10
Ryan and Bella were getting married.
D
<
The news was announced by Bella’s assistant.
[Warm congratulations to Captain Quinn and Captain White on their upcoming nuptials!]
The accompanying picture was a photo of them from their younger days, standing on the training field, smiling with youthful abandon.
When Ryan saw this news, he was in a meeting. His phone fell to the ground, the screen cracking like a spider’s web.
But he acted as if he hadn’t noticed, continuing to discuss rescue plans.
After the meeting, team members came over to congratulate him. They said Captain Quinn and Captain White had finally found their happy ending.
Ryan smiled and said thank you, but didn’t mention a word about me.
He neither denied the marriage news nor explained my whereabouts.
Everyone assumed I was still traveling.
Some even said: Lily is so heartless, not coming back at such a crucial time.
In the middle of the night, I saw him smoking by the window, one cigarette after another.
“Well done, you’ve really done it,” he said through gritted teeth, “I’m really going to marry Bella, huh?”
“Ryan, what are you doing?” Bella sat up in her hospital bed, watching him scroll through my social media feed again.
Those photos were stuck on our wedding anniversary, never updated since.
“We need to speed up the wedding preparations,” she said, “Mom’s health isn’t good, she wants to see us married soon.”
Ryan nodded silently, but his fingers were still gently swiping the phone screen.
He started acting very strangely. During the day, he would accompany Bella to look at wedding dresses and choose invitations, but at night he would go alone to our old house and just wait.
Sometimes he would talk to the air: “Where are you?”
“You said you wouldn’t leave me.”
“Are you angry with me? Will you come back when you’ve calmed down?”
My soul stood behind him, watching him frantically search through my closet.
The dress I wore on our wedding anniversary still hung there, the wine stain on the hem, still holding my last warmth.
The wedding preparations were in full swing.
Ryan was like a puppet, going through the motions of trying on suits and looking at venues.
But on his phone, he always stayed on my social media page.
“Do you think she might suddenly appear?” he asked his friend, “Just like before?”
His friend was at a loss for words.
Everyone thought he was worried, afraid I would come back and disrupt the wedding.
Only I knew that he was truly waiting.
Waiting for me to come back like last time, smiling and saying to him: “I’m back.”
2:49 PM
<
But this time, I really wasn’t coming back.
Bella urged him to send out wedding invitations, but he said to wait a bit longer. He waited one day, two days, a week…
“What exactly are you waiting for?” Bella asked.
Ryan looked at his phone, silent for a long time before saying, “Nothing.”
At night, he went alone to the basement again.
In front of that empty cryogenic chamber, he placed a bouquet of baby’s breath.
“Lily, your favorite flowers are blooming,” he said, “When will you come back to see them?”
I stood behind him, watching his trembling shoulders.
How ironic, both Bella and I loved baby’s breath.
But what about him? Did he truly love me, or Bella?
