jackie_long

Her first love's business venture crumbled, leaving his family in tatters. In a bid to clear his debts, she sold the home I had labored for countless nights to acquire, a sanctuary meant for our life together.

The day I learned of my cancer, she flung Jack's depression report at me with a vengeance.

"Jack is battling depression-do you grasp the gravity of that? It's just a house we're talking about, yet you act as if it's a death sentence. Your heart is ice; one day, karma will catch up with you."

And it did, with merciless speed. I passed on, yet she clung to my urn with a ferocity that bordered on madness, as if she had lost all reason.

After I Died, My Wife Began to Love Me

"Tom, your wife is with Jack again. I'm watching them for you. You should get here quickly."

This was the message that flashed on my phone while I was at work.

Attached to the text was a photo of the two of them sitting close together.

In the picture, Emma's cheeks were flushed, giving her a shy, almost bashful look—something I hadn't seen from her in years.

I clenched my fists instinctively. After all these years of marriage, all I got from Emma were insults and coldness. Yet here she was, smiling like that for Jack, her first love.

I didn't bother asking for time off. I grabbed a cab and rushed to the location.

Standing outside the restaurant window, I felt my heart tearing apart.

"She must have been tricked by that bastard Jack," my friend muttered beside me.

Step by step, I made my way inside, heading straight for them. I couldn't hear anything, just a ringing in my ears.

I grabbed Jack by the collar and punched him in the face.

Though his head snapped to the side, his first reaction was to check on Emma.

"Tom, what's wrong with you? Are you sick? Why are you acting crazy?"

I stared at her, searching for any sign of remorse. Instead, all I saw was fury.

"What are you looking at? Apologize to him, now."

The woman standing in front of me was entirely different from the one in the photo.

"Tom was just worried you'd been tricked by this guy," my friend tried to explain.

"Shut up! Who are you to speak to me like that?" Emma snapped, her voice sharp enough to cut.

Jack hid behind Emma, glaring at me with smug defiance. I stood there, powerless.

"If you don't apologize right now, we're getting a divorce tomorrow."

Same routine as always. Whenever something went wrong, she threatened divorce, knowing how much I loved her.

The atmosphere in the restaurant had grown tense, with people whispering and staring. Emma, ever concerned with appearances, must have noticed.

With a loud "slap," she struck me across the face.

"We're leaving," she spat, dragging Jack away without a second glance. As they passed me, Jack deliberately bumped into my shoulder before collapsing dramatically into a nearby chair.

"Tom, are you even a man? You're just like your mother—pathetic."

Jack smiled, false and condescending.

"Emma, I'm sorry. It's all my fault for asking you to come. I didn't mean to cause trouble for your marriage."

"What marriage? There's nothing between us. If it weren't for his tricks, I would've married you."

She had said before that marrying me was her biggest regret, but this time, she said it right in front of Jack.

To drive the knife deeper, she shot me a smug glance and kissed Jack on the cheek.

The woman I had loved for so long was now trampling on my dignity.

After all these years together, she knew exactly how to hurt me most.

They walked past me, arm in arm, like I didn't even exist.

"You're still the same spineless coward," Jack said, his voice echoing in my head like a curse.

Chapter 1