Thick smoke choked my lungs, and my vision gradually blurred. Before my consciousness sank into darkness, the last things I heard were the footsteps of Nathan rushing out while carrying Veronica and the faint sound of sirens approaching from the distance.

…

When I came to, I was already lying in a ward at the military general hospital. Nathan was opening the document envelope I had risked my life to protect. Inside were sheets of paper.

"Our marriage certificates? You almost got yourself killed for these?" His voice tightened. "Vivian, your left leg is fractured, your lungs are shredded from the smoke, and we almost lost you on the table!"

I reached out and took the envelope back. We were both in the military. Without our marriage certificates, how was I supposed to submit a divorce report to the army's political department?

Nathan's forehead creased as he watched me clutch the document envelope. "The three of us would've made it out perfectly fine, but you just had to force this absurd ultimatum on me just to see who I'd pick first?

"Arson is a severe disciplinary infraction, Vivian! I saved Veron first because she was completely defenseless, while you've had survival training."

I stared at the ceiling and hummed in response.

"Viv." His tone softened as he attempted to explain himself. "Since I've already decided to focus on our family, I won't have any further involvement with Veronica.

"Veron… Her family's going through a hard time, so I'm merely providing some assistance through official channels, arranging a place for her to stay temporarily."

Veronica was having a hard time, so he helped her all the way to the bedroom. He talked a big game about focusing on our family, yet his body was completely enthralled by a younger, fresher piece of meat.

At long last, I lifted my gaze to look at him. My eyes were as still as a lake, utterly calm and without the slightest ripple. "I know. I understand."

He was driven mad by my calmness. He shot to his feet, only for his gaze to catch the large burn scars on my arm. "Vivian, was one scar not enough? Are you going to use even more injuries to tie me down?"

"This won't happen again. I won't do anything so foolish anymore."

He wanted to say something else, but his encrypted communicator rang. He hurried to the window to answer it.

I couldn't hear the contents clearly. I only faintly caught the sound of Veronica's emotional voice.

Nathan comforted her in a soft voice before turning to look at me. "There's an urgent matter with the exercise review. I have to go to headquarters. So, you focus on recovering from your injuries."

With that, he turned and left.

…

In the days that followed, I stayed quietly in the military hospital. Nathan had his men send over nutritional supplements and fresh flowers, and the internal line rang every day. I always had the nurse on duty answer it, instructing her to only say, "Her condition is stable, so you don't have to visit her."

On the day I was discharged, I went to settle the bill alone on crutches. I had just handed over my documents when an old woman shoved me aside. "My son-in-law is one of the leaders here. Let me handle mine first."

I frowned. "Please wait in line."

The elderly woman shot me a look. "Which department are you from? My son-in-law is Major General Linwood! If you delay me from getting my medicine, can you afford the consequences?"

As soon as her words fell, Nathan had already rushed over from the other end of the corridor with Veronica. He pulled me aside and lowered his voice. "Veron's mother has a heart condition. She can't get worked up. You're a soldier. It's only right for you to give way to a civilian."

Veronica supported Mrs. Schuman, who was wheezing, and with teary eyes, she apologized, "I'm so sorry, Vivian… My mother's old illness flared up, and I was afraid she wouldn't agree to take the expensive medicine, so I told her Nathan's my boyfriend…

"Please don't hold it against him! He's just a softie who can't bear to see an old woman suffer."

I wordlessly drank in the sight of the three people in front of me. So, because Mrs. Schuman had fallen ill, he had left me alone in the hospital with a fractured leg and burn injuries? Forget it. None of it mattered anymore.

I nodded and turned to leave. I had only taken two steps when I heard Veronica's tearful whisper. "Nathan, is Vivian mad? Will she pull another one of her stunts again? I don't want to ruin your future…"

Nathan's voice was featherlight, yet it still reached me clearly. "Don't overthink it. She grew up without parents, so she can't understand how you feel."

My fingers tightened around my crutch until my knuckles turned white as I took one step after another down the long hospital corridor.

Nathan's footsteps approached from behind me. "I'll take you back to the compound, Vivian."

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.