Chapter 3

3

After breakfast, I took the signed divorce agreement to the City Hall to officially file for divorce. We would get our final divorce certificate after the mandatory one-month waiting period.

Walking out of the building, a long-lost sense of anticipation rose in my heart. Over the next few days, I scheduled dinners with my friends. I treated them as my final farewell gatherings before leaving the city.

Sebastian was also busy catching up on the work he had neglected for the past month. We both left early and came home late. We barely exchanged a single word for days.

A week later, it was the centennial celebration for Crestview High School. As distinguished alumni, Sebastian and I naturally received invitations. As soon as our car stopped at the school gates, I saw Hazel standing there in a pristine white dress.

Sebastian wasn't surprised by her appearance at all. He got out of the car and walked straight toward her. He frowned at the faint bruises still visible on her arms, took off his suit jacket, and draped it over her shoulders.

Hazel froze for a moment, then pretended to take the jacket off to return it. Her eyes shimmered with tears. "Sebastian, you've already helped me so much with the divorce. I can't keep bothering you."

Sebastian grabbed her wrist, leaving no room for rejection. His voice was incredibly gentle. "Your matters are never a bother to me."

I had just walked up to them when I heard his affectionate confession. My footsteps froze in place. Suddenly, I remembered what happened two years ago.

I had suffered acute appendicitis and was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. I needed a family member to sign the consent form. To this day, I still remember the freezing tone of his voice when I called him while enduring excruciating abdominal pain.

"If it's not something important, don't bother me," he had said.

It turns out that when you truly love someone, flying back and forth between two cities for a month is never a bother. But when you don't love someone, even if they are facing death, you won't care at all.

"Sienna, please don't misunderstand. Sebastian is just helping me cover up these bruises out of our old friendship." Hazel finally noticed me from the corner of her eye. She hastily stepped out of his embrace and looked at me timidly.

I snapped back to reality and smiled at her. My eyes held nothing but sheer indifference. "You don't have to explain. I understand everything."

I understood that even after three years of marriage, Sebastian's heart only belonged to Hazel. I understood that as his wife, I would never be able to walk into his heart.

Sebastian and Hazel walked side by side in front of me. I followed at a polite distance, listening to Hazel reminisce about their teenage years.

"Oh, look at the duck pond! Sebastian, this is where we held hands for the first time. Do you remember?"

"And that's the basketball court. You won the championship game in our junior year. You lifted me up and spun me around in front of everyone!"

"The teaching building looks exactly the same. We even took a group photo here right after graduation. I can't believe it's been ten years already."

My gaze swept over those familiar sights. The truth was, there was another completely ignored person in their youth―me. When Sebastian and Hazel held hands for the first time, I was standing on the other side of the pond, shoving an unsent gift to the very bottom of my backpack.

When Sebastian won that basketball game and excitedly picked Hazel up, I was standing outside the cheering crowd. I silently hid the bottle of water I had prepared for him behind my back.

When they took their photo together after graduation, I watched their perfectly matched silhouettes and turned away in tears. I never expected that ten years later, I would have to listen to them reminisce about their romance.

But things were different now. Ten years ago, my heart was drowning in bitter jealousy. Now, my heart was as dead and calm as stagnant water.