He went to the car park alone. She was leaning against a pillar at the airport area. Her thought is drifting away. A few minutes later, a car was parked in front of her. He was sitting at the driver’s seat, she quietly opened the back seat door of the car and sat in. She looked pale, lonely, leaning against the car door. The whole body is slim and thin, as if a wind can blow her away. Looking at her, no one can stop feeling sorry and sympathizing with her. He discreetly adjusted the rearview mirror to observe her. He himself can not understand why he is so concerned about her today.

She sat there quietly and motionless, immersed in her own sadness. Tears were welling up in her eyes. This kind of silent crying must be from the person suffering a lot of pain over several years to form such patience. The more he looked at her, the more pitiful he felt.

He remembered the first day when he had just met her, that’s a carefree and innocent girl. Time accidentally turned an innocent girl into a quiet woman? Or just because of him who changed her due to his heartless indifference or by this unhappy marriage?

He also knows that he is really bad, but the situation between them has come to the result no long been saved. He has been buried too deeply in another relationship with a female colleague for many years. He was not sure if it’s a true love, but knew that he was in a position of no return.

The love between him and Lam continued to fade over the years. He is happy with the new relationship, she is lonely along the path of life. Their marriage, once admired by friends, is now suddenly shattered like the snowflakes of frozen winter which will soon be melted into bubbles.

The journey from the airport to home was still long, but no one said a word. Perhaps they have forgotten to interact with each other for many years, so they have not found any common topic to discuss. She quietly pursued her own thoughts. He bothered to observe her through the rearview mirror. This woman seemed to be thin over the years, making him feel bad. In a fleeting second, he suddenly realized that he had not given her the happy marriage as he had ever promised when he proposed.

Just like that, a person looked at the thick traffic from outside the car window. A person was both driving the car and discreetly looking at the woman who has ever had conjugal happiness with him sitting on the back seat. About half an hour later, the car arrived in front of the house. He pressed the automatic door and drove in.

The car was parked in the yard. She quietly opened the door and got out. Yesterday, there were still three people, today only one person left, but it made her feel that the space around her seems more empty. Perhaps her beloved daughter, the most important person is no longer here, so the house suddenly becomes cold to her.

This house is just a place for her to shelter, not a warm family. She continues to temporarily stay here for her little daughter. At this time, the daughter left, it’s time for her to leave too. Fifteen years of nurturing the family, momentarily returning to the starting point. The passionate love between husband and wife was when the two of them were still together, now everything is the past.

When the two got married, his family situation was very poor. Her parents gave the couple a small house as a dowry. But due to his narcissistic and patriarchal nature, he always felt suffocated in the couple’s small house and thought that he was staying at his wife’s house. Then, in order to maintain the marital relationship, she agreed to sell the house and combined with a little more of his money for exchanging for another house according to his wishes, and put his name to tittle.

In the following years, after he completed his graduate studies and the family’s finances improved, he sold this old house with many memories of the couple. He himself bought a bigger house, and allocated all the money from selling the old house for his and her daughter’s education. So with this house, she thinks she has no merit and should leave now.

Waiting for him to park the car in the basement and enter the living room, she sat on sofa, looked at him and said quietly, “Are you tired? Can I talk to you for a few minutes? It will not take much your time.”

For a long time, she understood that he was impatient, so she was afraid whenever she had to talk to him. She was afraid that he would yell at her, afraid that every time something happened she had to ask for his opinion. Gradually, if there is something that needs to be negotiated, whether it’s about studying or anything related to the child, she is often cautious and waits until he is not busy and does not lose patience, then she dares to speak up.

It’s not that she afraid of him, their relationship is already dry as chip, she’s no longer afraid of its breaking to try to maintain, or afraid that he will get bored even more. She just doesn’t want him to feel more uncomfortable when he has to hold back to talk to her. The distance between the two was as far as the length of a great wall. Their relationship is sometimes worse than friends. So now when talking to him, she is extremely polite.

He looked at her cautious movements, her expression seemed like if he was just a little impatient, she would stop bothering him. He didn’t know why the two of them ended up in such the situation. Looking at her so carefully that he felt uncomfortable. Perhaps he has unintentionally created a too big psychological ghost in her heart.

“I’m not tired. You can tell me anything you want.” His voice was extremely gentle as if he was afraid of scaring her.

“Then wait a minute please! I’ll go up to my room to get something and be right back.” Said her and quickly stood up and went upstairs.

The living room is spacious. The dark, quiet night makes the space even thinner. A big house can create a feeling of insecurity if you are alone. He wondered how she and the daughter managed when he was on duty or sleeping at his lover’s house?

He suddenly realized that he has no longer heard her complain or talks to him for many years. Only when she needs to discuss their daughter, then she will ask for his opinion. But such the thing seemed to happen very rarely. She raises the daughter almost alone, studies and plays with her. Thinking about these things makes him feel bad towards to the daughter.

He loves the daughter, but leaves her everything to his wife. She alone takes care of everything, meeting parents, choosing a school, taking the daughter to the school and pick her up. As for him, he spent all his time in the hospital and then his mistress’s house. Is there any father in the world as bad as him?

There is one thing he needs to admit that she is truly a talented wife, brings him peace of mind. It’s not that he wants to leave everything to her, it’s just that she’s so caring that he has no room left to use his skills. She never bothers him for trivial things. Perhaps she was afraid of his impatience, so gradually shouldered everything herself.

Tonight she surprised him by offering to discuss with him. She kept him waiting in the living room so she could go upstairs to do something. He didn’t have to wait long, just a few minutes later he saw her walking down with some papers in her hand. Her calm face couldn’t tell what she was thinking inside.

Sitting opposite him, she pushed the parpers to him and said carefully, “This is a divorce petition I prepared for a long time. Now that the daughter is in US, you have right to live true to your feelings. Over the years, I thank you very much for maintaining the family until now.”

She paused for a few seconds to calm her emotions and then continued, “Please tell Thanh that I’m sorry. Oh, I should apologize you too.”

Looking at the divorce petition in front of him, he suddenly shivered. Haven’t Thanh and himself been waiting for this moment for a long time? But why is he now confused? He doesn’t understand himself. It’s clear that he has constantly wanted to escape this deadlock for over the past few years. Now that it’s really coming, he’s feeling down. Is he sick?

Suddenly he blurted out, “Little Van hasn’t arrived to America yet, I don’t know how she will be in the early stages. We’ve been trying for many years, let’s just give her a little more time. I’m afraid that she has not yet settled down, if she knows her parents are divorced, she will be mentally shocked. I’m worried that our daughter will drop out of school. Shall we delay the divorce?”

Indeed, she has been also thinking about this issue. But the little daughter’s far away, if both of them hide it, she won’t know. She can’t be selfish, causing him and Thanh to not be completely together. If something needs to resolved, it should be proceeded quickly.

“She’s far away, if we don’t disclose, she won’t know. Then wait patiently, when she is more stable, I will choose what to say to her. Don’t worry too much. Continuing to tell Thanh to wait is not fair to her.” Her steady voice reassured him.

Who made you become a living bodhisattva? He thought to himself angrily. Does she wants to break off with him so soon? Shouldn’t she act like other normal women, should also be miserable and unwilling to break up, why does she want to separate without any regrets?

Due to bad luck, he blurted out, “The daughter will call home. At that time, if we are not together, she will notice and it will affect her studying. I think we should just keep up for a while longer.”

“I do not think so. We should end this suspended state that is making all three of us tired, Quan.”

“Are you tired? Are you tired of this family?” He was a bit upset but didn’t know why.

Her voice was mournful, “Yes, I’m really tired, very tired. So I want to be liberated, to end this suffocating situation as soon as possible. I want to start a new life.”

Want to forget this painful past. The next few words she swallowed back into her heart.

What she said made him feel proud. It turned out that this family made her so bored, that she wanted to leave immediately. People like him who were not used to being disobeyed began to say, “It’s up to you, but I think you are a mother who is thoughtful and sacrifices for your daughter, so please try for her a little longer. In just a few months, when the daughter is stable and familiar with the lifestyle there, I will sign the divorce petition. Now, please throw it away. When the time is right, I will sign it.”

“When is one more time? Another ten years from now? Or fifteen years from now? How many ten years are there in a human life?”

Her voice resonated and then she suddenly also realized that she was blaming and tormenting, it seemed too trivial, therefore she held back and said gently, “I believe our daughter will understand. I don’t want you to continue suffering. You also need to build your own family.”

“Who makes you care if I build a different family with someone else? That’s none of your business.” His voice was stubborn.

Someone like him who was used to being pleased by others begins to lose patience when she became stubborn. Before, as long as he said something, she would listen without arguing. It must be said that from childhood to adulthood, he has never been disobeyed. It was the same when he was still living with his family. Because he was the only son, his mother also made him her top priority. He studies well and is the pride of the whole family. His words were always answered by her.

But he has forgotten that she and himself are not the same as before. His words were no longer the truth for her. He does not realize that his current behavior is very unreasonable. She just wants to help him and the person he love get together faster. What is he not satisfied with?

Suddenly he felt angry without knowing why. His voice sounded impatient, “I told you to try for a few more months. If you are a mother who knows to think about your daughter, then try to sacrifice for her.”

He finished speaking and without caring how she reacted, just walked upstairs, leaving her in utter confusion. She can’t understand what else he wants. She didn’t cause difficult to him, she agreed to sign the divorce petition and didn’t ask for any conditions. Why did he keep rejecting? Now she accepts to let him go, why does he come back to make things difficult to her?