A Love That Kills Chapter 1

While preparing for euthanasia abroad, a reporter suddenly asked me:

"Miss Miller, what is the biggest regret of your life?"

I thought for a long time before slowly speaking:

"When I was a child, my parents went to an orphanage to adopt a child. I chose a quiet boy, and in the end, despite everyone's objections, I insisted on marrying him."

My words piqued the reporter's curiosity, and she continued to ask:

"Did you end up marrying him?"

I touched the scar on my wrist, the wound long since healed into a scab.

This was a rare moment of clarity for me.

"I did, but then we divorced. He got together with my best friend of twenty-five years. I heard recently that they had a second child. That's good."

The afternoon the interview aired, Julian Vance rushed from back home and stopped the procedure.

He looked at me, his eyes filled with uncontrollable joy:

"Jane, it's so good you're not dead! Your mother talks about you all the time, she misses you, we all miss you."

I pulled my hand back from his grasp and said softly:

"Sir, do we know each other?"

* * *

Julian looked as if he had been hit over the head with a club, freezing in place for a full two seconds.

"Jane, even if you hate me, you don't have to pretend not to know me, right?"

I looked at the face in front of me with confusion. It did look somewhat familiar.

The foreign nurse beside me leaned in and whispered a reminder.

"Miss Miller, have you forgotten? You showed us photos. This is your ex-husband."

Ex-husband?

It dawned on me. I fished a yellowed notebook out of my hospital gown pocket.

I flipped through a few pages seriously, my finger stopping on a certain line, finally matching the face.

"So it's you. You came just in time. You can collect my body. After I die, remember to bury me next to my dad."

Julian snatched the notebook from my hand and threw it hard on the ground:

"Jane, are you crazy! How long are you going to keep this up! Five years ago, you faked your death and left, leaving everyone in pain and guilt. Isn't that enough?"

I lowered my head and said nothing. The brain tumor was pressing on my nerves. I had forgotten too many things, and I didn't even have the energy to argue.

Because of Julian's arrival, I didn't die.

Maybe because I wanted to die closer to my dad, I agreed to go back with him.

On the way back, Julian kept talking:

"After you disappeared, everyone went crazy looking for you."

"When the car was pulled out of the sea, the driver's seat was empty. Everyone thought you were dead."

"Your mother cried for a whole month, almost going blind. She asked me to bring you back this time too. When we get back, have a good talk with her. There's no deep hatred between mother and daughter."

My head hurt listening to him, so I interrupted his chatter:

"Mr. Vance, my notebook says the reason our marriage broke down was that you cheated with my best friend. Is that true?"

Screech!

The sound of tires rubbing against the ground was piercing, and the car lurched violently.

Julian pursed his lips tightly and said nothing.

The topic ended there.