FRACTURE

Beside Peter sits his wife, Julia. Peter can feel her warm, shaky hands resting on his chest, every gentle movement of her fingers carrying a voice his lips can no longer speak—a voice begging him not to leave.

Peter closes his eyes, feels the warmth of Julia’s palm, and hears her quiet sobs. The drops of her tears make him a little happier, as if he is about to leave the world with his wife’s tears resting on his cheek.

Peter’s mind drifts back to the day they first met. Technically, they never met—they were met.

Peter had just graduated from a great university with an even greater result. He was an icon in his family. He was the person every new mother in the family and neighborhood used to compare their children with.

Peter’s dream was to become a government employee—someone who would have to do less work, yet enjoy all the benefits the government could provide for him and his family.

And “less work” did not mean doing nothing. Peter had spent thirty years of his life studying, five of them just trying to get selected for a high-paying government job.

Finally, after years of struggle, Peter became a government employee and was gradually promoted to the title of “officer.” Not a military officer, but a government official with authority over a department—someone people respected and addressed with honor.

I don’t know if respecting someone and calling someone something respectful are the same thing, but it was Peter... everything about him was built differently.

At the age of thirty-three, Peter’s family started looking for a bride for him, and Peter happily imagined a new chapter of his life. His mother showed him a picture of a beautiful young woman, around twenty years old. Peter liked her at first glance... he agreed to marry Julia.

On the other hand, Julia’s family showed her Peter’s photo—a thirty-three years old man with a bright bald head and an even brighter future, with guaranteed opportunities from the government. Everything about him made it almost impossible for Julia to refuse.

Her mother asked, “Do you like him?”

Julia replied, “I agree to marry him.”

Peter and his family went to see Julia in person. That was the day they were met, and Peter was delighted to see Julia with her head lowered in shyness.

Two completely different people, who had never seen or spoken to each other before, were brought together for life because of something Peter had spent his entire life achieving.

I, as an uneducated writer, only see lust and greed from both sides, but in reality, it was their true love—an unbreakable bond that has lasted until this day. After all... Peter is still rich.

Julia thought her life would be complete after marrying a man with a secure future. Yet now, sitting beside his deathbed, she feels as though something has always been missing from her life, and that she is about to lose something she never truly had.

But suddenly, she finds comfort in the thought that even after Peter’s death, her family will not have to suffer. The government will provide them with money, and Peter still has plenty saved in his bank account.

At least, she lives... through the sacrifice of Peter.

Perfect Peter — 6