Thanks for Taking Out the Trash

When I woke up in the hospital and heard the doctor talking, I still felt a little dazed.

"It was caused by emotional distress. Have you been going through something lately? Ma'am, are you listening?"

The nurse's voice sounded far away, like it was drifting from above the clouds.

I closed my eyes, and tears flowed silently down my cheeks.

My baby had left me before I even had the chance to feel him.

Suddenly, I remembered the night Elmer and I got married. He held me tightly and said, "Let's have a baby. I know you've always wanted one."

He was right.

Before my mom passed, her last wish was to see me settled down, with a family of my own. But she was in too much of a hurry.

She finished knitting the scarf, and then she left.

All these years, I kept blaming myself. If only I had brought Elmer to meet her sooner… If only we had gotten married earlier… Maybe she could've seen her grandchild before she died.

Maybe it would've made it a little easier for her to go.

My phone buzzed.

It was a new post from Larissa on social media.

In the photo, Elmer was asleep on her bed, fully clothed. The caption read, "I knew you wouldn't really leave me."

Larissa's free hand was resting lightly on Elmer's chest. On her ring finger was a wedding ring that was clearly too big for her.

I recognized it instantly.

It was our wedding ring.

I gave the post a like, then left a comment, "How sad, having to sneak a ring off his finger. Since you like picking up trash so much, why don't I just give him to you?"

Right after I posted it, my mother-in-law called.

"Moey, you and Elmer are back from your trip, right? Come home for dinner tonight, we'll have a little family gathering."

My father-in-law chimed in, "Yeah, your mom and I made spare ribs. Why so quiet? You guys aren't home yet?"

I gripped my phone tighter, but I had already made up my mind. "Dad, Mom… I'm getting a divorce."

After hanging up, I sent them everything that had happened over the past few days—screenshots of Larissa's posts and all.

…

As soon as they heard the news, my in-laws rushed to the hospital.

They ran around taking care of me, and even spent a lot of money buying supplements to help me recover.

Even though Elmer had a habit of abandoning me, his parents had always treated me like their own daughter.

But I still refused my mother-in-law's attempts to talk me out of it.

"Mom, I can't pretend like nothing happened and keep living with him. Once I'm better, I'll file for divorce."

That afternoon, though, my in-laws didn't come to the hospital.

I didn't ask why. Instead, I called a lawyer to start discussing the next steps.

That night, Elmer showed up.

I was sitting up in bed reading when he suddenly yanked me down with brutal force, his face twisted with rage.

"What the hell did you tell my parents? Why the hell did they go to Risa's work?"

I froze.

So that was why his parents hadn't come earlier. They went to confront Larissa.

That was when I noticed someone crying at the door.

Larissa stood there, her eyes red and watery.

"Moira, I know I can be immature sometimes… but you shouldn't have turned Elmer's parents against me. They're old, and it hurts me to see them get upset over misunderstandings."

The moment Larissa started crying, Elmer lost control just like always.

He grabbed my arm roughly.

"Do you even realize Risa had a meeting with a major client today? Because of your baseless accusations, she lost the deal, and now my parents are caught up in this, too! Come here. Apologize to her!"

He jerked me forward so hard I nearly fell to the ground.

"Stop faking! I know you're not even sick!"

Ignoring my condition, he yanked harder on my arm.

"Sick or not, you owe her an apology!"

I couldn't even stand up properly, I was almost kneeling. But Elmer, furious, just kept dragging me toward Larissa.

Desperate, I grabbed onto the table, knocking over a stack of papers—my hospital discharge papers for the miscarriage.

I slapped them hard against Elmer's chest.

"If you think I should apologize to Larissa, then what about you two? You're the ones who made me lose my baby!"

Elmer's hand froze mid-air. "What did you say?"