My Wife's Funeral

funeral. She was only thirt

reason, she developed acute pneumonia. After more than

I suddenly received a call from my mother-in-law Abby Qu

the time I arrived, Noreen had

aving not a single word for me or our

"Given your wife's youth and the fact that she didn't have a

son, she showed

to remove her breathing machine, indicating s

ice, I've never encoun

e cruelly left me and our daughter behind. I

ing up on Noreen, but

ways held a deep resentmen

gled to balance work and caring

didn't finish work until two or three in the mo

my sick wife and our

ealth deteriorated rapidly, and her once full figure wasted away until she w

er, my wife fainted more t

always refused, saying she didn't want to waste

ke care of her, and I constant

een's health, I received that

cted me. They didn't like my

y didn't like

money tree they only rememb

hildren-two sons

ild, with an older broth

d-hearted woman, very filial,

d from her teenage years, she took

law Wallace Quinn had started working and

ade Noreen drop out of school and w

Kieran, take care of the cattle after lunch, and continue farming in the afternoon.

dozen sheep, and she alone was

frail, she would carry loads of fresh grass ba

spoiled, doing nothing around the hous

omplaint, she would be met wit

an, he chased her on horseback, whippi

ome villagers, Noreen might have been bea

t on a hunger strike for three

alth since she was their strongest worker, so

the farm, she reached the age of twenty-fou

iked her, but Kieran

ient to her parents, but when it came to marriage, she finally made up her own mind. She secret

eight, we met, fell in love, a

ng gifts of 100,000 dollars, saying it was for

dollars was enough

rrowed money from every relative I could

n cried uncontrollably. She told me that she finall

meant, but after we got married, I came to rea

arly. At that time, Noreen was pregnant with

t the construction site, I wasn'

nannounced, insisting on taking Nore

I didn't know was that Abby didn't take Noreen back to care for her. It was harvest season, and t

t woman spending her days in the

s days lying at home, playin

ished working in the fields, she didn't even have time t

feed idle people, especially a

s away from the city, Noreen had no choice but to walk two kilometers, c

have had to walk all t

Noreen was sitting outside th

her has neve

things my in-laws said, I never al

No matter how hard life was for me, I was dete

city. Noreen only needed to stay at home and take care o

y and conten

remained lazy and idle, and no woma

ed trouble at our home, pressuring Noreen t

hem money to quiet things down. Noreen didn't want to give them mo

st important thing was that we

ther, but then Noreen suddenly fell ill with ac

daughter and I loved her so much,

cremation, only her old

o had treated Noreen well i

they refused to attend Noreen's funeral, claimin

hed into the cremation furnace, and when it came o

l I could do was hold my sobbing daughter as I numbly went

eived a call from Abby. She was crying on the other end of the line,

ut eating. If you're done, come home

ger on me. After all, they had a perfectly good daughter, a

blamed me, which

nd the door slightly ajar. Standing outs

M

o doesn't despise me. Thi

tter what, you must kick him

r out this hous

nt to marry their daughter, I must

riscoll'

orry, my

and that outsider Vance th

dream

mp

I was smart and

lived woman's funeral was over, ho

, you're

come up with a plan b

antage of his grief

ind an

er to be killed by him. For that

deal with

voice filled with

and her parents and brother were alr

ed to mistreat Noreen. I was so angry that I

to disregard their own daughter, not even seei

nderstood the selfishness

when people die, their spirits linger for seven days

ense are y

r when she was alive. Even if she's dead,

head. My knees buckled, and I almost collap

Driscoll mean by

ey killed Noreen to

e? Noreen was their

es of events from Noreen's illness

oll had come to our house to cause trouble again.

or more than

Noreen, but she also brought some herbal tonics from their hometown, say

ey left, Noreen s

octor said she had acute pneumonia due to

d after Noreen drank

meant to clear Noreen's lungs. Abby said that living in the city with all the car exhaust and poor air quality had we

ved that no parent would harm their

doctor she knew, who prescribed expensive tonics. Eve

traditional medicine, I knew tha

uch ginseng, but Abby accused me of being sus

thinking that no parent

d to be doing well. She would get up early to make

elt bloated, like a heavy weight

go home, claiming they had been away for too long

he time, but I didn

tion and recalling how Noreen collaps

tal, where the doctor said her abdominal and chest c

brought her in when I did. Other

, he said there were many possible causes, but in my

mine why her lungs had becom

n a liter of fluid from her body every day. She w

elt deep guilt for not t

and said, "Silly, how

terrible things in my past li

world is you and our daughter. Otherwise,

speak such despairing words. But now, lookin

then that her mother and br

reen ever tel