Chapter 5

I didn't look back. In fact, I quickened my pace.

All of a sudden, my crutch slipped, and I pitched forward, crashing to the floor. The burn on my arm started bleeding again.

The fall was too hard. It felt as if something in my chest had shattered completely. I clenched my teeth, digging my fingernails into my palms, but the waterworks began despite myself.

Growing up, I dreaded holidays the most. When I watched the warm light spill out of other people's windows and heard the laughter echoing from inside, envy hacked away at my flesh like a dull knife.

Nathan knew better than anyone that this was my most painful scar. Yet, just to comfort Veronica, he tore that scar open again and again with his own hands.

He rushed over and scooped me up, anger straining his voice. "Why do you have to be so goddamn obstinate, Vivian?"

As soon as his words fell, a thermos came flying through the air. In the blink of an eye, scalding soup splashed all over my face, and my forehead rapidly swelled up, turning black and blue.

Mrs. Schuman stood a few paces away, trembling with rage. "How dare you seduce my son-in-law, you shameless wench? Take that!"

Charging forward, she slapped me.

I was struck so hard my head twisted to the side, and I fell on the ground. Immediately after, my crutch came crashing down onto my shoulder, and my bone emitted a dull thud upon the impact.

Nathan caught Mrs. Schuman's crutch as she swung it down again. "Please calm down, Mrs. Schuman. You've gotten the wrong idea!"

"What's going on, then?" Mrs. Schuman snarled. "This vixen threw herself into your arms. Do you think I'm blind?"

Pushing myself up from the ground, I snapped, "You need to keep your daughter on a leash! We both know who the real homewrecker is here!"

Nathan whipped his head around, his voice dropping to a whisper that only the two of us could hear. "She has severe coronary heart disease. She can't be triggered. Vivian, I'm begging you. Don't make a scene right now!"

Right after saying that, he supported Mrs. Schuman. "You've got it all wrong! Major Tomlinson is my comrade. She's dealing with severe trauma from a deployment, so her emotions are quite unstable right now…"

He even pulled out pages of my medical records from his pocket.

Mrs. Schuman took one look at it and spat out, "So, she joined the army and went nuts? No wonder her parents died early. Clearly, no one was around to teach her any manners!"

Without sparing me another glance, Nathan guided her away. I sat on the floor, watching their retreating figures, unable to shed a single tear anymore.

The kind-hearted head nurse helped me back into the treatment room to re-bandage my wounds. "Major Tomlinson… Do you need me to… notify security?" she asked cautiously.

I shook my head. "That won't be necessary. Please discharge me."

…

After returning to the military residential compound, I began packing my suitcase. My phone vibrated, and the screen lit up.

Veronica had posted an update. In the photo, she wore Nathan's military uniform jacket and leaned against his chest. The caption read, "Finding you amid the smoke and gunfire… was worth all the pain."

I calmly swiped across the screen and clicked "Unfollow".

Downstairs, the car the guard had called for me had already arrived. I got in and gave the driver my destination. "The military airport."

The car started and drove out of the compound gates.

Just then, a black military jeep approached from the opposite direction and cruised past us. Through the half-lowered rear window, I caught Nathan turning his head to talk to the person beside him. Veronica was nestled against his shoulder, absolutely beaming.

The two vehicles sped off in opposite directions. In the rearview mirror, the gates of the military compound grew further and further away until they finally shrank into a tiny speck.

When I was 18 years old, I climbed over the orphanage wall with Nathan. When I was 20 years old, I stood beside him on the recruit oath platform. When I was 22 years old, we exchanged wedding rings in the auditorium. Then, when I was 28 years old, I watched one woman after another appear by his side…

The images flashed before my eyes in a deafening blur and vanished into the distance behind me.

I thought to myself, "We're done, Nathan."

I was about to go to the stretch of blue sky my parents had guarded until their final moments, and I would never come back.