The sky was just beginning to pale when the man appeared at my door, a thermos of food in his hand.
"Minnie, I have to fly out of the country next week.
I'll squeeze out some time this Saturday to have dinner with your parents, talk about our marriage—"
I cut him off before he could finish.
"No need."
Rodney went visibly still. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I smiled and lied. "They're traveling out of state. They're not back yet."
He kept his eyes fixed on me, like there was more he wanted to say. Lucky for both of us, his phone rang.
He couldn't shut that door fast enough.
Friday. My last day.
The moment I stepped out of the office, Rodney hauled me into his car without a word of explanation.
Inside an upscale restaurant, he cut my steak for me as he asked, "Which wine do you want?"
I scrolled through my phone, bored, and answered carelessly, "You decide."
My indifference darkened his handsome face.
"Who are you texting?"
"No one."
Even with my answer, he snatched the phone right out of my hand.
He flipped through it for a while, his eyes unreadable, then asked, "When did you change your lock screen?"
For all the years we'd been together, my lock screen had always been a photo of the two of us.
Now it was a picture of the little dog my parents kept.
I didn't feel like answering, so I simply got up and went to the restroom.
By the time I came back, Rodney was gone.
All at once, the lights in the room cut out.
A server wheeled flowers and a cake slowly toward me.
The cart had barely stopped at the table beside mine when my phone lit up.
A birthday wish from my phone carrier.
As I walked out of the restaurant, I heard a familiar, cloyingly sweet voice.
"Ahh~ Rodney, you're so strong, push me higher—"
It was Amelia, perched on the swing outside the place, shrieking with delight for Rodney to send her up high.
Too greedy for her own good, she tumbled into his arms after only a couple of pushes.
They smiled into each other's eyes and clung together, reluctant to let go, and only then did they notice me standing there.
A clear flicker of irritation crossed Rodney's eyes. He looked at me, expressionless.
"Minnie, this swing is so much fun, come ride it with us—"
Halfway through, Amelia's cheeks went bright red, and she shyly lowered the hand she'd had hooked around Rodney's shoulder, as if she could have stayed there forever.
"Minnie, please don't let your mind run wild. Rodney only held me to save me—"
Rodney ruffled Amelia's black hair with doting fondness and gazed at her tenderly.
"Silly. What is there to explain? As long as you're not hurt."
Done soothing her, he packed away every trace of warmth and turned a cold look on me.
"You're full already?"
I didn't bother answering him. I walked toward the Ferris wheel a short distance off.
They say if you make a wish on a Ferris wheel on your birthday, it's guaranteed to come true.
Watching my back, a sneer flickered in Amelia's eyes. She quickly tugged Rodney along after me.
"Wow, a Ferris wheel, Rodney, I want to ride this too—"
When the attendant said there were only two seats left,
Rodney didn't even glance at me. He took Amelia's hand and grabbed the seats first.
Twenty minutes later.
Back on the ground, the man searched the entire mall and never found me again.
Eight o'clock that night.
I walked out of the bedroom with my luggage.
I slipped a note that said just one word, 【Breakup】, under the keys.
And I left without looking back.
……
At eleven that night, my phone rang.
It was Rodney.
I was in the living room talking with my parents and didn't see it.
An hour later, he called again.
I darkened the screen, powered it off, and went to sleep.
I slept straight through to noon the next day. When I turned the phone back on, I was startled by more than a dozen missed calls.
Some instinct made me open my messages.
Rodney, always so cold, had for once sent one message after another.
【What's the meaning of the keys and the note?】
【So I forgot your birthday, big deal. Not answering my calls, ignoring my texts—is playing hard to get fun for you?】
【Minnie, you have one hour to get your ass back here, or don't ever come back.】
When I saw the timestamp on that last message, it was three hours ago.
From the bottom of my heart, I let out a breath. I moved my finger and deleted Rodney outright.
A knock came at my door.
After I said to come in, my mother carried in a glass of milk.
"Sweetheart, your stomach's sensitive. Drink it while it's warm."
Last night I'd come home suddenly with my bags, and my parents hadn't asked a single question. They just looked after me and cared for me the way they always had.
I hugged my mother's arm, sniffled against the sting in my nose, and said, "Mom, I found an apartment I like. It's small, but it's enough to keep the wind and rain off me."
She smiled warmly. "Then buy it. How much are you short? I'll make up the difference."
Even though I shook my head with a smile and told her I had enough,
my mother still transferred me two hundred thousand.
A girl with her own home and her own savings, she said, is the only one who truly has the confidence to stand on her own.
So I called the landlord right then and set up the signing for next Monday.
That evening, my father not only cooked a whole table of good food, he also bought a cream cake to make up for the birthday I'd missed the day before.
Facing the lit birthday candles,
I pressed my palms together and made my wish with all my heart.
That my parents stay healthy, and that everything turn for the better.
But not long after I blew out the candles, I received a message I never could have expected.
