In the living room on the first floor, the large Chow Chow was gnawing on Matthew's urn.
Its drool had soaked into the black cloth wrapped around the urn, utterly disgusting.
In my mind, Matthew's last words echoed.
"Mom, when I'm gone, please bury me somewhere far away. I don't want to see Dad again."
"Mom, I want to be your son in the next life too, but please choose a better dad for me. Pinky promise."
To fulfill Matthew's final wishes, I carefully wrapped his urn in layers of black cloth before bringing it home.
Isabella sat eating grapes, her legs draped over the sofa as if she owned the place.
"Daniel, look how cute Matt is. How could anyone say he's a vicious dog?"
The dog's name was Matt, and my son's name was Matthew.
I had once told Daniel that Isabella had deliberately named the dog "Matt" to spite us, but he dismissed it as me being overly sensitive.
"Give me back my thing!"
I rushed downstairs, shouting at the Chow Chow to scare it away.
Isabella jumped, startled, and shot me a disdainful look.
"It's not like it's something valuable. If my dog wants to play with it, let it."
Daniel frowned, not understanding why I was so upset.
"What's the matter now? If it's that important, I'll just buy you another one."
"Daniel, you couldn't afford it!"
I lost control and lunged for the urn.
But the Chow Chow wasn't going to give it up easily. Isabella hadn't trimmed its nails, and it clawed at my arm, leaving deep scratches that bled.
I was beyond reason, furiously grabbing a plate from the table and hurling it at the dog. Startled, it scurried away.
Seeing that I was close to retrieving the urn, Isabella shot a glance at Tina.
"Tina, Matt was just playing nicely. Now that he's being bullied, why aren't you helping?"
Tina hesitated, but Daniel nodded silently.
"Pull her away."
Tina yanked me aside, forcing me to kneel in front of Isabella.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Wilson."
Kneeling there, I felt a deep, burning humiliation.
"Daniel, are you just going to let Isabella walk all over me?"
"Matt was only playing with something. You hit him and even threw a plate at him. Charlotte, you know full well how much Matt means to Isabella. When did you become so cruel?"
Instead of helping me, Daniel's tone was filled with reproach.
"I told you, that dog was biting something incredibly important to me!" I spat through gritted teeth.
Daniel frowned slightly, dismissing my concern.