Elara's POV

After we got married, my husband was stationed in the northwest.

He told me the border was plagued by sandstorms year-round, the conditions were harsh, and danger was everywhere. He said he didn’t feel safe bringing me along and didn’t want me to suffer.

And I believed him. I stayed home, took care of his parents, and helped raise his younger siblings.

Later, he said he was sending all his money to the widow of a comrade who had died shielding him from a bullet, asking me to understand and endure a bit more.

In that case, I worked day and night at a steel factory to support the family, holding on to the hope that one day he’d come home.

It wasn’t until the eighth year that one of his comrades returned to our hometown to visit family.

When I asked him about my husband, the man froze. “Him? He was transferred to Washington ages ago. He’s a battalion officer now.”

I stood there, stunned.

“And he got married seven years ago. We all attended the wedding,” he added, then pulled a photo from his pocket.

The woman leaning on my husband’s arm was the same widow he’d told me he was helping.

The next day, I went straight to the town’s military office and signed my name on the list for the National Rural Service Program.

He’d trapped me in a fake marriage for seven years. From this moment on, I would never wait for him again.

——

I had just gotten home and hadn’t even started packing when the door suddenly swung open. A well-dressed woman stormed in and slapped me hard across the face.

“Looking like that and still trying to be someone’s mistress? Disgusting!”

I fell to the ground along with the table, and shards of a broken bottle cut deep into my hands. Only then did I see clearly that the woman was Briar Alden, the widow who had married Callum Vance in Washington.

She was about to kick me when I scrambled to my feet and shoved her away.

Just as the door swung open behind me, a familiar figure rushed in, quickly wrapping an arm around Briar before she could fall.

“Briar, are you okay?” he asked her worriedly.

Then he frowned at me and snapped, “Why would you hit her? Hurry and apologize to her!”

Holding my bleeding arm, I swallowed the pain and spoke flatly. “Callum, we haven’t seen each other in eight years. And the first thing you do is bring your lover into my home to hit me? She barged in and attacked me. Am I not allowed to push her away?”

Only then did Callum notice the blood on my arm and the swelling on my face. His expression shifted instantly, and he tried to step toward me. “What happened?”

The woman, just moments ago all fire and rage, suddenly clung to his arm, eyes red with fake tears. “Callum, when I walked in, I saw this woman sneaking toward your bedroom. I thought she was a thief. I was scared, so I tried to stop her. Maybe… maybe I was too anxious and accidentally hurt her.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she added, “She looked so old-fashioned, I honestly didn’t think she was your wife. Hey, if you’re angry, feel free to hit me back if you'd like. But don’t accuse me of having something with Callum. That’s an insult to both of us.”

“You didn’t—” I frowned, ready to repeat every vicious word she had said when she first hit me.

But Callum grabbed my arm before I could finish. “Enough, Elara. This is partly your fault, too. If you had just told her you were coming home, she wouldn’t have mistaken you for a thief.”

He then coughed lightly, trying to soften his tone as he explained, “By the way, this is the widow I told you about. I came back this time to bring you, Mom, and my siblings to Washington for a better life. She kindly came with me to help organize the move. How could you misunderstand her relationship with me? Go on, apologize to her.”

I stared at the man in front of me, disappointment weighing down my chest. Without a word, I turned and walked toward my room.

Behind me, Callum forced a smile and tried to smooth things over with Briar. Then he grabbed my arm and pushed me toward the kitchen. “How about let Elara cook you a nice big dinner as an apology?”

Elara's POV

“You love fried carp fillet, don’t you? I’ll have her make it for you right now,” Callum added.

Before I could react, he shoved me into the kitchen, ignoring my struggle, and tossed a slimy, foul-smelling fish onto me.

“Make a good meal for her. Don’t cause trouble,” he ordered, then shut the kitchen door behind me with a loud bang.

I rushed forward and yanked at the doorknob several times, but it wouldn’t budge.

Outside, I could hear Callum speaking softly to Briar. Inside, the fish slime clung to my clothes and skin, and I sank weakly to the floor.

Fried carp fillet was my specialty dish. Ironically, I’ve always hated fish. Just the smell alone made me nauseous.

But Callum loved it. When he was young, a fish bone had injured him, and ever since, he could only crave fish but didn’t dare eat it.

After we got married, he told me the story, and I decided to learn the dish just for him. I searched through recipes and even asked the chef at a state-owned restaurant to teach me.

To make it, every tiny bone in the fish must be sliced open, requiring a lot of effort and patience.

Each time, my back would ache, and my stomach would churn for days.

Back then, he used to feel guilty about it, massaging my back and complaining that his greedy appetite caused me so much pain. He even refused to let me make the dish again.

But now, he seemed to have forgotten all of that. Forgotten that he used to rather go without it than let me suffer.

I was lost in thought when the kitchen door opened. Callum walked in and paused when he saw me.

Then he stepped forward and lifted me up. “Why aren’t you cooking? Are you mad at me?”

He chuckled lightly and pulled out bandages to wrap my wounds. “I already apologized to her for you. She’s not holding a grudge, okay? You’re overthinking. There’s nothing going on between us. I know you’ve had a hard time here. When we move to Washington, I’ll make it up to you.”

After saying that, he grabbed the dead fish and began cooking himself.

I stared at his back, my mouth opening and closing several times. He never used to step foot in the kitchen. He always said cooking would mess with his shooting precision.

So, how did he suddenly become so skilled after seven or eight years away?

In the end, I said nothing.

I had already made up my mind to leave him. There was no point in asking questions anymore.

Dinner tasted like sand in my mouth as Briar clung to Callum throughout the meal.

First, she claimed her arm hurt from when I pushed her earlier, so she needed him to feed her. Then, she brushed a grain of rice from the corner of his lips and popped it into her own mouth before gasping dramatically and apologizing to me, saying it was just a reflex, and I shouldn’t misunderstand.

Callum’s gaze kept drifting toward me. But when he saw that I kept my head down and stayed silent, his expression darkened.

After dinner, I tried to say I needed to help my younger siblings with their homework so I could sleep in their room.

But my mother-in-law dragged me back toward the master bedroom and shooed the giggling siblings away in a low voice. “Don’t disturb your sister-in-law and brother.”

Turning to me with a grin full of implication, she said, “You’re shy, aren’t you? You’ve waited long enough for your husband. Hurry now, let me hold a grandson by next year.”

I pressed my lips together. Not wanting to disappoint her, I forced myself to enter the bedroom.

I planned to come up with a reason to sleep separately, but the moment I stepped inside, I froze.

Callum sat stiffly at the table, his expression cold and unreadable.

He slowly lifted his eyes at the sound of the door opening, his gaze like ice.

In his hand was a crumpled copy of my application letter to join the National Rural Service Program and a divorce agreement.

Suddenly, my mind went completely blank.

Elara's POV

He slapped the letter down on the table, his voice cold enough to frost over. “What is this?”

Then something seemed to click in his mind. “No wonder you were acting weird today. First, you jumped to conclusions about Briar and me. Then at dinner, when we were talking, you didn’t even get jealous.”

His face twisted with sudden anger. “So, this is it. You’re planning to divorce me and run off! You’re a woman. Why would you go to such a remote place alone? Someone must be taking you there, right? Who is he? How long have you two been together?”

The absurdity of it almost made me laugh. He had built a whole life with another woman in Washington, and yet here he was accusing me of cheating.

I calmly walked forward, picked up the application letter and the divorce papers. “I originally planned to go to the Northwest to find you. That’s why I had someone draft the letter. And the divorce agreement doesn’t belong to me. I was helping someone else deliver it. I’m giving it back tomorrow.”

Callum stared at me, skeptical at first, but when he saw my expression hadn’t changed, the frost on his face finally melted. He let out a relieved laugh and said, “I knew it. You waited for me all these years, loved me all these years, how could you possibly divorce me?”

I lifted my head and met his eyes. “But if you ever betrayed me, if you ever settled down with another woman, then yes, I would divorce you. I waited because I love you. But that doesn’t mean I’m some fool who’d forgive betrayal. So, Callum, in these eight years, have you betrayed me?”

He froze for a couple of seconds before smiling helplessly and reaching for my hand. “Why are you suddenly talking like this? Of course, I wouldn’t betray you. If I ever did, may I die a terrible death. How about that?”

He even raised his hand dramatically, as if making a casual oath, smiling like it was all a joke.

If I hadn’t met his comrade, if I hadn’t seen his wedding photo with Briar, I would’ve believed him without question.

But now, the cold in my chest was bone-deep.

He looked at me with a face full of affection and cooed, “Elara, you’re the person I love most in this world. Those hard years in the Northwest, I survived them by looking at your photos every night. All I dreamed of, these eight years, was working my way up, getting transferred somewhere better, buying a big house, and bringing you all to live with me, so you could finally have the life of a respected officer’s wife.”

“There was one time, I fell off a snowy cliff and was unconscious for days. The doctors said I might not make it. But the moment I thought about leaving you a widow at such a young age, I forced myself to wake up. Elara, come to Washington with me. From now on, I’ll never let you suffer again,” he even added.

I wiped the faint dampness at the corner of my eyes and gave a quiet reply. “Alright.”

Callum, you lied about never betraying me. So, I guess it was okay that I lied just now, too.

That night, we slept on the same bed. When he tried to hold me, I subtly shifted away. After the second attempt, he sighed and rolled over, no longer moving. Only then did I finally drift off.

In my dreams, all I saw were memories of us when he used to ride his bike every day to take me to high school in town, and after class, he’d pull a warm roasted sweet potato from his sleeve for me.

When winter came, he secretly sold the family’s eggs so he could buy me a bright red scarf from the supply store.

Once, while we watched a movie about a man proposing to a woman, he leaned close to my ear and whispered, “When we get married, I’ll buy you a wedding dress just like that.”

But in the end, Briar was the one who got to wear that exact wedding dress he promised me.