She arrived, visibly thinner, as if she had suffered a major blow.
She had always refused to let go of our marriage, but that day, she showed no trace of attachment.
Throughout the entire process, apart from necessary responses, she remained silent.
I noticed she kept checking the time.
She must have had a mission.
And had to rush back.
had guessed at various reasons for her drastic weight loss.
But I never, ever, imagined
That on the day I forced her to meet me, the police officer who swapped shifts with her had been brutally killed.
Her nature had always been straightforward and righteous, her heart pure.
11:01 AM
<
With a colleague’s death on her shift, she would undoubtedly shoulder all the blame.
She couldn’t get past it.
She must have thought, if she hadn’t swapped shifts, no one would have died, or if something happened, she would have felt it was her own fault.
She must have been determined to personally apprehend those criminals.
Ultimately, I was the cause of this series of tragedies.
If I hadn’t forced her to meet me that day, Arthur wouldn’t have died, and she wouldn’t have been under such immense pressure.
Perhaps everything would have turned out differently.
13
The moment Aubrey was pushed into the crematorium,
My mind was a blur.
In my hazy thoughts, old conversations resurfaced.
“Aubrey, don’t you feel pain?”
She would respond nonchalantly, “No, what’s a small scratch like this?”
But then, her attitude would change. She’d pout, extending her injured hand.
“No, wait, I do feel pain. Only when I’m with you, I feel it. Quick, Julian, blow on it for me.”
She was swallowed by the raging flames.
I still felt, deep down, that she was alive.
That she was crying out in pain.
I broke down, rushing forward.
“Aubrey!”
I was held back, pinned down, unable to move.
I fell to my knees, clenching my fists, pounding the ground.
It must be because I had failed her so terribly, that fate had to take her away like this, to punish me.
14
When she came out, Aubrey was a small box of ashes.
She was buried in the Martyrs‘ Cemetery.
On the day of her burial, a light drizzle fell from the sky.
