Emotional romance story: A Lake’s Sorrow You Cannot Take Away
The woman married a man she did not love, just so she could use the dowry to pay off her father’s gambling debts.
Her father had once been a good man, one who never gambled. It was only after her mother passed away that he began to lose his way. So, when he repeatedly sold off their belongings, emptying the home, she did not hate him. In her heart, he was still her good father, especially when he would cry bitterly in front of her mother’s portrait, drunk and broken. She felt she and her mother owed him a debt, so she took it upon herself to marry early and solve his problems.
Such a marriage was bound to be rocky. She took out all her frustrations on him, the man she married. She often thought about betraying him, deliberately making things difficult for him. Yet he was a man with a good temper, accepting everything she did without complaint and always treating her with kindness. She even secretly met with her first love several times, feeling little guilt about it.
Several times, their marriage came to the brink of collapse. But each time, his gentle persistence, like a soft rope, slowly pulled her wild and unbridled love back from the edge, saving their marriage.
She had thought she had mortgaged away her entire life’s happiness, but after living together for over twenty years, she slowly began to see his goodness. She realized that love could grow in this way. She began to lead a more peaceful life and thought, perhaps this was love. Her love had come late, and she had overlooked much happiness because of it. She began to change her behavior, genuinely caring for him from the bottom of her heart.
But that peaceful happiness lasted only three years before it vanished.
Her father, unable to change his ways, gambled again and racked up enormous debts. This time, the amount was so large that she could not possibly fill the bottomless hole. Every day, she saw the worry in his eyes, and it made him anxious as well. He had just been swindled out of all his savings, leaving them with nothing but their house. In such dire circumstances, no one was willing to lend him money.
She thought about leaving him, selling herself again, even if it meant marrying an old man, just to pay off her father’s debts. But each time the thought crossed her mind, she slapped herself hard. She couldn’t do that; it would be too unfair to him. She began to resent her father for his compulsive gambling. But she couldn’t just stand by and watch her father live in fear and hiding. She was sleepless at night, unable to think of a solution.
“Let’s sell our house,” he said, holding her close, his voice gentle. “As long as he quits gambling after this, it will be worth it.”
She refused, saying that even selling the house wouldn’t be enough. It was a black hole that could never be filled.
Their lives descended into a black hole as well, deep and bottomless. Seeing the streaks of gray in her hair that appeared in just a few days pained him deeply.
To ease her mind, he took her back to his hometown. There was a lake there, and he told her that a swim in that lake would wash away all their troubles. She laughed at his simplicity. She couldn’t swim, so she said she would watch him. She helped him undress, as if shedding all the burdens of the world.
He told her he knew that lake like an old childhood friend. He had loved swimming in it since he was young, as if he were a spirit of the lake.
He swam freely in the lake, occasionally playfully signaling his victory to her. She lay on the grass by the shore, watching this man who seemed never to grow up, her heart filled with tenderness. She thought about how many hurtful things she had done to him over the years, but thankfully, they still had time left. She was determined to make it up to him. With that thought, her heart softened like a poem or a painting, and for a moment, she forgot the worries that had plagued her. The sunset reflected off the lake’s surface, and the trees cast dancing shadows on the water. He seemed reluctant to come out, creating ripples on the water’s surface—a beautiful scene, one that would be frozen in time.
He swam for a long time, his body sometimes floating, sometimes sinking, and she started to feel uneasy. A sense of panic rose in her heart. She called out loudly, “Come out now, don’t scare me.” She thought he was joking with her again, as he often did, just to make her laugh. But this time, it wasn’t a joke. He gradually became silent in the lake. She was terrified and started to run, not knowing how far she ran until she found a phone booth. When the rescue team pulled him from the water, he was already gone. The spirit of the lake had been swallowed by the lake.
His face showed no pain, only a peaceful happiness. This made her believe that he was still playing a game with her, and that as soon as she cried, he would wake up and comfort her. She let a tear fall on his forehead, but he did not wake up. She let a tear fall on his lips, but he did not wake up. She let a tear fall into his eyes, but still, he did not wake up… She turned away and let a tear fall into the lake, and the surface of the lake rippled with a gentle smile. The lake was alive.
If the lake was alive, the spirit of the lake could not have died. This was the woman’s stubborn belief. She couldn’t understand how someone so good at swimming could have such an accident. Was this God’s punishment for her ten years of unfaithfulness to love?
The lake was truly beautiful. She scattered his ashes into it. Although the lake had taken her lover’s life, she could not find any trace of hatred in her heart. She gazed at the lake, lost in thought, as if it held all the happiness of her life.
She picked up her sketchpad and, in the sunset, slowly transferred the image of that haunting lake to her heart.
She turned and walked away, but the sorrow of the lake followed her, making the rest of her life both sorrowful and yet gentle and beautiful.
The day after the funeral, she received a call from the insurance company, asking her to come and collect a large life insurance payout. When she saw it, the policyholder’s name was his, and the beneficiary’s name was hers.
Two names bound together in love, so close that even death could not separate them.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
