After the Last Tear: Rising from the Ashes of a Broken Marriage By Cassila K

Chapter 44

As I walked out of the cemetery, I saw someone I hadn't expected—my dad. Jackson must have gone to see him, which is how he found out about my mom's camera. He must have also known that I was back.

With a somewhat tentative tone, he asked, "Have you eaten?"

I didn't respond immediately and asked, "What do you want from me?"

He hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Could you come home for a while?"

I couldn't hold back a sarcastic laugh. "You've always told me to stay away. I've followed your wishes, so why now, all of a sudden, do you want me to return?" His voice trembled as he said, "... Your sister is ill. She has cancer."

I froze for a moment, taken aback.

"I've tried everything... we've sold everything we can. You're her sister. Could you help her?"

His face was full of sorrow and regret.

"I know you resent me, but it wasn't what I wanted. It wasn't my choice to push you away..."

His eyes were filled with pain. "You're my daughter. How could I ever bear to send you away? I had my reasons."

tangled mess

eager to tell him that I was going to follow in my mother's footsteps and become a doctor. I rushed home, hoping to share the good news, but when I

college soon too. How are we going to

to adulthood.

it's either her or

afternoon. That entire summer, I lived in a constant state of anxiety, waiting for an answer I could never

me to report to college, I thought I had everything figured out. It felt like a new beginning, yet my world

home to fall apart again, so you sacrificed me. No matter how much it hurt, you still sent me away," I

but I interrupted, "I don't resent you.

daughter, you're not a terrible father, but you're also not a good

300,000 yuan to him. Over the years, he'd sent money into my account from time to time, and I had saved

me. The rest... let it

"Please, don't come looking for me

me. All the burdens that had weighed

myself at the flower shop where Joseph had once bought my mother the bird-of-paradise flowers. The owner recognized me, but the shop was almost empty. She was loading

"Where are you moving

I want to try

paused for a

lilies of the valley, hyacinths, and olive branches, and wrapped