Counterattack

Break Up

Fiance

Soul Mate

Businessman

Cheat

rejected

Independent

Female lead

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

We had been married for three years, but Kit Rutgers still hadn’t made it official with me.
Today marked his one-thousandth successful flight—a major milestone—and the seventeenth time he had promised to go with me to register our marriage.
But during the celebration banquet, while his commanding officer pressured me into drinking, Kit sat across the table, feeding and clinking glasses with his female trainee, Katy Ferguson.
Meanwhile, I fought through a high fever, drinking until I nearly blacked out, and he didn’t even spare me a glance.
Many of our colleagues sighed and shook their heads, their eyes full of pity and disapproval. 
Anyone with any sense could tell who I was forcing myself to drink for.
And yet, after the banquet, when he was supposed to take me to the county clerk’s office, Kit broke his promise yet again.
He pulled the car up to the restaurant entrance and stretched an arm across the passenger seat to stop me from getting in.
“Katy’s had too much to drink, so I’ll take her home. You take a cab,” he said.
“As for the registration this afternoon… we probably won’t make it. Let’s talk about it another day.”
Without waiting for a response, he jumped out of the car and carried Katy into the front seat.
Five years of dating, three years of marriage—and this marked the seventeenth time Kit had postponed our marriage registration because of Katy.
At times like this in the past, I would have already broken down, crying and yelling, demanding to know: who was really his wife? And who had just taken the drinks for him?
But this time, I simply smiled and said, “Alright. Take care and drive safely.”
He seemed surprised by how composed I was, but only for a moment. 
Then he regained his cold demeanor and said, “I’ll bring you a gift tonight to make up for it.”
With that, he drove off. 
Before leaving, he even leaned over to roll up the window for Katy, worried about how the cold breeze might affect her while in her drunken state.
He used to hate the smell of alcohol in his car, so every time I had a drink on his behalf, even in winter, he would keep the convertible roof wide open.
Looking back now, I realized it was only because the one in the car had been me.
The midday heat in Silverport was enough to soak your clothes in sweat, but my heart felt strangely frozen.
I took a deep breath and slipped the marriage registry forms back into my bag.
I knew it was time to let go, not just of today, but of all eight years we had spent together.

By evening, I had finished packing and collapsed onto the bed, drained and exhausted. Just then, my best friend called.“What the hell is going on with Kit? He’s completely out of line. Have you seen his social media? “He’s flaunting his relationship with that vixen Katy like it’s some fairytale romance.“You two aren’t even divorced—how can he do this?”As she ranted, I casually scrolled through Instagram.Right at the top of my feed was a new post from Katy.In the photo, she wore a Van Cleef & Arpels clover necklace around her neck and held the same red gift bag Kit had picked up from home earlier.That’s when it hit me. He had returned at noon just to grab her present.Below the image was a caption that made my stomach turn:[Three years of knowing you, and I’m so lucky to have you, Kit. Happy third anniversary!]Then it dawned on me.Anniversary?That’s right. Today was supposed to be our third wedding anniversary.But we had never once celebrated it.Not even enough for me to remember it.I let out a long breath and finally replied to my friend.“He doesn’t need to file for a divorce. We never got our marriage license.”“What? You’ve been married three years, and Kit never made it official?”Her shock nearly blew out my eardrum through the speaker.Yes.The wedding was three years ago, and he had called off registering our marriage seventeen times.

Three Years and Eighteen Goodbyes

Chapter 4