Beneath the Landslide

After six days, I was rescued. As I lay on the hospital bed, the sound of dogs barking and voices calling out to me echoed in my ear.

Also… I could almost hear the sound of a girl's breathless and sultry voice in Ethan's last phone call.

I must have misheard that.

After all, before we got married, Ethan repeatedly swore his loyalty to me, even taking a few oaths. How could he ever cheat on me?

Thinking about the anniversary we missed, I asked the young man who had helped rescue me to buy me a phone.

I logged into my messaging app.

I should let Ethan know I was safe. Maybe I should apologize for being late to our fifth wedding anniversary.

As soon as I opened the application, a flood of congratulations popped up, and I froze for a moment.

Confused, I asked my best friend what was going on, only to learn that Ethan had just been promoted and was planning to treat everyone to dinner.

I opened my social media app, and the first post I saw was from Ethan.

[A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.]

I was just about to message him, telling him I was safe and maybe even congratulating him. However, I saw the ring in his hand, and I went silent.

That ring… I had seen it not long ago, in the hand of a student Ethan was sponsoring. At the time, I blamed myself for being paranoid, always doubting Ethan and not giving him enough trust.

Ha. It seemed I was the one left in the dark all along.

The first thing I did after surviving death was to look for Ethan, afraid he would worry. Meanwhile, he had gotten a promotion and had a woman in his arms, living it up.

He never cared about whether I lived or died, even from the very start.

"Are you alright?" The young firefighter carefully handed me a tissue.

That was when I realized. At some point, I started crying—for this relationship that lasted 10 years.

The old me might have stormed up to demand an explanation, but at this moment, I was tired.

I wiped away my tears, picked up my phone, and opened my text chat with Ethan.

The last message was sent to me on the day of the earthquake.

[You're so annoying. I told you I'm busy. I'm not coming home today.]

To Ethen, the anniversary I thought was so important was not even worth mentioning.

Watching the boy next to me sobbing uncontrollably for his girlfriend, I closed my eyes and silently mourned for the Ethan I once knew.

I texted, [Congrats on the promotion. When you have a moment, let's get a divorce. I'm not dead yet.]

I could tell Ethan was gearing to respond with the word 'typing' displayed, but then there was nothing.

Was I just left on read? It did not matter.

Things somehow seemed much clearer to me after I survived.