Chapter 4

[December 25, 2023, Christmas Day, Moscow. Although it was just a brief reunion, only you could make me feel the thrill of youth once again.]

In the photo, the two embraced in a passionate kiss in front of St. Basil's Cathedral, amidst swirling snowflakes.

My blood froze. That night, my mother had been in a car accident, and I had called Dashiell dozens of times, but couldn't get through.

[June 24, 2020, Queensland, Australia. When I heard you were here, I booked a flight and came overnight. But I was still one step too late; you had already left for France. Lavender, I'm always chasing your footsteps. I want you to look back, yet I also want you to keep flying forward with pride. I never knew loving someone could make me feel so small.]

Tears fell in large drops onto my phone screen.

Dashiell, do you remember? That year, when a surgery you performed failed, and the deceased's family held a grudge against you, I was the one who took ten stab wounds shielding you.

[December 15, 2009, Iceland.]

The two waited for the aurora beneath a sky full of stars.

[May 17, 2002, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris. I gave my marriage to someone else, but saved my love for you alone.]

The photo showed Dashiell personally placing the pure white veil on Lavender's head.

And this day happened to be just the second day after my wedding to Dashiell.

He said the hospital had an urgent special assignment that required him to go on a business trip.

I even graciously packed his luggage for him, not daring to show even a hint of disappointment.

For a full twenty years and over ten thousand photos, from Asia to South America, their footprints had covered every corner of the world.

In what I thought was this perfect marriage, cracks of a third party were mixed in everywhere.

I couldn't bear to look any further and immediately booked a flight out of the country.

The date was set for the evening of my discharge from the hospital.

Dashiell, I no longer want this fake marriage.

On the day of my discharge, Dashiell took me to pick up our child from my mother-in-law's place.

I originally didn't want to go.

Since I had decided to leave, I didn't want to waste any more time maintaining this facade of harmony.

"You haven't seen our sweetheart in so long, don't you want to see him as soon as possible?"

I remained silent as I looked at Dashiell, whose mouth was full of lies.

During this time, our child had been staying with Lavender. There were several occasions when Lavender's social media featured photos of my mother-in-law and Lavender's mother-son trio shopping together for clothes for the sweetheart.

"Let's stop by home first then. I've prepared a gift for sweetheart too, we can bring it along."

Dashiell, unsuspecting, drove me home first.

I asked him to wait in the car while I went upstairs to grab my ID and passport.

I also tucked the pre-printed divorce papers into a gift box.

We arrived at Huntington Estate.

My mother-in-law's expression turned cold when she saw me.

She kept her head down, focusing on playing with the baby, and spoke with a sarcastic tone.

"Other women leave the hospital three days after giving birth. Some people are just so delicate! Not even breastfeeding after having a baby, poor child."

She glanced at me: "If you can't take care of the baby, at least you can cook, right? Why aren't you in the kitchen helping?"

Over the years, my mother-in-law harbored deep resentment towards me for not producing an heir for the Huntington Estate. From the past, to avoid troubling Dashiell, no matter how difficult she made things for me, I always endured silently.

But today, I don't want to endure anymore.

Seeing that I still hadn't moved, my mother-in-law was about to speak when a graceful figure appeared in the doorway.

"Auntie, I'm sorry I'm late. You mentioned last time that you liked this silk scarf, so I just ran to several boutiques to buy it. Take a look, is this the one you had your eye on?"