Chapter 3
938 Words
After sending that message, Yousijia assumed Gu Yu was still driving, which explained why no reply came immediately.
It scarcely mattered. In the dead of night, she rose from the bed and began packing her suitcase.
She had never intended to play the tiresome game of “hard to get,” nor did she mean to wield words like breakup or divorce as weapons, coercing him to choose between her and Tang Yayi.
This was not a negotiation. It was a declaration.
Though the house brimmed with possessions, she realized there was little she truly wished to take. Within half an hour her suitcase was ready. She sent the butler a brief message, instructing him to arrange a driver to the airport.
Descending to the living room to wait, her gaze fell upon the two-tiered birthday cake still sitting untouched in the dining room. Atop it, two tiny angels fashioned from fondant gazed back at her—figurines she had painstakingly learned to mold.
What a pity.
The cake she had so carefully prepared for two would never be shared.
On the road to the airport, Gu Yu finally responded:
[Gu Yu: Let’s talk when I return. Don’t be impulsive.]
When Yousijia read it, she neither replied nor reacted. She slid the phone back into her pocket. Half an hour later, another message arrived:
[Gu Yu: I mishandled things tonight. Don’t be angry. Answer me.]
This time she did not even glance at the phone.
At the airport, fortune favored her with a seat on the next departing flight. It was a red-eye, seventeen or eighteen hours straight to the capital, but she told herself she could sleep through most of it.
Her luggage was so light there was no need for check-in. By the time she reached immigration, her phone rang. She saw the caller ID and immediately declined the call. It was nearly four in the morning.
In those four hours, the storm of emotions that had nearly unraveled her had been gathered, folded, and smoothed away. Seeing Gu Yu’s name on her screen no longer stirred her heart; instead, there was only stillness.
It was not that she could erase years of love without pain. It was simply that once she made a choice, nothing could sway her. As Jiang Lingyu had once remarked, she was stubborn to the core—unyielding, obstinate, incapable of retreat. Others might turn back when faced with a wall; she would rather batter her head against the stone until it collapsed, so long as it was the path she had chosen.
Once, Gu Yu had been that path. She had walked it until she was bloodied and exhausted. Now she was too tired. She had to stop, to turn, to choose another road. But the scars remained, aching and unhealed.
After clearing immigration, she finally checked her phone. Dozens of missed calls—all from him. On her birthday’s first dawn, Gu Yu had phoned her more times than he had in the entire past year. Her WeChat was flooded:
[Gu Yu: Rest first. We’ll talk in the morning. Don’t be angry.]
[Gu Yu: Where are you? It’s the middle of the night—where have you gone?]
[Gu Yu: Answer the phone!]
[Gu Yu: Don’t make a scene. Don’t run off in the middle of the night. Let’s sit down and talk properly.]
[Gu Yu: The driver said you went to the airport. What are you doing there? I’m coming to find you. Stay where you are.]
Her expression finally shifted at that last message.
Gu Yu was coming to the airport?
She almost rose instinctively but forced herself to remain still. When the lounge attendant approached to announce boarding, Yousijia stood, took her small fourteen-inch suitcase, and walked into the cabin through the VIP passage.
The phone rang again. This time, she answered. Some truths, after all, were best spoken aloud.
“Hello?”
On the other end came heavy breathing, hurried footsteps echoing in some cavernous hall.
“Where are you?” Gu Yu’s voice was sharp, edged with panic.
“The airport.”
“Come out. We can talk. Where are you trying to go? Don’t throw a tantrum.”
A faint laugh rose in her throat. Even now, he thought this was a tantrum? Perhaps she had been too well-behaved all these years, making him believe she could never be serious.
“I’ve already boarded, Gu Yu,” she said softly. “I’m not joking, and I’m not playing games with you. You know I dislike such things. I’m flying straight to the capital. If you have time, return as well. We can finalize the divorce.”
“Yousijia!” His voice cracked, the sound of his frantic running bleeding into the line.
She answered evenly, “Mm.”
“Come down first. We can talk.”
He was truly running through the terminal now, a man undone by fear. In all their years together, she had never once spoken of divorce. She had never trivialized such words. When she said it, she meant it. And tonight, he realized too late that she was gone.
“No need,” her reply was calm, almost cold. “Gu Yu, I’m tired. All these years, I’ve been chasing you, and I can’t anymore. I want to stop.” She paused. “Let’s divorce. I don’t wish to go on.”
Without waiting for his answer, she ended the call.
She drew the curtain, reclined her seat, pulled out a blanket and eye mask, and closed her eyes.
It would be better after some sleep, she thought.
- Writer
