In order to please her white moonlight, my wife caused my father's tragic death.

The day my father needed emergency surgery, my wife, a top surgeon, chose to jet off on vacation with her first love. I knelt at the airport, begging her to save my father’s life. She just sneered and told me to get lost. “Your father’s life is not my problem. Don't use this pathetic tactic to make me jealous.”

My father died. I finally gave up on her. And that’s when she knelt before me, begging me not to leave her.

1.

The flatline echoed in my ears. The doctor's apologetic face swam before my eyes, his words muffled, meaningless.

My dad was gone. The man who raised me, gone.

My legs buckled, and I collapsed, my knees hitting the cold tile floor.

"Mr. Lincoln, please get up… Mr. Lincoln!"

I felt hollow, numb. Then, a nurse’s voice cut through the fog. "If only Dr. Carlson hadn't taken a vacation… I can’t believe she'd abandon her own father-in-law."

Her words jolted me back to reality. I pulled myself up, my hands shaking, and sank onto a nearby chair.

My wife, Melanie Carlson, was all over my social media feed, laughing on a beach, nestled in the arms of another man. David Miller. Her first love. For him, she’d abandoned my father, the man who’d practically raised her since middle school, the man who was now lying in ICU, fighting for his life.

He’d needed emergency surgery, a complicated procedure few surgeons could handle. Melanie, one of the best in the state, had chosen a Hawaiian vacation with David over my father’s life. I'd chased her to the airport, begging her to stay, to save him. I still remembered the sting of her slap. The airport lights had glared down at me, mocking my pain. She’d wiped her hand with a wet wipe David had offered, as if I’d contaminated her, and tossed it in my face.

"Lincoln, are you done with this pathetic display? I promised David a vacation. You’re making up stories about your father dying just to keep me here?"

The pain in my face wasn't from the slap. It was shame. David watched the whole scene unfold, a smirk playing on his lips. The airport crowd stared, whispering. My pride lay shattered on the floor.

"Melanie, honey, it's okay. I understand he’s worried. But your father’s health is more important. I can go to Hawaii myself." He coughed delicately, adding fuel to the fire. Melanie kicked me in the chest, sending me sprawling.

"Let your father die! Stop disgusting me with these pathetic attempts to make me jealous!"

David soothed her with a few whispered words, a triumphant smile playing on his lips as she beamed up at him. He’d won.

I pulled myself up, grabbing her ankle, my voice hoarse. "Melanie, please, I’m begging you, one last time. Stay. Save him. He’s dying. He loves you like a daughter."

She stepped on my hand with her stiletto heel, grinding it into the floor. "Lincoln, you’re such a drama queen. Stop with the theatrics! He's not dying! I’m not falling for your lies. Now get lost! You’re ruining my vacation."

I lay there, watching her walk away, her arm linked with David's, her ...