If I had not overheard what he said that day, I could not believe that he, who was so thoughtful, could be such a heartless and ungrateful beast.
I took the cup of hot tea and drank it in silence.
After a while, the doorbell rang.
"It must be Lauryn coming."
My daughter jumped up excitedly and ran over to open the door.
I saw my best friend, Lauryn Hansen, standing at the door carrying a lot of bags.
Seeing her daughter, her face was full of laughter.
"Briela, the weather has gotten colder recently, so I bought you some thick clothes."
"And ah, didn't you say last time that you liked the pastries I made? This time, I made you some more."
Briela's eyes curved into crescents and she smiled. "Thank you, Lauryn. You are the best to me!"
Lauryn put down her things, held her daughter in her arms and said affectionately, "Of course, you are my sweetheart!"
"I wish I could give you all the good things in the world!"
After that, she took her daughter to sit at the dining table, looked at me and said directly, "Flora, I heard from Briela that there is a parents-teacher's meeting at her school today."
"Will you let me go?"
"You know, I'm not as lucky as you, married a good husband and gave birth to a well-behaved daughter. I got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter because of a scumbag. That short-lived girl could drown in the bathtub when she took a bath. I don't even have a chance to attend the parents-teacher's meeting ...."
She spoke pitifully, her eyes kept moving back and forth between Bryan and her daughter.
Over the years, she always used her daughter's early death as an excuse to do many things that went beyond the boundaries.
Besides coming to my house to visit my daughter every day, she also organized her daughter's birthday every year.
She spent Children's Day with her daughter and participated in the parent-child activities at school.
Even on Mother's Day, she would take her daughter out for a solo trip and take a bunch of group photos to post on her social media.
Every time I asked her, she would say, "My daughter died early and I don't want to have any more children in the future."
"We are best friends. I just want to treat Briela like my own child."
I had not made a statement yet, but Bryan immediately spoke up to help her.
"Flora, Lauryn's child died early, which is quite pitiful. Why not let her experience what it's like to attend a parent-teacher's meeting?"