Chapter 5

Evelyn POV

The day I was discharged, New York welcomed its first snow of the year.

Snowflakes fell heavily, quickly blanketing the entire city.

Ethan had once sworn to me that every year's first snow, he would walk with me down that long sycamore boulevard in our neighborhood.

"Because I want to be with you always, until we grow old." That's what he'd said.

I stood at the starting point of the sycamore boulevard, snow covering my body.

I took out my phone, looking at the text Ethan had sent half an hour ago. "Evelyn, got held up with something at the company, and there's traffic. Wait for me there like a good girl. I'll be right there."

I didn't reply, just stood quietly in the snow.

Cold wind wrapped snowflakes into my collar. My stomach cramped in waves, but I seemed unable to feel the cold, standing motionless.

One hour passed.

Two hours passed.

The sky gradually darkened, and streetlights lit up one by one.

Just when I thought he wouldn't come, two familiar figures appeared at the end of the sycamore boulevard.

Ethan was giving Sophia a piggyback ride, stepping through the snow, walking toward this direction step by step.

Sophia wore Ethan's oversized down jacket, her whole body draped over his back, laughing exuberantly.

"Ethan, carrying me like this feels like you're carrying the whole world!" Sophia laughed, reaching out to catch falling snowflakes.

Ethan laughed and bounced the person on his back, his voice clearly floating to my ears on the wind.

"You're way heavier than the whole world. Like a little pig."

"Hey! You're the pig!" Sophia laughed and went to pinch his ear. The two looked so intimate.

I stood behind a thick sycamore tree, coldly watching them walk past me.

In the snowy sky, they really did look like a real couple.

And I was like a ghost that couldn't see light, hiding in a dark corner, watching my husband perform devotion with another woman.

The severe pain in my stomach surged again. I bit my lip hard, tasting intense blood.

I didn't rush out to expose their affair, didn't cry or make a scene.

I just stood quietly until those two figures completely disappeared from view, then turned and slowly walked back to that cold home.

At ten o'clock that night, Ethan finally came home covered in snow.

Seeing me sitting on the sofa, he walked over with a face full of guilt, half-kneeling in front of me, holding my ice-cold hands.

"Evelyn, I'm sorry. The car broke down halfway, and I waited forever for a tow truck." As he spoke, he warmed my hands. "I couldn't give you a piggyback ride down the sycamore boulevard today. Are you mad at me?"

He acted so convincingly.

If I hadn't witnessed that scene with my own eyes, I would have believed him without hesitation.

I looked at this face written with "deep affection" and suddenly felt it was all so pointless.

Really, utterly pointless.

I withdrew my hand, my lips curling into a faint smile.

"I'm not mad. Since the car broke down, we'll make up for it next year."

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief, pulling me into his arms like a weight had been lifted. "You're so wonderful, darling. I promise, next year's first snow, I'll definitely carry you the whole way!"

I leaned on his shoulder, eyes hollow as I watched the snow falling outside the window.

There won't be a next year, Ethan.

Next year's first snow, we won't see each other again.

I mentally crossed off another day.

Seven more days.