I am 36 years old. I had just entered my second marriage with all new hope and faith, only to be unexpectedly pulled back into a past that I thought I had long buried.

That night, the phone rang in our honeymoon suite, startling me from the sweet moment. Looking at the screen, the familiar name that appeared made my heart tighten. It was my ex-husband—the man who once was my entire youth.

I hesitated for a few seconds, but finally pressed ‘answer.’ And then, his very first words sent a chill through my whole body.

“Tình, I’m dying… I want to see you one last time.”

I froze. On my wedding night, why was I hearing these words? Hadn’t he told me when we divorced that he no longer loved me, that he had found someone more beautiful and better suited for him? Wasn’t he the one who pushed me away?

I could barely speak, stammering, “You… what are you talking about?”

But he simply said he would explain later, and then hung up. I sat there in a daze, while my current husband was happily organizing wedding gifts beside me.

I received a call from my ex-husband on my wedding night. (Illustration photo)

My new husband is a kind, gentle man who always treats me with genuine warmth. If it weren’t for him, I might never have escaped the pain of my previous marriage.

I looked at my husband, then at the phone in my hand. My heart was in chaos. I didn’t know what to say, what to do, or how I should react to my ex-husband’s words. I couldn’t shatter the happiness of the man who was dedicating his future to protecting me.

In the end, I didn’t meet my ex-husband. I told myself that the past was over, and I couldn’t go back. The person who needed me now was my husband, not the man who had abandoned me. But just one week later, everything completely collapsed.

That day was the anniversary of my wedding to my ex-husband. I had long forgotten the date, yet a bouquet of flowers was delivered right to my door. Inside the bouquet was a card: “Tình, every year on this day, the day we walked down the aisle, I remember you.”

Then, my phone buzzed. It was my ex-husband; he sent me a voice message. I played it, and my heart felt like it was being squeezed. His trembling voice echoed:

“Tình, I’m sorry. I never cheated on you. The flowers… they were all for you. I have cancer, and I didn’t want you to see me tormented by the illness. I didn’t want you to be burdened because of me, or to feel pain. I could only leave, so you could live a better life…”

When I heard the line, “I saw that you got married… you look beautiful, very happy. I’m happy for you… please live well, don’t look back…” I burst into tears, crying until I couldn’t breathe.

It turned out that all those years, I had misunderstood everything. He didn’t betray me. He wasn’t cold because he stopped loving me. He was just hiding his own pain so that I could live a lighter life.

I had once accused him of being heartless. But in the end, the heartless one was me. I was the one who believed his words in his despair, the one who failed to see how much pain he was in.

I burst into tears, crying until I couldn’t breathe. (Illustration photo)

That evening, when my husband returned from work, he saw me sitting there, hugging the bouquet and crying. He panicked and asked:

“Tình, what’s wrong? Tell me what happened.”

I looked at his worried face but couldn’t bring myself to speak. It wasn’t that I was trying to hide it from him, but I wasn’t calm enough yet to recount everything. The past had unexpectedly returned like a storm; I needed time to reorganize myself.

The next day, I called my ex-husband, but he didn’t answer. When I inquired, I learned that he had just passed away. I rushed to find his family. When his ex-mother-in-law saw me, her eyes were red, and she only said one thing:

“He was always worried about you…”

Afterward, I went to his grave with flowers and a box of strawberries, his favorite fruit. Standing before the cold tombstone, I burst into tears.

“You’re so foolish… Was there anything we couldn’t face together? Why did you have to endure it all alone? You always thought of me… but why didn’t you ask what I wanted?”

The wind blew softly, as if someone were listening to me speak. But he could never answer again.

I stood there for a very long time. Not because I still loved him in the way of the past, but because this pain… was the pain of an entire segment of my youth. It was regret for a love that was once so beautiful, yet ended in misunderstanding and silence.

Returning home, I looked at my husband, the man who brought peace to my present. I know that one day I will tell him everything. But today, I just wanted to lean on his shoulder and cry the last tears for the man who once held my hand throughout seven years of my youth.

Life is sometimes cruel; it makes people love deeply, and then forces them to separate while they still care for each other.

And I, after that wedding night, understood one more thing: there are people who, though they have left our lives, the memories and the goodness they left behind can never be erased.