Chapter 4

Rumors started spreading that their fight had been because of me. When I heard it, I just laughed nonchalantly.

I wasn't that same lovesick fool I used to be. I was no longer the pathetic man who refreshed his social media countless times a day to stalk the feeds of Melanie, Leonard, and everyone who knew them.

I had done that in a desperate attempt to detect the slightest crack in their relationship so that I could rush to her side and tell her that I was the one who truly loved her.

But so what if they fought? They were a couple in love, so they'd reconcile very quickly even if they did have a fight. So what if they had an argument because of me? I had always been nothing more than a prop in their game.

Still, after that argument, Melanie started calling me more and more often. Unfortunately for her, I either declined it immediately or found every possible excuse not to meet her. This went on until the day before I was supposed to leave the country.

That day, she sent me a message inviting me to a concert.

She wrote, "I already bought the tickets. Let's meet tonight, okay? Don't stand me up. Today's our wedding anniversary. You're not going to reject me again, are you?"

She had never, ever, lowered herself to beg me for anything before. Usually, she would just toss out a casual line and take one step toward me. I, who used to be eager to please, would take the remaining 99 steps out of 100 to sprint toward her, desperate to bridge the distance between us.

But in the end, I came to the painful realization that she always withdrew whenever Leonard showed up.

I didn't know how to respond to Melanie's message. Today wasn't our wedding anniversary. It was the anniversary of our fourth remarriage.

After so many divorces and marriages, I was probably the only one who still remembered every single date and every detail of our messy history down to the exact day.

Still, I agreed to go. I did want to watch Nate Zaleski's live performance, after all.

But that night, I stood outside the venue and waited for a long, long time… She never showed up.

Finally, I played the voice message she had sent me a few minutes earlier. Her voice was soft and apologetic, while the background was alive with the noise of the concert. I could even faintly hear the sound of Leonard's laughter.

"I'm sorry, Xavier. Lenny suddenly felt unwell, so I took him to the hospital. We'll have plenty more anniversaries to celebrate together. After he leaves tomorrow, I'll do whatever you want, okay?"

The concert began. Nate's melodious and serene voice floated out from inside.

"Thank you for inviting me to witness your love. I remind myself, at every moment, not to run away."

I closed the message and, for the first time in a month, opened my social media.

Right at the top was a new post from Leonard just a few minutes ago. It was a selfie of him and Melanie at the concert.

"I let go of every memory just to bless your love. But I still can't accept that this is our fate."

The song continued, mocking me for being a fool who had still clung to a sliver of hope when I took up Melanie's invitation and traveled all the way there.

This time, what was left of that small sliver of hope went up in smoke.

This was already our seventh divorce. I should have understood long ago, shouldn't I?

But at least this was truly the end. With no lingering attachment left, I turned and headed straight for the airport. I sat there the entire night, waiting for dawn to break.

At 7:00 am, I checked in for my flight. Melanie sent me a message asking when we would remarry. I didn't reply. I deleted her number.

At 8:00 am, while I was in line to board, she called me. I didn't answer. I blocked her number instead.

At 9:00 am, I was seated on the plane. The flight attendant reminded us to switch our phones to airplane mode.

Just then, my phone buzzed as a call from Kieran came in. But when I answered, it wasn't Kieran's voice I heard. It was Melanie's. Her voice was anxious and trembling as she asked, "Xavier, where are you?"