Her phone rang, her voice excited, "Honey, you saw that! It's her 80th birthday, quite a long life."

I hummed.

She added, "It's a shame Mom's gone. Otherwise, I'd have given her a grand celebration for her 80th birthday."

My heart ached. Yes, mom had gone. So how could a funeral for the dead compare to an 80th birthday for a living person?

Romance at the proposal, sweetness after marriage. Lucy and I had been together for seven years. The seven-year itch, as expected.

Lucy began to become irritable and angry, losing her temper for no reason. Sometimes she'd skip meals for a whole day over trivial matters.

I always indulged her, coaxed her and gave in to her. No matter how harsh her words or how extreme her actions, I endured them.

One day, Charlie appeared beside her, becoming very close and intimate with her. My mother once asked her about this, but she flew into a rage, smashing many things around the house and yelling that she didn't believe her. But my mother was just asking, not accusing her for cheating on me.