But when Eric came home, instead of smiling, he stared at the setup like it was a crime scene. \u201cWhat the hell is all this?\u201d he snapped. \u201cAre we teenagers now? What are you thinking, wasting money on this nonsense?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cora\u2019s smile faltered. \u201cIt didn\u2019t cost much,\u201d she said gently, trying to usher him to the table. \u201cIt\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day. I just wanted to surprise you.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lifestory99.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/At-Least-37-People-Dead-After-Two-Buses-Crash-Head-On-Into-Each-Other-240x300.webp\")
<\/p>\n
He barely let her finish before exploding. \u201cI work nonstop to keep this family afloat, and this is what I come home to? You can\u2019t even keep the kitchen clean!\u201d<\/p>\n
He flung the gift box to the floor, then spat out his first bite of dinner. \u201cThis tastes awful! What\u2019s wrong with the sauce?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou woke the babies,\u201d Cora said quietly, blinking back tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s my fault too, huh?\u201d he snapped. \u201cYou\u2019re home all day and still can\u2019t do anything right. This place is a mess!\u201d<\/p>\n
Cora had enough. \u201cWe\u2019re out of diapers,\u201d she said, shaking with frustration. \u201cSo I\u2019m going to get some. Watch the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stormed out before he could say another word, slamming the door behind her.<\/p>\n
Eric stayed behind, pacing and muttering. The triplets were crying, and he was too angry to comfort them. Minutes turned into an hour. Cora didn\u2019t return. Irritated, he headed to the living room to call her, just as the doorbell rang.<\/p>\n
He opened the door expecting to scold her. Instead, a police officer stood there.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you Mr. Carlisle?\u201d the officer asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry to inform you,\u201d he said, voice heavy with regret, \u201cbut your wife was involved in a car accident. She didn\u2019t make it. I need you to come with me to identify her body.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world shifted. Everything blurred. Eric felt like the floor disappeared beneath him. Somehow, he managed to call their neighbor, Mrs. Nelson, to watch the kids before following the officer.<\/p>\n
At the morgue, one look at Cora\u2019s pale, lifeless face shattered him completely. He wept like a child. He hadn\u2019t apologized. He hadn\u2019t said thank you. He hadn\u2019t even opened her gift.<\/p>\n
The next day, after the funeral, Eric came home to the same candlelit table. Nothing had changed, but everything had. His eyes fell on the small box she had wrapped with so much love. With trembling hands, he unwrapped it.<\/p>\n
Inside, he found two plane tickets to Hawaii. Tucked between them was a letter.<\/p>\n
To the love of my life, Eric,<\/p>\n
Happy Valentine\u2019s Day! Guess who got a job this week? I didn\u2019t tell you yet\u2014I wanted it to be a surprise. I know how tired you are working so hard for us, and I want to help. Mrs. Nelson agreed to watch the babies while I work, so we\u2019re covered there.<\/p>\n
And the tickets? They\u2019re for our first real vacation in years. Just the two of us. We deserve this, don\u2019t you think? There\u2019s more to the surprise, but you\u2019ll find out later\u2026<\/p>\n
Love always,
\nCora<\/p>\n
Eric sank to the floor, sobbing. She\u2019d been planning a new beginning, not just for herself but for both of them. A gesture of love, met with cruelty. And now she was gone.<\/p>\n
From that day on, Eric\u2019s life was never the same. He never remarried. He devoted himself entirely to raising the triplets, pouring every ounce of effort into being both father and mother. But every Valentine\u2019s Day, he\u2019d go to Cora\u2019s grave. He\u2019d sit with her for hours, whispering stories, regrets, and apologies into the wind, clinging to the memory of the woman who had loved him even when he didn\u2019t deserve it.<\/p>\n
Love, when taken for granted, can vanish in an instant. And sometimes, the deepest wounds aren\u2019t left by loss\u2014but by words we can never take back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Valentine\u2019s Day, Cora was glowing. She had spent the entire morning humming to herself, checking off items on her carefully crafted to-do list. She wore the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n