President, I Know How to Listen Now; Why Are You Crying?

Chapter 3

I arranged Ash's funeral with my own hands.

All the toys she had loved in her lifetime were piled beside the coffin. Those pretty pink plush dolls looked just as they did when Ash was alive—so neat, so soft.

I leaned on my cane and walked into the mourning hall, wanting to see my daughter one more time before the burial.

Farah Durand, Saul's mother, saw me and slapped me hard across the face.

"How dare you show your face?"

She tore at my collar and pounded my chest with her fists.

"Why would you leave Ash alone and go buy groceries without even locking the door? All because Saul was going to attend the banquet with Fannie, you got jealous and threw a tantrum, and you even killed your own child! Don't you know she's a sick little girl? If she woke up and couldn't find her mom, she'd definitely run out looking for you! If it weren't for you, you b***h, my Ash would never have been hit by that car!"

The Durand family knew this story.

That day, when I found out Saul was going to the banquet with Fannie, I had a fit at home.

I was the one who chased away all the servants, then went out to buy the beef Ash had been craving, without locking the front door.

When Ash woke up and found no one at home, she ran out onto the street.

In the end, she was run over by a large truck and died from her injuries.

Everyone believed this was the truth, because this was what Saul said.

Everyone who loved Ash hated me to the bone.

Saul's aunt, who had come with Farah, grabbed my hair and dragged me over to the coffin.

"You don't deserve to be her mother! You cost the Durand family a member! How dare you show up to her funeral now?"

The image of Ash lying in a pool of blood flashed through my mind again and again.

My face was scratched, and blood mixed with tears dripped onto the coffin.

I was not a good mother.

These blows and curses were what I deserved, but there was more to this story.

"Those servants weren't..."

"Stop!"

A familiar voice, firm and brooking no refusal, rang out then, silencing everyone who wanted to punish me.

"She is my wife. None of you may treat her like this!"

Saul rushed into the crowd, scooped me up, and carried me away.

In the lounge, he wiped the blood from my face himself.

I kept looking at him, and after a long while, asked, "Why won't you tell the truth?"

His hand froze for a second.

"Fannie has already been abandoned by the family for refusing the arranged marriage. If everyone learned she was connected to Ash's death, she would die!"

"But you know perfectly well that all the servants left that day to move her luggage!"

Saul averted his eyes.

"You're my wife. No matter how angry they are, they can't do anything to you. But Fannie is different. She has nothing."

I pointed to the cut on my forehead. "Don't you think this is ridiculous?"

Saul frowned slightly. "I'll tell them not to lay a hand on you again."

"They hate me because they believe you."

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke, "If we're really keeping score. The direct cause of Ash's accident was that you didn't lock the door."

Saul's voice was calm, like an ice pick driven into my heart.

I covered my face with both hands in despair. "Fine."

I hated Fanny for calling all the servants away, leaving Ash alone and helpless.

But the person I hated most was myself.

Saul let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"I don't blame you. Let it go."

He gripped my shoulder and pulled out a card. "This is my supplementary card. If you want, you can use it to book a private jet. Go get some fresh air, take your mind off things. You're worn out."

I didn't take it, letting the card clatter to the floor.

Saul had never seen me like this, and for the first time a clear panic showed in his eyes.

Over the five years of our marriage, I had always resented the fact that he gave Fannie his supplementary card with no strings attached.

I had once cried as I demanded to know what gave him the right to do that, saying we were the ones who were married.

Now, though, I couldn't have cared less.

Suddenly, Fanny's sobs drifted up from downstairs.

Liam Durand, the Durand family's eldest son, who despised Fannie the most, had also arrived.

"How did Ash die? Where were you the day she had the accident? Answer me!"

His roar echoed through the whole house.

Fanny whimpered, "Saul, Saul, where are you?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Saul stood up. "Stay here."

After the door closed, I heard them arguing.

Saul defended Fannie as usual. "I checked. Fannie wasn't home that day. Don't take it out on her!"

A few minutes later, I watched from the window as he left, holding Fanny, whose eyes were puffy and red from crying.

He was in such a hurry that he'd even forgotten I was still here.