Beneath the Landslide

My first reaction when I encountered the landslide was not to run, but to immediately call Ethan.

After all, Ethan always nagged at me, and I can almost hear him saying, "You can't do anything right; I always have to come to help."

The phone rang for ages before it finally connected, and by then, the landslide had knocked me to the ground.

"Yes? What is with you? Calling eight hundred times a day… Don't you ever get tired of it? I told you I'm working; I don't have time.

"Hello? If you're not going to say anything, I'm hanging up. I've got other things to do."

Beep, beep!

Before I could say a word, Ethan impatiently scolded me. Typical.

That had been Ethan Lang's attitude five years into our marriage.

He might not have to put up with me anymore after this, though, because I might never see him again......

After six days, I was rescued. As I lay on the hospital bed, the sound of dogs barking and voices calling out to me echoed in my ear.

Also… I could almost hear the sound of a girl's breathless and sultry voice in Ethan's last phone call.

I must have misheard that.

After all, before we got married, Ethan repeatedly swore his loyalty to me, even taking a few oaths. How could he ever cheat on me?

Thinking about the anniversary we missed, I asked the young man who had helped rescue me to buy me a phone.

I logged into my messaging app.

I should let Ethan know I was safe. Maybe I should apologize for being late to our fifth wedding anniversary.

As soon as I opened the application, a flood of congratulations popped up, and I froze for a moment.

Confused, I asked my best friend what was going on, only to learn that Ethan had just been promoted and was planning to treat everyone to dinner.

I opened my social media app, and the first post I saw was from Ethan.

[A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.]

I was just about to message him, telling him I was safe and maybe even congratulating him. However, I saw the ring in his hand, and I went silent.

That ring… I had seen it not long ago, in the hand of a student Ethan was sponsoring. At the time, I blamed myself for being paranoid, always doubting Ethan and not giving him enough trust.

Ha. It seemed I was the one left in the dark all along.

The first thing I did after surviving death was to look for Ethan, afraid he would worry. Meanwhile, he had gotten a promotion and had a woman in his arms, living it up.

He never cared about whether I lived or died, even from the very start.

"Are you alright?" The young firefighter carefully handed me a tissue.

That was when I realized. At some point, I started crying—for this relationship that lasted 10 years.

The old me might have stormed up to demand an explanation, but at this moment, I was tired.

I wiped away my tears, picked up my phone, and opened my text chat with Ethan.

The last message was sent to me on the day of the earthquake.

[You're so annoying. I told you I'm busy. I'm not coming home today.]

To Ethen, the anniversary I thought was so important was not even worth mentioning.

Watching the boy next to me sobbing uncontrollably for his girlfriend, I closed my eyes and silently mourned for the Ethan I once knew.

I texted, [Congrats on the promotion. When you have a moment, let's get a divorce. I'm not dead yet.]

I could tell Ethan was gearing to respond with the word 'typing' displayed, but then there was nothing.

Was I just left on read? It did not matter.

Things somehow seemed much clearer to me after I survived.