All Chapters of We No Longer Sail Together: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

When Julie Haynes came out of the bedroom, Ryan Fairfax had already cleaned the kitchen and dining room, leaving them spotless.Julie was surprised when she saw the result.“Ryan, you’re incredible!“Gina, I’m so envious of you. You have such a wonderful husband. You must be living the good life with Ryan at home, right?”I froze.“Living the good life? Not really. If anything, Ryan always makes my life harder. I had no idea he was this good at housework until today,” I thought.When Ryan noticed I was being silent, he tugged lightly at my clothes.“Don’t start. Julie hurt her hand, so it’s hard for her to do the housework. I didn’t mean anything by it. If you’re upset, I’ll mop the floors for you when we get home, okay?”I let out a bitter laugh.“He’s perfectly willing to do housework for Julie. But when it comes to our own home, he just does it as a ‘favor’.” I thought.My heart sank as I looked at Ryan.“That’s our home, not just mine. Ryan, we’re supposed to take care o

Chapter 2

In the car, Ryan spoke first.“You didn’t lose your temper today. That’s a rare sight.”He was right. In the past, I would have argued, made a scene, and gotten into another fight with him.I had grown so used to that pattern that I thought it was simply how Ryan and I interacted.Only after my heart went cold did I realize that true disappointment came quietly and soundlessly.Over the years I had spent with Ryan, we had countless arguments over the smallest things at home.But every time, I was the one who gave in, convincing myself to let it go and coming up with countless excuses for Ryan.I told myself he was tired from work, not used to doing housework, or just a typical guy who did not notice those things.Yet I had forgotten that I was capable of getting tired as well.Even more ridiculous was that all the household skills I taught Ryan had ended up being used for another woman and made things easier for her.I finally understood that when someone did not truly care a

Chapter 3

Ryan drove away and left me standing there in a cloud of exhaust.I wandered aimlessly down the street, feeling neither sad nor heartbroken. Yet his words kept replaying in my mind, and I found them deeply ironic.“So, Ryan was the reason my marriage had worn down all my sharp edges,” I thought.When I finally made it home after more than an hour of walking, Ryan was in the bedroom.The floor had been mopped, but bits of dirt and debris were still scattered across it. Ryan never bothered to pick them up with a tissue and throw them in the trash. He considered such things too trivial to worry about.He had also hung up the laundry, but only his own clothes. Mine were still sitting in the washing machine.I let out a soft sigh.I could hear Ryan talking on the phone in the bedroom.“It’s fine, Julie. Don’t worry. Gina only said that because she was angry. She’s not actually going to divorce me. Also, your hand is hurt, so call me if you need anything. Don’t hesitate.”By the tim

Chapter 4

I suddenly found it all so ridiculous.I had spent so long believing Ryan was clueless around the house, making excuses for him and finding reasons to justify his behavior. All the while, he had been more than willing to put in the effort for someone else.I thought Ryan would apologize or at least feel guilty once the truth came to light.Instead, he raised his voice and demanded, “Gina, who told you to add Julie?”His words left me stunned. I had no idea what he meant.He snatched my phone from me and started tapping away at the screen, muttering, “Delete her.”But in his haste, Ryan accidentally started a video call.Julie answered almost immediately, leaving him no time to hang up.The moment her face appeared on the screen, Ryan’s irritation vanished, and his expression softened.“Sorry, Julie. I hit the button by accident.”“Ryan, did you and Gina get into a fight? Why are your eyes so red?”Ryan looked away. “No.”Julie continued, “I’m sorry, Ryan. Gina said it’d be

Chapter 5

I raised my hand and slapped Ryan across the face.The slap seemed to bring him back to his senses, and he slowly released me, disbelief filling his eyes.Ryan stared at his hands, unable to comprehend what he had just done to me.Once he realized what he had done, he crouched down in front of me and apologized sincerely, his voice trembling.“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Gina. I didn’t mean to do that. I was just blinded by anger for a moment. Please forgive me.”I lay on the floor, gasping for breath, unable to process what had just happened.The feeling of suffocation still lingered, and the look on Ryan’s face when he had lost control was still burned into my mind. I could hardly bear to imagine what might have happened if I had not fought back at the last moment.I curled myself into a ball and looked at Ryan with fear in my eyes.He tried to pull me into his arms.“Gina, don’t look at me like that. You’re scaring me.”I pushed him away.“I should be the one who’s afraid.”

Chapter 6

After a year of marriage to Ryan, I managed to fit everything I could take into a single suitcase. Anything that would not fit had to stay behind.I took one last look at the home I had poured so much of myself into, then grabbed my suitcase and strode away.Ryan blocked my path, his eyes red.“Gina…”I simply said, “I’ll see you at the courthouse tomorrow morning. Don’t be late.”He shook his head, clearly unwilling to accept it.“Gina, as long as you don’t divorce me, I’ll take care of all the housework from now on. I’ll do whatever you say. I promise.”“Ryan, do you really think housework was the only problem between us?”My heart sank.Even after everything, Ryan still did not understand how we had ended up here.I pushed him aside and left without looking back.A heavy feeling suddenly settled over Ryan. He used to think I was always on his case and that it made him uncomfortable, but with me really gone, he struggled to adjust.When Ryan looked down and saw the dirty

Chapter 7

I waved the divorce certificate and replied, “No, we won’t.”Ryan staggered backward, nearly losing his balance.After the divorce, I started rebuilding myself from the ground up. I did my best not to become hysterical or let myself get consumed by anger, but strangely enough, none of that ever happened.I never knew I could be this calm without Ryan.With my spirits lifted, I spent more than two weeks traveling. The mountains, lakes, and coastline did wonders for my state of mind, leaving me calmer than ever.I returned to my parents’ home in the neighboring city, where I planned to open a small flower shop.But I never expected to run into Ryan.He was drunk and had passed out in front of my parents’ old house, so I called the police.Julie came to pick him up.When we met again, we were both much calmer. I did not know what had happened to Julie over those two weeks, but she seemed much more mature and composed.Her eyes filled with tears when she saw me.“Gina, I’m pregn

Chapter 8

“Ryan, will you marry me? Give our baby and me a home,” Julie asked without beating around the bush.Ryan finally stirred, but he ignored Julie and looked straight at me instead.“Gina, if… if it weren’t for the baby, would you give us another chance?”In that moment, both of them turned their attention to me.But my answer had always been the same.“No. You can ask me as many times as you want, and my answer will still be no.”Julie seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, while Ryan looked utterly devastated.“You two should leave. You’re getting in the way of my business.”Julie tugged at Ryan, but he did not move.I lowered my head and continued moving the flowers. Ryan was about to help me, but before he could, someone else lifted the potted arrangement with ease.It was Adrian Jessop.He was one of my regular customers who stopped by every few days to buy flowers. After seeing each other so often, we naturally got to know each other.The arrangement he had just picked up

Chapter 9

After that, Adrian started coming to my shop often.He was a freelancer, so I figured I might as well treat him like an employee.We spent a lot of time talking, taking ourselves apart and examining everything that had happened, piece by piece. It was almost as if our previous marriages had been jobs, and we were trying to figure out why they had failed.Whenever we touched on something that really struck a chord, everything suddenly fell into place, and we would understand why things had happened the way they had.In the end, we came to the same conclusion. Neither of us had been in the wrong.Two months later, Ryan showed up again, but he seemed like a completely different person.When he saw me, he simply smiled.“Could you make me a bouquet?”As usual, I asked what the flowers were for, and he said they were for Julie.I assumed they were finally going to be together, but then Ryan said, “We lost the baby.”I froze.As if he knew I wanted to know why, Ryan began explaini

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