Keeping His Promise—Not

My husband finally keeps his promise to take me on a trip abroad after I've given birth to his child. However, he disappears the moment we get off the plane.

I roam the foreign land alone, unable to reach him. Two hours later, I stumble upon his childhood sweetheart's social media update. It's a photo of her and my husband sweetly feeding each other ice cream. It's captioned, "Someone who cares about you has you in their heart wherever they are."

After a long silence, I comment, "Now you can live in his heart forever."

I walk away after leaving nothing but a divorce agreement behind. That's when my husband, who's always been cold and aloof, panics.

When wandering the streets of Tenth Avenue in Mulverna all on my own, I never knew a person could feel such utter despair in a lifetime.

Just like an idiot, I was played by Spencer Jacobson. I was lost and didn't know what to do.

My phone still showed the text message that he had just sent me. It read, "Bindi, there are some urgent work matters I need to attend to. I'm leaving ahead of time."

The stark contrast between his message and Natalia Saar's latest Facebook update was simply absurd.

In the photograph, Spencer, who was always reserved when he was with me, was feeding her ice cream in such a loving manner.

"The person who truly cares for you will always think about you, even if they went to the ends of the earth."

To make matters worse, her best friends left "warm" comments at the bottom of the post. "May your love last forever!" one read.

"Some woman still failed to keep Spence by her side even after giving birth. What a joke."

I had been hearing such sarcastic remarks for the last five years.

Mulverna's winds were bitingly cold. I sniffled as my hands trembled from the cold.

In contrast, the people in the photograph were enjoying a romantic and blissful moment in the warmth of summer.

I smiled as I typed a comment. "In that case, I'll leave Spencer to care about you forever."

Spencer, I would be the one leaving you this time.

The weather was freezing, and the network in the airport wasn't working well. My flight had been delayed.

It had been raining the entire night and my cell phone was running out of juice.

By the time I finally bought my flight tickets, my phone had died altogether.

I couldn't help but sneer. Was I anticipating Spencer to send me a text message or call me when he read the comment I left?

I had been standing stiffly at one end of Tenth Avenue, staring at my phone for two hours. Those sincere words of support and blessings meant for him and Natalia stung my eyes.

I felt like I could see those people staring at me mockingly.

I could no longer hold myself back the moment I tasted the saltiness of my tears that flowed into my mouth.

I dashed into the toilet at the airport and started bawling.

There were many passengers around, rushing for their night flights. The people around me looked at me with strange gazes as they walked past me.

Just like how Spencer used to look at me, those people stared at me with looks of pity and disgust.

I was still physically weak as I had just given birth. After standing in the wind for four hours without having a bite to eat or a drop of water to drink, I was spent.

Someone next to me asked in broken Slonian, my mother language, "Excuse me, ma'am. Do you need help?"

The kindness in this stranger's voice made me feel even more miserable because Spencer had never shown such mundane concern toward me.

In my mind, I seemed to be able to see my pitiful self begging him to come home to me. He, on the other hand, kept me waiting at home as if I were a pet.

He'd even told me to stop being so cheap.

He was right. To him, I was in the wrong even when all I did was breathe. So, why should I stay alive?

I closed my eyes in despair.