His Last Secret Made Me Stop Crying

My husband Adrian was in the late stages of a brain tumor and had fallen into brain death. Friends and family all urged me:

Evelyn, let him go peacefully. Don't make him suffer anymore.

Grief-stricken, I went home to sort through our memories, only to find farewell letters he'd written to friends and family before.

The handwriting was messy, but it clearly stated that after his death, he wanted to donate his heart to his son with his first love.

At the end, he'd specifically added a line:

"Don't let my wife know."

My blood instantly froze. So he'd had a child with another woman all along.

My tears suddenly stopped. I wiped my face and dialed the hospital:

"I agree to withdraw treatment. Arrange for cremation."

Later, when friends and family saw my husband's ashes, they all stared wide-eyed: "How could you..."

My gaze swept coldly over them.

"Weren't you the ones who told me to give him a quick release?"

Friends and family were speechless, exchanging confused glances.

Only Adrian's ghost, floating beside me, looked completely shocked. He reached out to touch the urn, but his fingers passed straight through the wooden surface.

"Evelyn! Have you lost your mind?!"

His voice trembled with panic:

"How could you do this? Noah is still waiting for my heart to save his life!"

I ignored his insane rambling and held the urn expressionlessly.

Friends and family were still whispering among themselves. Someone tentatively asked:

"Evelyn, did Adrian leave any... last words?"

I gripped the urn tighter, my knuckles turning white. "He didn't say anything. He didn't even leave a note. I just followed your advice and let him leave quickly."

The people present didn't know what to say after hearing my words.

Adrian's ghost paced frantically in circles, his screams almost piercing my eardrums:

"Noah is only seven years old. He has a congenital heart condition. Only my heart can save him! I know I wronged you, but the child is innocent. Just do this one good deed, okay?"

I pulled at the corner of my mouth, revealing a faint, cold smile.

Innocent? What about the grievances my daughter and I suffered all these years?

Over the past few years, he'd always come home late, claiming he was working overtime or on business trips. He'd occasionally smell of perfume that wasn't mine. His wallet would have tickets to children's amusement parks I'd never been to.

Time and again, I deceived myself, thinking it was just emotional distance from his worsening condition. Until this farewell letter completely tore apart all pretenses.

"Adrian," I spoke to the air, my voice cold as ice. "When you wrote those letters, you thought about keeping it from me. You thought about leaving a way out for someone else's child. But did you ever think about Lily and me?"

Friends and family exchanged confused looks. No one knew who I was talking to. They just thought I was overcome with grief.

Someone softly consoled me: "Evelyn, don't be too sad. The dead can't come back. The living have to move forward."

I didn't respond and just turned to leave.

Of course I had to move forward now that the scumbag was dead.

Adrian's ghost followed behind me, cursing incessantly:

"Evelyn, you're heartless! You'll face retribution! If Noah dies, I won't let you go even as a ghost!"

I turned a deaf ear, my steps never faltering.

Retribution?

My greatest retribution was marrying the wrong man and staying in a marriage full of lies.

Adrian's funeral was kept simple, with only a few friends and family in attendance.

I wore a black dress, holding six-year-old Lily as we stood in a corner.

Lily's small hand gripped my clothes tightly, her big eyes full of confusion:

"Mommy, where did Daddy go? He promised to build blocks with me."

My heart felt like it was being pricked with needles. I gently stroked her head:

"Daddy went to a far away place. He'll watch Lily grow up from heaven."

Adrian's ghost floated in mid-air, his face pale as he looked at us with complicated eyes.

After the cremation, he'd been following me like this, constantly cursing me as vicious. When he tired of cursing, he'd fall silent, but the resentment in his eyes never diminished.

Now, hearing my conversation with Lily, a crack appeared in his hateful expression, and his body trembled slightly.

He reached out to touch our daughter, but could only pass futilely through the air.

Suddenly, a woman's shrill cry came from outside, along with chaotic footsteps and several men and women's voices echoing.

Melissa wore a garish white dress, followed by her brother Marcus and sister-in-law Jennifer.

They broke through the blockade of friends and family, rushing at me like madwomen:

"Evelyn! How can you be so vicious!"

Melissa pointed at my nose, her voice piercingly shrill.

"Adrian clearly agreed long ago that after death, he'd donate his heart to Noah. What right do you have to cremate him behind everyone's back?"

Marcus immediately chimed in, his tone indignant: "Exactly! How can someone be so heartless? A living child is waiting in the hospital for his life to be saved, and you can be this selfish!"

Jennifer also fanned the flames, her face full of contempt: "Adrian loved Noah like his own son when he was alive. You won't even fulfill his last wish? People like you will face divine punishment sooner or later!"

The three of them looked righteous, as if they'd really come for Adrian's dying wish.

The originally noisy scene instantly fell into deathly silence. All eyes turned toward us, filled with scrutiny and curiosity.

Lily was so frightened by their fierce manner that she trembled and quickly shrank into my arms, her small hands tightly hugging my neck.

I held my daughter tighter and looked up, coldly sweeping my gaze over Melissa and her group:

"This is a place to honor the deceased. Stop making a scene here."

"Making a scene?"

Melissa laughed coldly. "You bitch, you still have the nerve to say I'm making a scene? Tell me, what right do you have to block the heart donation? Adrian was willing. He wanted to save Noah! Who are you to decide on your own?"

"Because I, Evelyn, am his legal wife."

I stepped forward, my gaze sharp as a knife, my tone full of undisguised mockery.

"According to the law, I have the absolute right to decide what to do with his body. You say he agreed to donate his heartwhat evidence do you have? He never mentioned donating his heart after death to me."

I turned to look at Marcus and Jennifer, my tone icy: "As for you two, who are you to criticize my rights over my husband's body?"

Melissa still wanted to argue, craning her neck: "Adrian said it himself before he died. He even wrote a letter! The letter said he'd give his heart to Noah!"

"A letter?" I sneered, my voice not loud but clearly reaching every corner. "Adrian wrote a letter, and I, his wife, didn't know about it? Can you produce it?"

Melissa froze in place.

Of course she didn't have the letter, because I'd already burned it.

I hadn't expected them to be so bold as to not even keep a backup.

Looking at her stunned expression, I continued:

"What right do you have to question me? During the days when Adrian was bedridden with a brain tumor, you came by frequently enough, but every time it was either saying Noah needed expensive imported medicine or high-end rehabilitation therapy. The money Adrian gave you was squandered in the blink of an eye. Now that he's dead, you remember to play the good guys?"

When Adrian and Melissa were dating, Melissa left him for a wealthy man and went abroad.

Adrian was devastated, and it was I who stayed by his side as he rebuilt his life.

Just when life was finally getting better, Melissa came back with her sick son.

That spineless man actually softened.

He kept lying to me, saying he just couldn't ignore them for old times' sake.

Though I had my doubts, I decided to trust him, until I saw his letter.

My words were like thunder. The faces of Melissa's family of three instantly turned deathly pale, bloodless.

Marcus instinctively looked away, not daring to meet my eyes. Jennifer also pressed her lips tightly together, unable to say a word, their earlier arrogance vanishing without a trace.

I didn't bother saying more and signaled to the people at the door with a look.

Several people immediately stepped forward, restraining the three who were still trying to struggle.

"Don't touch me! Evelyn, you'll die a horrible death! If something happens to Noah, I'll never let you go!"

Melissa struggled frantically but to no avail. She could only be thrown out of the funeral hall.

Adrian's ghost hovered nearby, frantically circling but unable to do anything, only staring at me with hateful eyes.

After the funeral, I immediately took over Adrian's company.

As his legal wife and original shareholder, this was my right.

Adrian's ghost could only watch helplessly.

When I went to the company, he floated in corners, watching me work, constantly cursing, basically accusing me of not understanding business and that I'd eventually destroy his life's work.

During contract signings with partners, just as my pen touched the paper, his roar would sound in my ear:

"Noah is still fighting for his life in the hospital, and here you are looking so smug. You'll pay the price sooner or later."

On the way to inspect branch offices, he followed close behind, coldly mocking:

"Stop pretending. Without me as your backing, you're just an ordinary nobody."

I ignored his ranting the entire time.

To me, Adrian was no longer the person I once shared a bed with, just a handful of cold ashes buried in the earth, not even worth getting angry over.

That afternoon, I finished work early and drove to pick up Lily from kindergarten.

While still some distance from the kindergarten gate, I spotted Melissa with Jennifer, crouched in front of Lily. Jennifer's fingers were gripping the child's wrist tightly, refusing to let go.

Lily's eyes were red, her small face full of fear, but she stubbornly pressed her lips together, not letting tears fall.

"Let her go!" I rushed forward, swatting away Jennifer's hand and pulling Lily protectively into my arms.

Lily burrowed into my embrace, her weak voice tearful: "Mommy..."

Melissa and Jennifer stumbled from my push, both with red, swollen eyes and tear-stained faces.

Parents picking up their children gathered around at the sight.

"Evelyn, please help me." Melissa dropped to her knees with a thud, nearly sobbing.

"Noah can't hold on much longer. The hospital searched everywhere but couldn't find a match. Lily might be compatible with him. Just draw a little blood for testing. If it really works, please save him, okay?"

Jennifer also started wiping tears, chiming in: "Evelyn, the child is innocent. Just do this good deed. Adrian is watching from heaven and will be grateful for your mercy."

The two sang the same tune, every word morally blackmailing me, trying to use public opinion to force me to compromise.

In the crowd, a white-haired old lady softened first, sighing: "Young lady, it's a living life. Help if you can."

"Yes, it's not right to refuse to save a dying person." Another middle-aged woman also looked at me accusingly.

Hearing these words, Melissa cried even more miserably, looking up at me with pleading in her voice:

"Evelyn, I know I wronged you, but Noah is also Adrian's child, Lily's brother! You can't be so heartless and just watch him die."

I laughed coldly: "During Adrian's brain tumor when he was bedridden, who kept pestering him, deliberately aggravating his condition? And who took his money and squandered it recklessly, completely indifferent to his health? Now that he's barely gone, you're still not satisfied and are targeting my daughter?"

I turned to look at the gathered parents, my voice clear and firm: "Everyone, put yourselves in my shoes. If your husband concealed his marriage and had a child with a mistress, and the mistress kept coming around demanding money, and on his deathbed your husband's only thought was saving that illegitimate child, and finally, the mistress forced your own daughter to donate her heart to save that child's lifewould you agree?"

The surrounding murmurs instantly ceased. The parents who had just implied I was heartless changed their expressions dramatically. Looking at Melissa and Jennifer, their eyes held only undisguised contempt and disgust.

"So she's a homewrecker who destroyed someone's family. Shameless!"

"She even scammed money and squandered it, and now she's morally blackmailing. I wouldn't agree either!"

"She caused her own karma and now wants to drag someone else's child down with her. This is too much!"

Accusations rose one after another. Melissa and Jennifer's faces turned deathly pale as they collapsed weakly on the ground, their lips trembling, unable to utter a single word of defense.

I looked down and gently stroked Lily's hair, softly comforting her: "Don't be afraid, Lily. Mommy will take you home."

Adrian's gaze fell on Lily in my arms, the guilt in his expression deepening, but he remained silent, unable to say a word.

I understood his struggleon one side was the daughter he'd neglected for years, on the other the illegitimate son whose life hung by a thread. But all this predicament was created by his own hands.

His lips moved slightly, a weak voice emerging: "Evelyn, I know I was wrong, but Noah..."

I didn't acknowledge him and drove away.

An apology could never make up for the harm he'd caused us.

And Noah's life or death had always been the karmic debt between him and Melissa, nothing to do with Lily and me.

Adrian's ghost lingered by my side day and night, repeating the same plea over and over:

"Just let Lily do the compatibility test. It's just drawing one tube of blood. What if she's a match? Noah really can't wait any longer."

I was setting out Lily's dinner when I looked up, my gaze coldly sweeping over his ethereal form:

"And if she matches? Then what? Make Lily give her heart to the bastard child? Can Noah just die then?"

Adrian's anxiety made his ghostly form ripple, his tone full of desperate justification:

"It's just compatibility testing! It's not deciding on donation! Noah is also my child. I can't just watch him die!"

"Your child?" I put down the utensils and laughed coldly. "When you were having your fun behind this family's back, didn't you think Lily was also your flesh and blood? For Melissa and her son, you neglected us mother and daughter for years. Now you have the nerve to make demands of me?"

"During those days when you were bedridden with a brain tumor, I stayed by your side every moment, caring for you. But behind my back, you secretly transferred money to Melissa, even planning early on to donate your heart to save her child. Did you ever think that if you'd been honest from the start, we might have had room to work things out? But from beginning to end, you treated me like a fool, deceiving me!"

These words left Adrian speechless. He could only pace frantically in place, his ghost flickering, his eyes churning with unwillingness and despair.

I'd still underestimated Melissa's madness.

The next afternoon, I was chairing a senior management meeting when my phone rang at an inopportune moment. The caller ID showed Lily's homeroom teacher, her tone full of hesitation and unease:

"Lily's mom, a lady just came to pick up Lily, saying she was the child's aunt and that you asked her to take Lily to the dentist. I verified the photos of you on her phone and let her take the child. But thinking it over, I should confirm with you."

Those words were like a bucket of ice water poured over my entire body.

I had no sisters, and I'd never asked anyone to pick up Lily!

"That was a scammer!" My voice trembled uncontrollably, my fingers gripping the phone turning white. "What did she look like? What was she wearing?"

After hearing the teacher's description, my heart sank. I was certain it was Melissa.

She dared to openly abduct my daughter!

I immediately interrupted the meeting, quickly briefed my assistant on follow-up matters, grabbed my car keys and rushed out the door.

On the way to the parking lot, I immediately opened Lily's smartwatch location. The little red dot on the screen was rapidly moving toward the downtown hospital.

I sped toward the hospital, the gas pedal floored, gripping the steering wheel tightly, my palms covered in cold sweat, my heart pounding almost out of my chest. Only one thought filled my mind: Lily can't get hurt.

Arriving outside the pediatric ward, I immediately spotted Melissa and Marcus guarding the door, their faces wearing strange, triumphant smiles.

Through the glass of the ward door, I vaguely saw several doctors surrounding Lily, seemingly preparing instruments for pre-surgical examination.

I rushed over and grabbed Melissa by the collar, fury burning my throat, my voice trembling with extreme anger: "You actually dared to kidnap my daughter!"

Melissa struggled forcefully to push me away, her eyes full of crazed stubbornness: "You refused to budge. I had no choice but to use this method! Noah can't hold on much longer. I absolutely won't let him die!"

Marcus also stepped forward, pushing me and threatening fiercely: "Evelyn, if you know what's good for you, just let Lily do the compatibility test. Otherwise don't blame us for not being polite!"

"Dream on!" I slammed open the ward door and rushed over to pull Lily protectively into my arms.

Seeing me, Lily's pent-up fear instantly exploded. She burst into tears, her small hands tightly hugging my neck:

"Mommy! I'm scared! They want to stick me with needles!"

I raised my hand to shield Lily's head and looked up at the doctors present:

"Without my signed consent, anyone who touches a single hair on my daughter's head will answer for it!"

The ward instantly descended into chaos.

Adrian's ghost floated in a corner, watching Lily crying non-stop. A flash of fleeting guilt crossed his eyes, but the next second he was still shouting at me:

"Evelyn, it's just a test. It won't hurt Lily!"

Just then, a nurse rushed in hurriedly, saying loudly to Melissa:

"Ms. Thompson, good news! A brain-dead car accident patient is a compatible match, and the family is willing to donate!"

Melissa let out a shriek of wild joy, tears mixed with excitement sliding down: "Really? That's wonderful! Noah is saved!"

Adrian's ghost also trembled violently with excitement. The look he gave me was full of mockery and triumph:

"See that? Even without Lily, Noah can live! No matter how heartless you are, you can't stop him from surviving!"

Melissa's eyes were red, her face wearing a twisted smile:

"Evelyn, even heaven is helping us! You'll go to hell sooner or later!"

Holding Lily, I had no extra words. I turned and walked out of the ward.

As long as Lily was safe, I didn't care about their taunts and triumph.

Noah's surgery went smoothly. Melissa specifically sent me a text, which I deleted directly.

I thought everything would end there, but a week later, Adrian's ghost appeared again, his eyes full of despair and pain:

"Evelyn, are you satisfied now? Noah is dead."