My fiancé's childhood sweetheart wanted to experience flying a plane. Without hesitation, my fiancé let her sit in the co-pilot seat and personally taught her how to operate it.

The situation quickly spiraled out of control, and the plane ended up flipping twice in the air, nearly causing a disaster.

After a successful emergency landing, my fiancé, the captain, blamed me entirely in front of the press.

The real culprit, however, was rewarded with a permanent position due to the successful landing, while I was dismissed and had my career destroyed.

Despite widespread sympathy for me, my fiancé coldly stated, "Hundreds of lives were at stake, and she was negligent. As a navigator, she deserved to be dismissed!"

Feeling utterly disheartened and no longer bound by old sentiments, I decided to take action.

I publicly released the video of them getting cozy in the cockpit.

——

As a navigator and a frequent flyer alongside Dalton Aniston, we safely piloted the plane over a hundred times, earning us the title of the "Cloud Conjurers" in our workplace.

Everyone expected us to have a happily-ever-after and was already speculating about our wedding date.

So, when a video of Dalton and Lydia Stone kissing in the cabin spread like wildfire in our work group chat, my phone exploded with messages.

"Lisa, have you seen the video in the group? You need to check it out!" A colleague with whom I was close called me in a flurry, her tone urgent as if the world had come to an end.

I took a look at the video on my phone, where they were seen kissing, and replied, "I've seen it."

"Oh my, how could Captain Aniston cheat like this? Who leaked this video? I need to…"

"I did." I cut her off, my voice cold.

There was a silence on the other end of the line. She seemed stunned, unable to speak for a while. I had no intention of continuing the conversation, so I ended the call and went back to watching the video.

In the video, Dalton and Lydia, dressed in their flight attendant uniforms and equipped with their gear, stared out at the starry night sky. Lydia looked at Dalton, her expression shy and hesitant, and said, "I didn't expect that the view from a plane could be so beautiful."

The camera caught Dalton's profile as he smirked. Then he asked, "Do you like it? If you do, I'll bring you to see it more often."

Hearing this, Lydia became even more excited.

"Have you heard that kissing your love at the highest point can bring luck for a whole year?"

Dalton paused for a moment, then cocked his head towards Lydia, and her lips met his in a passionate kiss.

The scene, with the backdrop of the high-altitude night sky, was romantic beyond words.

It was like watching a romantic TV show, except the protagonist was my fiancé, and the woman in the video was not me.

It wasn't the first time I'd seen that video, but it still brought tears to my eyes.

That night, I was also on the plane, but after two weeks of non-stop flying, Dalton had ordered me to rest in the cabin for half an hour.

I was touched at the time, not realizing he only wanted to use it as an opportunity to flirt with Lydia.

My heart ached with fresh pain. Just as I was about to call Dalton to discuss things, the bedroom door was kicked open.

Seeing my tear-streaked face, he showed no concern.

He didn't mention a word about my dismissal. Instead, he threw his phone in front of me and demanded, "What do you gain from releasing this video?"

"We were caught up in the moment," I replied, "and we were always close since childhood. Can't you be a bit more reasonable?"

Dalton was clearly furious. He stormed in, his anger palpable, and started questioning me relentlessly.

The phone left on the sofa continued playing the video, the sounds of their kissing coming through the speaker, contradicting his claim that it was a fleeting moment.

Dalton's face darkened as he watched. I said, "Dalton, you really disgust me."

"What did you say?" he snapped, suddenly advancing towards me, his voice rising. "You think I'm disgusting? If you think I'm so awful, why don't you just break up with me? If you think I'm so terrible, why are you still desperately clinging to me? Maybe it's you who's disgusting!"

He grabbed my chin, his tone harsh. "Speak up!"

This was the first time I'd seen Dalton like this.

We had our disagreements before, but he'd never been this cruel.

He once promised me, when he proposed high above in the sky, that he would make me the happiest person on earth.

Now, he was telling me I was more disgusting than he was.

I looked up at him in silence, tears streaming down my face.

Five years with him had amounted to nothing but blame, infidelity, and the label of "disgusting."

All those times I had compromised, he had forgotten every single one.

That day, when the flying went wrong, I was jolted awake from my sleep.

Stumbling towards the cockpit, I saw Lydia sitting beside him.

I still clung to the hope that he might offer me an explanation.

But what I got instead was him, in front of everyone, placing the entire blame on me.

He made everyone believe it was my fault as the navigator—my lack of focus, my misreading of the flight path, my stubborn arguments with him—that caused the plane to go down.

Meanwhile, the real culprit hid behind him, only to be praised publicly. "Thanks to Lydia, who assisted me in adjusting the plane back on course, the outcome could have been much worse," he said.

In an instant, I became the villain everyone wanted to punish. Lydia, on the other hand, rode on Dalton's praise and was fast-tracked to a permanent position with our airline.

Dalton's grip on me softened as he noticed my tears. He bit his lip, glanced at my eyes, and his tone finally softened. "You're in a high enough position at Coroala Airlines that taking this responsibility won't affect you much. Lydia's just started her internship, and if we blame her entirely, she's done for in this industry."

Dalton, unusually patient, continued, "They say you're being dismissed, but once the fuss dies down, they'll likely reinstate you."

"But that video isn't good for any of us—neither for you, nor for me, nor for Lydia. Please, just delete it."

Just then, his phone rang. Dalton's expression softened a bit as he saw the caller ID. "I've got to go. Think it over yourself."

He grabbed his phone off the couch, slammed the door behind him, and left.

I stared at his retreating figure for a long time, finally letting out a self-deprecating smile.

He didn't see the message from Lydia on my phone: [Lisa, wasn't I right? To Dalton, I will always be the most important.]

It was a deliberate jab at me. Lydia had filmed and sent me the video of them in the cockpit.

They were celebrating at a hotel tonight.

Dalton had stopped talking because their date was about to begin.

Looking at the message, I felt utterly drained.

Lydia had won.

Strangely, I didn't feel upset.

Once I decided to let go of him, everything about him ceased to affect me.