Dear Ex-wife Marry Me

Leonard didn't say a word as he picked up the wine glass in front of him and took a sip, only to start coughing violently.

Bernie passed his handkerchief over to him. It had been years since he and Leonard had shared a meal like this.

Leonard was still coughing, looking like he might pass out at any moment.

Bernie thought to himself that the man across from him had truly aged. Back when Yvonne was making a fuss about marrying Leonard, the man could still crack a whip, though he'd only done it for show and never had the heart to actually hit anyone.

Even when Bernard had knelt outside their house for two days, Leonard had watched from the window, turning to Yvonne to say, "Just watch, he'll leave after two hours at most. Don't forget what the seer said, you two aren't meant to be. He'll only bring you trouble."

"Dad! Stop talking nonsense; what era do you think this is, still believing in that stuff?"

"You don't believe the seer’s predictions? When your mother couldn't conceive, he foretold she'd have a daughter."

Yvonne fell silent then, her heart aching as she looked at Bernard kneeling outside.

Leonard scoffed, convinced the young man wouldn't last much longer. But what he hadn't anticipated was just how stubborn both Bernard and Yvonne were.

Eventually, as Bernard wobbled on the brink of collapse, Yvonne couldn't bear it any longer and dropped to her knees alongside him.

"Dad, Bernard and I have known each other for so many years. I know what kind of man he is. Just let me marry him. I promise to bear a healthy baby boy. Then you can dote on your grandson and enjoy your twilight years, wouldn't that be nice?"

Leonard doted on Yvonne, and seeing his daughter kneel down, he couldn't bring himself to object any longer.

So, the couple got engaged and married soon after. But a year into their marriage, Yvonne stopped visiting her parents. When asked, she always said she was too busy. Then, without any warning signs, Yvonne became pregnant, and everyone was overjoyed.

The sirens outside blared on and on, like the end of the world.

Finally, Leonard pulled out a letter he had been holding and pressed it down on the table with one finger, "Bernard, stop it. Even if Yvonne were still alive, she wouldn't want to see you like this."

Bernard didn't immediately reach for the letter but sneered instead.

"Leonard, don't you think everyone out there is a hypocrite? They always tell me to let go, but would they be able to if it were their own ordeal? I just want Yvonne back. I need her to tell me in person why she did what she did."

Leonard's hand trembled, and he slowly closed his eyes. His fingertip remained on the letter, unflinching.

He didn't even know what to say anymore, his fingers starting to shake. Bernard raised his hand and furiously swept the elegant tablecloth off the table.

"You know what people are saying? They say Yvonne betrayed me, that the child wasn't mine, and that's why she felt guilty. Oh right, remember Yvonne's first love? They spent a year abroad

together. Some say her true love was always him, that she never loved me, that she married me out of gratitude." ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Leonard coughed violently again, his grip tightening on the envelope, "Nonsense, who said that?"

Bernard cracked a mad smile, a glint of frenzy in his eyes, "Everyone's saying it. Otherwise, why would a perfectly fine person suddenly kill herself? Isn't it a strange coincidence that her first love was accidentally gunned down at a concert abroad by terrorists just a month before she took her own life?"

Leonard pressed his lips, shaking with anger, "Bernard, is that what you think too?"

"What else am I supposed to think?! Why did she kill herself? Why did she leave me in such agony? And the best part? The child indeed wasn't mine. I'll tell you the truth; I orchestrated his death, but now I regret it. I want him to come back to life! Look at my hands - stained with too much blood. I raised that boy for over a decade, and whenever I looked at him, I felt both love and hatred. But now that he's really gone, I regret it!"

He took a deep breath, the red in his eyes not fading, "If that's the case, then let both of them come back to life and explain everything to me!"