m begging you. Please come see our son. He keeps calling for his mom…

“You’re quite the actor, but I don’t have time for this. Be good and stop causing trouble at a time like this.”

I didn’t care whether what he said was true or false, just like how he never listened to me in the past.

Jacob Thompson, how does it feel when no one believes or listens to you no matter how you try to explain?

But after I dismissed Jacob, his mother came pleading.

Jacob’s mom had always been good to me. Whenever I had conflicts with Jacob because of Emma, she always stood by my side.

She had scolded Jacob more than once, telling him to have some boundaries and not to do anything to hurt me.

She even went to confront Emma directly for my sake, warning her to stay away from Jacob, saying she only recognized me as her daughter–in–law.

As soon as she saw me, she burst into tears, “Abby, mom knows those two have made a huge mistake and hurt you deeply. You’re right not to forgive them. I know it’s hard to ask this of you now, but mom really has no choice. Lucas is very sick…”

“Auntie, I have nothing to do with them anymore.”

“Just take pity on this old grandmother, will you? Let me finish what I have to say.”

I remained silent, and she continued, “Lucas truly knows he was wrong. These days while he’s been sick, he keeps having nightmares at night, crying out for his grandma and mom. When he wakes up, he hugs me and says he knows he was wrong, that he didn’t mean it, that he misses his grandma and mom..”

“If we weren’t out of options, I wouldn’t have the face to come find you, considering what those two did was truly unforgivable! But Lucas is suffering so much, he won’t eat a bite, he just keeps asking for his mom. If this goes on, he really might not make it..”

Jacob’s mother cried heartbrokenly, her words sincere. Compared to before, she seemed to have aged a lot in a short time.

I sighed. Remembering how good she had been to me in the past, and feeling sorry for her, I agreed.

I went to the hospital to see Lucas. His condition was indeed as his grandmother had described.

Fortunately, after emergency treatment, he was out of danger.

When I went to his room, he was asleep, though not peacefully.

3:02 PM

♡ fo

He seemed to be trapped in a nightmare, his expression twisted in pain, his limbs flailing in the air as he called out for “mom” and “grandma” through his tears.

His grandmother didn’t dare wake him and could only try to soothe him gently. Jacob sat by the bed, looking haggard from lack of sleep.

I stood there like an outsider, watching coldly, not moving.

Jacob’s mother’s attempts at soothing didn’t seem to work. After struggling for a while, Lucas suddenly cried out and opened his eyes.

His blank gaze met mine, and he immediately burst into tears.

“Mom, I’m sorry. Lucas really didn’t mean to. I just wanted to play a game with grandma. Emma told me to secretly throw away grandma’s medicine to see if she would notice. She also said to lock grandma in the room so she couldn’t catch me, and then I would win the game.”