Chapter 3

"Just leaving. Replying to a text."

My mentor had messaged:

"Are you completely sure? This is an indefinite classified project. Once you step inside, you will have zero contact with the outside world. Are you really willing to leave your sweet wife behind?"

I was about to reply when Victoria spoke up coldly:

"Ethan, can you stop coming to my grandmother's place? Chloe gets upset every time she sees you. You know she's emotionally fragile right now."

Looking at her with a calm expression, I typed "Yes" to my mentor. Then I looked up at her.

"I'm sorry. I won't come here ever again."

This scene felt hauntingly familiar.

Except once upon a time, I was the one standing beside her while she fiercely defended me against everyone else.

I started the engine and drove away.

In my rearview mirror, I caught a glimpse of Victoria's panicked, helpless gaze, but I didn't look back.

In a daze, I found myself driving past the food street near our old university.

I pulled over and walked down the sidewalk.

When we first started dating, I hadn't graduated yet and was dead broke.

Every date we had took place right here, at these cheap street stalls.

"Mommy, Daddy, I want that candied fruit!"

A crisp voice snapped me out of my memories.

Three familiar figures strolled toward me.

Victoria, Julian, and Chloe were wearing matching family outfits, smiles plastered across their faces.

Chloe spotted me. A mocking smirk crossed her face as she yelled:

"Look, it's the dumpster diver! What are you doing here? Looking for trash?"

Before I could react, Julian rushed forward, putting on a pitiful, victimized face.

"Ethan, Chloe's mental state is hanging by a thread right now. Victoria finally calmed her down. Could you please stop stalking us and triggering her?"

"I'm begging you, okay?"

Victoria walked over with Chloe, her expression complicated.

"Julian, take Chloe to buy her treat. Let me talk to Ethan for a moment."

Once they walked away, Victoria turned to me, exasperation written all over her face.

"Ethan, I'm already exhausted taking care of a kid. Why do you keep following us? Didn't we agree to remarry in a month?"

"Can we just give each other some space and go no-contact for a bit?"

Hearing this, my heart went completely cold. My voice sounded hollow and raspy. "Fine. No contact from now on."

Victoria froze, suddenly clutching my sleeve.

"I didn't mean forever! I meant just for this month! Ethan, stop overthinking."

"I swear, in thirty days, I will come straight back to remarry you. No one can ever replace you in my heart."

"Oh, and didn't you always want a baby? Being with Chloe made me realize kids aren't as terrifying as I thought. Once we remarry, we can have our own baby, okay?"

I lowered my eyes and nodded faintly. "Whatever you say. I'll leave now so Chloe doesn't get upset."

I kept Victoria's condition. For the entire month, I never contacted her once.

Instead, I watched her daily life unfold on Instagram.

"At Disneyland with my husband and daughter today."

"My little princess wanted a homemade cake, so I spent three days trying to bake one... Total disaster! Buying a bakery one instead."

"Our little girl insisted on a family portrait. It's been so long since I wore a wedding dress; I could barely zip it up."

Staring at the family portrait where she wore a white bridal gown, a sharp sting hit my nose.

My phone rang. It was Victoria.

"Ethan, can we push our remarriage date back by three days?"

"I miss you so, so much. But Chloe's birthday is coming up, and I want to celebrate it with her first."

"By the way, she's in a much better mood lately. Why don't you come to her birthday party too?"

Attending the birthday party of my wife and another man's daughter?

I couldn't stomach it.

Besides, I was leaving. I was dedicating my life to my country's defense, disappearing into the classified sector.

Every trace of my identity in the civilian world would be wiped clean.

Victoria would never be able to find me again.

"No thanks. Enjoy your time with Julian and Chloe."

My tone was probably too icy, because Victoria immediately detected something was wrong.

"Why aren't you coming? We haven't seen each other in a month! Don't you miss me at all?!"

"I checked the home security cameras. Why aren't you at the penthouse? Where are you?!"

Toward the end, her voice broke into sobs.

"I..."

*HOOOONK—!!*

The loud blare of a departing high-speed bullet train horn interrupted me.

"Why do I hear a train horn? Ethan, are you at the train station?! Where are you going?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"We agreed this was only temporary! How could you leave without saying goodbye?! Please don't go! Wait for me! I'm coming to find you right now!"

"I can't—"

Before she could finish, I cut her off.

"Goodbye, Victoria."

A thousand words choked in my throat, yet all that came out was a final farewell.

With stinging eyes, I ended the call. Casting one last glance at the city where our story unfolded, I stepped onto the train.

Just as the boarding gates closed, a trending notification popped up on my phone:

*A black Maybach is running multiple red lights at breakneck speed, speeding recklessly toward the central train terminal!*

That car... looked exactly like Victoria's.