It had been seven years since my divorce from Aiden Sanders when we ran into each other by chance at a flower shop.
He was there to buy flowers for his pregnant wife, while I had only stepped in to take shelter from the rain.
After a moment of awkwardness, we greeted each other.
Aiden politely asked me how I had been doing over the years and I politely replied that everything was fine.
As we were about to part, he suddenly said, "Nina, you seem … a little different from before."
I smiled but didn't answer.
Actually, nothing was different. I just ... no longer loved him.
——
A damp breeze blew in through the crack in the door. The only sound left in the room was the rain hitting the windowpane.
This awkward silence finally broke when the shopkeeper emerged with a bouquet of irises.
"Mr. Sanders, you and your wife have such a wonderful relationship. Even on rainy days, you remember to come buy flowers for her."
Aiden took the flowers and instinctively glanced at me. As was his habit, he immediately explained, "Eryn's been quite moody during her pregnancy. I thought these flowers might cheer her up."
I nodded and responded with a few polite compliments.
Seeing the rain gradually come to a stop, I picked up my bag and prepared to leave.
As I reached the door, Aiden suddenly grabbed my hand. "Where do you live? Let me walk you home."
"No need," I said, taking a few steps back to keep my distance from him. "I'm afraid your wife will misunderstand."
I was turning to leave when I thought I heard Aiden say something else, but the howling wind carried his voice away before I could catch it.
Unfortunately, the breakfast I was holding got soaked in the rain. What a waste.
I quickly tossed the ruined breakfast into the trash can.
At that time, the winds blew up my sleeves, revealing the scars from self-harm years ago.
I paused, then suddenly remembered.
This was the seventh year since my divorce from Aiden. It was also the third year since I had truly let him go.
There was none of the sadness I might have imagined, none of the hysteria from right after the divorce. I felt calm, as if looking at a stranger.
The rain had stopped, leaving the sky bright and clear. I pulled my sleeve back down and walked towards the bakery nearby.
Sabrina Sherman, who was helping out at the shop, greeted me with a bright smile. "Nina, you're here! I was tidying up some clutter and found this box. Can you check if you still want it? If not, I'll throw it out to make space for the bread cutting machine."
After brushing the dust off the box, the first thing that caught my eye was Aiden's bold, confident handwriting.
To Nina Jones.
Sabrina immediately became interested. She playfully asked, "Wow, which man gave you this gift? The packaging is so exquisite. It looks like he put a lot of thought into it."
She eagerly looked at the signature at the end, but the moment she recognized the elegant handwriting, she froze in place. Even her voice stammered.
"Aiden Sanders? Do you mean the legendary prodigy with a PhD in physics? That super handsome astrophysics doctor who made it into international journals for discovering a minor planet?"
Sabrina's gaze towards me instantly filled with admiration. "Nina, who exactly are you?"
I opened the gift box and replied calmly, "I'm Aiden's ex-wife."
The one who was paranoid, who acted crazily. The one who was admitted to a psychiatric hospital because of delusions. The ex-wife, whom he considered the disgrace of his life.
Under Sabrina's persistent questioning, I sat down and began to tell her the story of Aiden and me.
When I first met him, he wasn't yet the legendary genius boy.
