Maximilian took off my coat and found home clothes for me to change. Meanwhile, I just sighed beside him.
Maximilian still explained, “I do not know who is the child of the family. I think her parents probably don't want her to live anymore, right? It's the end of the year and the roads are complicated, Arabelle. We still need to remind Vilhelmina to pay more attention to traffic safety. If she's the one who got into the accident, I really don't dare to think about it.”
After saying that, he kissed my forehead and walked straight to the bathroom. The unfamiliar perfume on his body made me nauseous. I looked at Maximilian's back.
After he entered the room, I called the funeral home. I wanted on the day of Vilhelmina's birthday, to send her to her ultimate happiness.
***
The next morning, Maximilian prepared breakfast as usual before going to work at the hospital.
Meanwhile, I packed the food and threw it to the stray dogs and cats downstairs. After a few minutes, I glanced at the sticky note he left in the entrance hall.
Maximilian: [My wife, please remind me to be home on time tonight to pick up Vilhelmina's call. I love you forever.]
I knew people's hearts were really hard to gauge. Maximilian was playing the role of a good husband and father at home.
But actually, at the same time, he had a rendezvous with his lover, while his daughter was dying.
I pulled the corner of my mouth. My eyes started rummaging through Vilhelmina's belongings.
I then prepared all of them to send to the funeral home for cremation. But I didn't find her favourite peace quilt. She had used it for seven years.
If not for the boarding school to unify the purchase of bedding, she did not want to leave the quilt at home. But I remembered that she had just washed it and put it in the cabinet. In desperation, I had no choice but to call Maximilian.
Maximilian said, “Oh, you search that quilt, Arabelle? I lent it to Kimberly. Didn't her baby just come out? She has been coughing for a long time.”
Kimberly Beadsworth was Maximilian's childhood sweetheart. After they separated, she married abroad that year.
But then she divorced her ex-husband half a year ago. It made her return to Luxembourg with a big belly.