Duty, Not Devotion

1
My grandfathers last wish was to see me marry Bruce. Wed been together eight years, so I never doubted it was just a matter of time. But he hesitated, asking to wait another month.
The next day, his coworker Serena posted their marriage certificate online, writing, Even one month with you completely is enough.
When I went to confront him, I overheard him telling a friend, Just because her grandfather saved me, I promised to look after her forever. One sentence bound my whole life. But to have one month with the one I truly love Id have no regrets.
His friend warned, Wont Rosy find out and leave you? Bruce replied, She trusts me completely. She wont suspect a thing.
Later, when he called to meet at the courthouse, he only received the wedding gift Id sent him. The card read: Bruce, I wish you and Serena a lifetime of happiness.
"What can she even do besides guilt-trip me? Using her grandfather to make me spend time with her every single day Im honestly sick of it."
Outside the door, Bruces words were like nails, pinning me to the spot.
Bruce and I grew up together. We were friends for eighteen years before he asked me out in college, and wed been together for the eight years since. I couldn't believe it was all a lie.
My knuckles turned white as I gripped the doorknob, the world spinning around me. The vibration of my phone finally broke through the static in my head.
"Miss Collins? Your grandfather is in critical condition. Please come to the hospital immediately."
By the time I rushed to the hospital, they were already wheeling him out of the emergency room. Seeing his strong, familiar face, my heart settled, but the doctor's next words shattered my world.
"He doesn't have much time. You should say your goodbyes."
My legs felt like cotton as I pushed open the door to his room.
He was smiling at me.
"Rosy, you're here. Where's Bruce? Didn't he come with you?"
He looked so much better, but I knew it was just a final surge of energy before the end.
"Grandpa, he's busy with work. I'll call him right now."
I dialed his number over and over, more than a dozen times, and with each unanswered call, the light in my grandfathers eyes dimmed a little more.
Finally, he picked up.
Before I could speak, Bruce's voice, thick with irritation, cut through the line. "Rosy, didn't I tell you I was busy? Why do you keep calling?"
My voice trembled, a choked sob caught in my throat. "Bruce, Grandpa's dying. Can you please"
He didn't let me finish. "Rosy, are you done with your little drama? How dare you lie about something like this? I'm swamped today. We'll talk tomorrow."
Just before the line went dead, I heard Serenas voice in the background, cooing his name. Honey.
My grandfather saw the look on my face. Just like when I was a child, he reached out and patted my head with his rough, calloused hand.
"Rosy, my greatest wish in this life is to see you happy. No matter what happens, Grandpa will always be with you."
I sat by his side, just as I had when I was a little girl, until the heart monitor let out a long, piercing shriek.
No sound would come from my throat. My vision blurred, tears flooding my eyes like a broken dam.
"Miss Collins, my condolences."
I sat numbly outside the hospital morgue, wanting to call Bruce one last time, to let him see Grandpa off. But when I tried, I discovered he had blocked my number. I tried every other way I could think of to reach him, but it was no use.
At that same moment, Serena posted an update.
A photo of her strolling on a beach, Bruce holding her hand, his smile soft and gentle.
The caption: He drops everything to take me to the beach when Im feeling down.
I opened my phone and bought a plane ticket for three days from now.
If you two are so deeply in love, theres no reason for me to be a third wheel.
Bruce, this is goodbye.
2
"You can pick it up tomorrow, Miss Collins."
I handed over my grandfathers ashes to the specialist at the memorial company. I was having them compressed into a diamond, something I could wear and keep with me always.
When I got home, a sudden yapping from inside startled me.
"Oh, sorry about that. My puppy's a little shy around strangers."
Serena emerged from the guest room, wrapped in my silk robe.
Bruce must have seen the look on my face, because he rushed over and took my hand. "We worked so late last night, I just let her crash in the guest room."
I thought of her social media post and let out a bitter laugh. "Right. You two must have been very busy."
My jab hit its mark. Bruces voice rose. "Rosy, what's that supposed to mean?"
I yanked my hand away and headed for the stairs. Just before I closed my bedroom door, I heard him comforting Serena in a low voice. "She's been emotional lately. Just ignore her."
The room was filled with my grandfather's things. I took a deep breath, and the tears I'd been holding back began to fall.
As I was packing his belongings, the door opened. Serena stood there, a mocking smile on her face.
"Rosy, Bruce doesn't love you anymore."
"Then have him tell me that himself. I won't cling to him."
The smug look on her face faltered. "Just you wait!"
I didn't want to waste another second on her. As I opened my mouth to tell her to get out, a foul smell hit me.
Her little dog had jumped onto the bed and was pissing on my grandfather's memorial portrait.
I snatched the dog off the bed and frantically tried to wipe the photo clean with a tissue.
"Ahh! My baby!" Serena shrieked, scooping the dog into her arms. "Rosy, how dare you hurt my baby!"
Her face twisted in fury. She kicked over the bag of my grandfather's clothes I'd packed and stomped on them with her heel.
Rage, white-hot and blinding, consumed me. My hand flew, the sharp crack of a slap echoing in the room. I grabbed her by the collar, my face inches from hers.
"Serena, you touch my grandfather's things again, and I swear you'll regret it."
Suddenly, an arm seized mine. I was thrown to the floor, my head cracking against the corner of the nightstand with a sickening thud.
"Rosy, what the hell is wrong with you?" Bruce stood over me, protectively shielding Serena. She turned her face to show him the red mark, her expression a mask of wounded innocence.
"I just wanted to help, but" she whimpered. "If Rosy doesn't like me, I shouldn't be here, getting in her way."
Bruce's face was dark with anger. "Rosy, what is your problem? Serena was just trying to be nice."
I held up the urine-soaked portrait. "You tell me. Is letting her dog piss on my grandfathers picture being nice? Or is stomping all over his clothes being nice?"
He flinched, his eyes darting away. "It's just a photo. I'll have her print you a new one. That's no reason to hit her."
I stared at the man before me, my heart stuttering to a stop. Even if he didn't love me, Grandpa had treated him like his own grandson for years, had even saved his life. And now he was letting this woman desecrate his memory.
3
"Get out."
Tears streamed down my face. Serena started to say something, but Bruce pulled her away.
I finished packing my grandfather's things. When Bruce saw me dragging a suitcase to the door, he blocked my path.
"You're running away from home over something this small?" he scoffed. "It's just a picture. I'll go with you to print another one later."
I shoved his hand off my arm. "These are my grandfather's clothes. I'm going to see him off."
"I'll print the photo myself. You're busy."
My coldness seemed to unnerve him. A flicker of anxiety crossed his face. "How is Grandpa doing? Wait, I'll go with you to see him."
Just then, a cry of pain came from the kitchen. "Bruce! I cut my hand! It hurts!"
He pushed past me and rushed to Serena's side, tenderly wrapping her finger in a paper towel.
"Serena's bleeding. I have to take her to the hospital. You wait here for me, and we'll go see Grandpa together when I get back."
I met his gaze and gave a slight nod. He seemed relieved as he hurried Serena out the door.
I knew he wouldn't be back.
As was tradition, I took a car back to our hometown and burned my grandfathers belongings by the river. As the last embers died out, my phone rang. It was Bruce.
"Rosy, a last-minute meeting came up at work. Tell Grandpa I said hi, and I'll go with you to see him tomorrow."
After hanging up, I saw him again on my social media feed.
Serena's post: I get a tiny cut on my finger, and he insists on taking care of me 24/7.
The next morning, Bruce called. Perhaps because I hadn't bothered him at all yesterday, his voice held a trace of nervousness. "Rosy, let's go see Grandpa together today."
I was at the memorial company, accepting the diamond bracelet they handed me. The grandfather who had shielded me from every storm was now just this tiny, perfect stone.
"Okay," I said. "There's something I need to tell you, too."
I felt he deserved to know that Grandpa was gone.
When I got home, Serena saw the bracelet on my wrist and immediately flaunted a new watch on hers. It was an expensive, jewel-encrusted piece. A triumphant smirk played on her lips.
"My hand was hurting so much yesterday, Bruce bought this to cheer me up."
I ignored her. "Where's Bruce?"
My lack of reaction clearly surprised her. Her eyes turned venomous. In a flash, she lunged forward, grabbed my bracelet, and ripped it from my wrist, flinging it toward the swimming pool outside.
The force of it left a raw, red line on my skin, and beads of blood started to well up. But I didn't care. I sprinted to the edge of the pool and dove in without a second thought.
In that same instant, Serenas expensive watch clattered into the water beside me, followed by the sound of her theatrical sobbing.
I broke the surface to see her kneeling on the ground, and Bruce pointing at me, his face contorted with rage.
"Rosy, when did you become so petty!" he yelled. "Serena earned a bonus, so I bought her a watch as a reward! And you fake falling into the pool just to frame her?"
"Get that watch out of the water right now," he snarled. "Or you can stay in there and freeze."
4
I tried to pull myself out of the pool, but Bruce shoved me back in. He stood on the edge, his eyes like ice, as I shivered uncontrollably in the cold water.
"She threw the watch in herself," I said through chattering teeth. "Check the security cameras if you don't believe me."
Bruce laughed, a cruel, mocking sound. "Rosy, I saw you jump in with my own two eyes. That's a fact."
I held up the diamond bracelet, my voice breaking with every word. "Grandpa is dead. This bracelet is made from his ashes. She threw it in the water. Of course I jumped in after it."
Serena clutched his arm, her face a mask of sorrow. "But Bruce, didn't your assistant, Mr. Lin, say her grandfather was fine at the hospital?"
Bruces expression grew even darker. "Rosy! That's your own grandfather! How could you curse him like that just to win an argument?"
"Get the watch. And then you will apologize to Serena."
I felt frozen to the bone. I dredged the watch from the bottom of the pool and dragged my exhausted body onto the concrete.
"Apologize."
Bruce gave me no time to breathe, yanking me to my feet and shoving me in front of Serena.
She clung to his arm. "Bruce, honey, her grandfather is dying, after all. I don't want to make things harder for her. As an apology, how about she lets me hold onto that diamond bracelet for a few days? Just so she doesn't lose it again."
I clutched the bracelet so tightly the broken links cut into my palm. "I told you! This is made from my grandfathers ashes! I am not giving it to her!"
"I came back today to tell you that Grandpa is already gone! Call the hospital if you don't believe me!"
My words only seemed to make him angrier; he clearly thought I was just being stubborn.
A couple of bodyguards stepped forward and forced me to the ground. He ignored the blood trickling from my hand and pried my fingers open, wrenching the bracelet from my grasp.
He presented the blood-streaked bracelet to Serena. For a fleeting moment, as he glanced at the blood dripping from my fingertips, the concern in his eyes looked real.
"There. Serena has forgiven you. Now go get your hand bandaged."
Pinned to the ground, I reached out desperately for the bracelet. The prolonged time in the cold water, combined with a sleepless night, finally took its toll. The world tilted, and the last thing I saw was Bruces panicked face before everything went black.
I woke up the next morning in a sterile hospital room. It was empty, save for a glass of cold water on the nightstand, the only proof that someone had been there.
A text from Bruce was on my phone. An address.
"Come here if you want the bracelet back."
I forced myself out of bed, checked out of the hospital, and took a cab to the location. It was a park by the sea. In the distance, I could see what looked like a wedding ceremony.
As I got closer, I recognized some of Bruces friends among the guests. When they saw me, their faces registered shock, then a flustered panic at being caught.
And there, at the center of it all, was Bruce, arm-in-arm with Serena, accepting the congratulations of their guests.
When Bruce saw me, the panic on his face was unmistakable.
"What what are you doing here?"

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