Grave of the Mafia’s Love Chapter 05
Julian returned to the office with a pink
cartoon–themed USB drive. He tossed it onto his
desk and buried himself in his work. He didn’t stop
until sunset.
Then he looked at the cartoon cat with the big
grin. That was the first gift he ever gave me.
“Sylvia…”
I was suspended in midair, waving my arms
vigorously.
“I’m here. I’m right here.”
“Let me see what you’re up to.” He snatched the
flash drive and clenched it so tightly in his hand
that I was afraid it would snap in two.
He plugged it into the computer, and a folder popped up. He opened it to find several photos
and an audio file inside.
My sweet, somewhat outdated secrets were finally about to be revealed.
March 5, 2017. Sunny.
Julian stayed up late doing the practice problems I
gave him. He really was a fool. A lovable fool.
April 23, 2018. Cloudy.
Julian snuck over in the middle of the night to give
me some cookies he’d baked himself, and I
thought I really liked him.
January 1, 2019. Rain.
When I was tired, Julian carried me up the
mountain. I’d made up my mind: I was going to love him bravely.
Julian stared at those words for a long time. So
long that his eyes turned red.
Then he looked away, gave a soft snort, and
hovered his mouse over the audio file.
It took a while before the video finally opened. The
video was shaky and full of static.
My sobs drowned out the noise.
“Ms. Cartwright! How could you say something
like that at the Parent Weekend? That’s not true at all-”
“I lied, but I don’t think I did anything wrong. You
two are still so young, Sylvia. Especially you–with
your excellent grades. Your future is so much
brighter than Julian’s. You can’t be together; he’ll
drag your life down into the abyss. Do you really
want to be the kind of woman who spends her
days taking care of kids and doing housework?
You probably hate me right now, but you’ll thank
me later!”
Helen’s voice was firm and authoritative, just as I
remembered it.
Then there was a creak, and the door was flung
open. My mother let out a heart–wrenching
scream:
“You slut! How dare you fall for that bastard’s son! You deserve to go to hell!”
The audio cut off abruptly.
Julian’s shoulders had already begun to shake.
He took a deep breath and called his assistant: “Verify the authenticity of this audio recording.”
Then he started chain–smoking all night long,
leaving the tabletop covered in cigarette ash.
At four in the morning, his assistant called: “Don,
it’s true.”
Julian’s straight back suddenly sagged. He
slumped into the chair as if all his bones had
turned to water.
