Gianna crossed her arms tightly, her nails digging deeply into her flesh, but it still couldn’t diminish the ache in her heart.
Ginger, the stray cat, was something she and Vince had found together when they were in elementary school. From the weak, timid kitten it once was, they had raised it into a healthy, lively, and affectionate cat, putting in so much effort along the way.
But because Michelle was afraid of cats, they had to secretly keep it in the southwest corner of the garden.
Ginger was an affectionate and clingy orange tabby. Vince had asked Gianna to give it a nice name. She thought long and hard, but nothing she suggested seemed to satisfy him. Finally, he clasped his hands together, decisively declaring, “Let’s call it Ginger. It’s part of both of us.”
Hearing his childish but domineering tone, Gianna's heart skipped a beat for the first time.
Later, they got married.
But Vince, due to Roxan’s allergy to cat fur, wanted to send Ginger away despite the cat being sixteen years old.
Wasn’t that the same as abandoning it?
Gianna couldn’t accept this, so she immediately insisted on moving out with Ginger.
Vince didn’t say much, and just left.
But before he left, that cold, indifferent look in his eyes chilled her heart.
That night, Gianna hugged Ginger, holding back her tears as she comforted it. “Ginger, don’t worry. He doesn’t want you, but I do. I won’t abandon you.”
Ginger nuzzled her cheek, meowing softly twice.
Perhaps sensing the disdain from its owner, that night it relapsed, unable to eat and struggling to breathe, tears around its eyes.
Gianna panicked. She rushed it to the pet hospital for treatment.
Ginger’s condition was much worse than she had imagined. It had been sick since it was twelve, having undergone two surgeries, and had barely stabilized for the past six months.
This time, the doctor said it would need long-term hospitalization to manage its condition—a form of treatment that only delayed its life.
The doctor even suggested giving up, but Gianna couldn’t bring herself to. To her, Ginger was not just a pet, but a family.
Over the past two years, she had regularly visited the hospital to check on Ginger. On the good days, she would take it out for walks, watching the sunset together as they drifted off to sleep.
But after the miscarriage and the procedures, she hadn’t been able to visit for a long time. She hadn’t expected that Ginger might leave her now...
After the conversation, Gianna thought for a few minutes, then decided to take Vince off her blacklist and send him a message.
She only hoped he would come to see Ginger one last time, as a way of closing the chapter on their past.
She waited for a long time, but he didn’t respond.
Just as she was about to give up, the message came through.
[Gianna, the average lifespan of an orange cat is around fifteen years, and Ginger has lived its full life. It also has many underlying health issues. Even if it stays alive, it’s only going to suffer. You should just let it go. People are like this, and so are cats. Isn’t it exhausting, clinging on like this?]
It was Roxan’s tone.
The final line carried a double meaning.
She was reminding Gianna to take the hint and leave Vince, that clinging to him would lead to nothing.
