In the third year since my brother left home, my father's first love reappeared.

Once, when my father was drunk, he stared at an old photograph in a daze.

It was a graduation photo, black and white, seemingly taken at dusk, with most of the students looking expressionless.

However, one girl had sharp eyes and a straight posture, standing out from the crowd.

Seeing my father’s deeply nostalgic expression, I thought she was my brother’s mother.

Unexpectedly, it was someone else.

As soon as Aunt Gu appeared, my father went wild, his eyes bloodshot, and blisters forming at the corners of his mouth, demanding a divorce while jumping up and down.

It was said that his first love was in the late stage of cancer, with not much time left, and before she left, she wanted to become the wife of her beloved.

Dad and Mom had a fierce argument. He said some harsh words, calling Mom rude, ignorant, and unreasonable, claiming he was miserable in the marriage and no one understood him.

Mom was stunned to hear this, never imagining she was seen this way by her husband.

She insisted on meeting Aunt Gu in person, at the only fast-food restaurant in town.

This restaurant looked like McDonald's at a glance, but upon closer inspection, it was a rural knockoff like "Thunder Cola" to Sprite.

The owner visited once a month, and Aunt Zhu was the only employee.

With the mountains far and the emperor distant, she brought her old tape recorder from home and played classic hits on it every day.

Mom chose this place probably for the psychological sense of security, as Aunt Zhu's domain was her domain.

That day, the store was desolate, with a worn-out tape recorder squatting silently in a corner of the counter.

Aunt Zhu was mopping the floor in the kitchen.

I sneaked in and sat in the adjacent booth, straining my ears.

Aunt Gu said softly to my mom, "Su Xin, you don't know how much I’ve suffered."

This opening line was very familiar.

"Lin Kai and I were childhood sweethearts. He said he would marry me since we were little. But my parents were greedy and forced me to marry a rich family. Back then, we eloped with stolen money from home to Qingdao, but we were caught and brought back. We hugged and cried together. My father had his legs broken, and I knelt on the ground begging them to stop, hitting my head until it bled."

"To save his life, I agreed to marry someone far away. My mother-in-law cursed me daily, calling me an outsider, and I cried every day. Later, he came to see me secretly, telling me that he had been forced to marry someone else. I had to accept my fate, enduring these years of hardship until my illness turned into cancer. Look, this is my medical record..."

I frowned. There was a big problem here.

That year, at my brother's graduation banquet, Grandpa clearly said that Dad sincerely wanted to marry his daughter. He was so happy that he even returned the bride price to support the young couple in starting a business. How did it turn into being forced?

Moreover, Dad had seen his first love after getting married?

I slapped my thigh secretly.

I had a button phone that could barely record, but I forgot to charge it. What a pig brain.

In my narrow view, Mom remained silent, reaching out as if to flip through the medical records but then retracting her hand.

Aunt Gu lowered her head and started crying, holding a handkerchief she had unknowingly balled up in her hand.

As soon as the beauty shed tears, Dad rushed in, perhaps he had been watching all along.

Mom was unusually calm.

She frowned, her face showing pure confusion, like a primary school girl unable to solve a problem.

She asked Dad, "Since she married someone else, how did your previous wife end up hanging herself?"

Aunt Gu looked at Dad in surprise.

Dad said coldly, "That was her own choice. I just spoke some truths while drunk, and she started arguing with me..."

Aunt Gu showed a touched expression, a hint of joy in her eyes, but said, "It's all my fault. You should have forgotten me long ago..."

I quietly gagged in the corner.

Time is a butcher's knife. The once charming girl had become repulsive.

In the love triangle, a woman, because of her, couldn't get her husband's heart and ultimately took her own life. This might have brought her immense spiritual satisfaction.

Hearing Dad's response, Mom clasped her cracked hands together, her mouth agape in shock.

Aunt Gu gave her a cold glance.

All these years, Mom had been doing business with Dad, often responsible for debt collection, arguing with people, and her forehead had deep wrinkles. Her facial muscles were tense and fierce, while Aunt Gu, having worked in an office for years, still wore a blue suit and small heels, exuding elegance.

Mom let out a deep sigh, as if reaching a safe harbor, her expression becoming even more serene.

She said, "Then I am relieved, that's great."

"In the future, when I dream of the woman hanging by the window, I'll tell her to find you, not the wrong person."

"That's great..." She murmured as she walked to the counter to pay for her cola.

Dad and Aunt Gu looked at each other in dismay.