Antonio promised many times to take me to the city hall but never did.

Today marked Antonio's 1,000th flight.

At Antonio's celebration party, his leader forced me to drink, but he was busy with his female pilot mentee.

With a high fever, I got wasted, but Antonio never looked at me.

His colleagues signed and felt pity for me.

Everyone knew I drank for Antonio.

But he failed me again and didn't go to the city hall with me after the party.

He drove to the restaurant's entrance and stopped me from getting in.

"Irene drank a lot for me. I'll drive her back. You can go home by taxi.

"I have no time for registration this afternoon. Let's do it another time."

Then, he ignored me and carried Irene to the passenger's seat.

We'd been together for 8 years. It was the 17th time Antonio delayed our marriage registration for Irene.

Normally, I would burst into tears, reminding him that I was his wife and had drunk a lot for him.

But this time, I just smiled. "OK. Be careful."

Antonio was surprised, but he quickly put on his usual poker face. "I'll get you a gift as compensation tonight."

He even closed the windows for Irene and drove away, fearing she might catch a cold.

He couldn't stand the smell of alcohol in his car.

Every time I drank for him, he would keep his car's roof open, let alone the windows.

Turned out he hated me.

It was a hot noon in Waltbury, but I was cold inside.

I took a deep breath and put the registration documents back in my bag.

I knew it was time to let go of our 8-year relationship.

In the afternoon, I went back to the company and gave a resignation letter to my manager.

"Does Antonio know you're quitting?"

My manager was shocked at my resignation. After all, I had a bright future ahead as I won Best Flight Attendant for seven straight years.

I forced a bitter smile. "I'll tell him tonight, but he may not care."

"Over the past years, you've flown new routes together and been rated as the best employees. Even the CEO attended your wedding. We all envy you. But..."

My manager let out a long sigh, looking sad.

We indeed had sweet memories, but the past was the past.

I got home after 10 pm, but Antonio was still out.

An Instagram notice popped out on my phone. Irene posted something and mentioned me.

"Antonio, thanks for looking after me this afternoon. I'll take you to your favorite singer's concert. Can't wait!"

I knew Antonio wouldn't come back today.

It had happened a lot over the past three years.

I made myself instant food and opened my mailbox.

Airline companies' offers from a dozen countries were in the mailbox. With no hesitation, I clicked "accept" of the one from a company in Lunland and booked a flight to Laxville, Lunland's capital.

Five years ago, Antonio had the biggest accident in his career in Laxville. Since then, Laxville had been on his blacklist.

Not only he but also I never flew there again.

I thought, "Antonio, I'm going to Laxville. We may never see each other again."

The next morning, I began packing up when I got up.

In the middle of it, Antonio came home in a pink shirt.

He was even wearing strong rose perfume.

It shocked me.

As I remembered, he hated perfume.

As a result, I had never worn any perfume for the years I was with him. I even threw away my perfume collection.

It turned out that he just didn't like me wearing perfume.

When he saw me packing up, he paused and said, "Irene sobered up late yesterday, so I checked into a hotel alone and didn't come back."

I glanced at him in surprise.

It was the first time he had explained himself to me for the past 3 years.

I nodded and didn't say a word.

He walked to me slowly, looked down at me, and asked, "Are you packing up for work?"

I nodded. "Sort of."

For some reason, he let out a sigh of relief and continued, "I came back just to pick up something. I have something to do and won't have lunch with you."

"OK."

I continued packing up without looking at him.

I had planned to tell him about my resignation and end our relationship properly at lunch. But I seemed to have no chance.

Then, Antonio took a red bag and his coat hanging at the door and left.

He slammed the door.

The photo frame, which had been hanging at the door for 8 years, fell to the ground.

Fragments of glass were all over the ground.

I looked over. It was a photo we had taken our first time going to a concert. We both smiled with our hands clasped together.

He promised that day no matter how busy he was, he would go to a concert with me every year. However, he had never done that since he became Irene's mentor.

The sound of the clock ticking echoed in the room.

I stayed silent for a while and cleaned up the glass fragments. Then, I threw the photo in a trash bin with my last hesitation to leave.

In the evening, I finished packing up and lay in bed, tired. Then, I got a call from my close friend.

"What's wrong with Antonio? It's outrageous. Check your Instagram. If I didn't know better, I would think of him and Irene as a couple.

"You haven't divorced. How could he do that?"

I unlocked my phone while listening.

Irene's post was on the top.

In a photo, Irene was wearing a Van Cleef and Arpels necklace and holding the red bag Antonio had taken away at noon.

Only then did I know that he had come home to get the concert gift for Irene.

Under the photo was a sentence: "I've been lucky to have you over the past 3 years, Antonio. Happy anniversary!"

It reminded me of something.

I thought, "Anniversary?

"Today is Antonio and my wedding anniversary."

However, we had never celebrated it, so I almost forgot.

I blew out a long breath and responded to my friend, "Our marriage is not official yet. So he doesn't need a divorce."

"What?

"He never went to the city hall with you?" my friend exclaimed in surprise, which was deafening me.

I thought, "Yes. And he has blown me off 17 times."

At 11 pm, Antonio got home, which was rare.

Antonio took off his coat and was about to hang it on the back of the door when he found the photo was gone and paused.

With his coat still in his hand, he came to the bedroom and asked me in panic, "Where's our photo on the back of the door?"

I responded, "The frame fell off and broke."

Hearing that, he turned to the trash bin with glass fragments in it and unknitted his eyebrows. Then, he put his coat aside and took out a shopping bag containing an LV handbag.

"I didn't have the time to give you this yesterday. Today is our third wedding anniversary. Here. Happy anniversary."

He put the bag on the bed.

I couldn't believe my ears, thinking, "It's the first time he remembered our wedding anniversary."

But the receipt showed that he had bought the bag only half an hour ago. I realized that he should have been reminded by Irene's Instagram post and bought it on the way home.

He didn't know I had two identical handbags in my closet.

Without a response, I stared at him.

"By the way, the performance rating is coming. Can you give up this time? Irene has been in the industry for 3 years. Her biggest wish is to be rated as the best employee like you. You have won the award for several years in a row. Can you give it to her this year?" He asked hesitantly.

I felt sad. It turned out that he had given me the handbag for something.

"Yes." I nodded calmly.

Irene would never have to compete with me from now on, because I was leaving tomorrow.

"You...you agreed?"

Surprised at my quick answer, Antonio stole several looks at me.

Then, he added, "I'm Irene's mentor, and you're my wife. You did the right thing.

"By the way, I'm not going to fly tomorrow. Let's go to the city hall for the marriage registration."

I didn't respond.

He seemed to think of my packing up and asked in a gentle voice, "Right. You are going to resume work tomorrow, aren't you? What time is your flight?"

"Three in the afternoon."

I looked at him and was ready to tell him about my leaving tonight, but his phone rang again.

Irene's soft voice came from his phone. Her period came, but she had no sanitary pads. So she could only call Antonio for help.

After hanging up, Antonio looked at me with guilt. "Well... Something happened to Irene. She can't handle it, so I have to go."

Rarely, he had a pleading tone.

Not saying what I had planned to say, I forced a smile and nodded. "It's OK. Go."

My words relieved him.

He stood up and was about to leave. He said, "Let's go to the city hall at 10 am tomorrow. Then you won't miss your flight at 3 pm. Rest assured. I'll be there this time no matter what."

I revealed a smile. He still didn't give me a chance to say goodbye in person.

The next morning.

I went to the airport directly with my luggage.

At noon, Antonio still didn't call to ask me why I hadn't shown up in the city hall.

When I was about to board the plane in the afternoon, Antonio sent me a text, "Sorry. Irene isn't feeling well, so I sent her to the hospital and missed the marriage registration. When you come back, I'll go to the city hall with you right away."

I was emotionless reading the text.

It was the 18th time that he had blown me off.

"It's OK, Antonio. I've quit my job and am going to Laxville. We won't see each other again."

I was about to turn my phone off when it vibrated like crazy.

It was Antonio's WhatsApp messages.