He threw a handful of cash at me, but it felt more like he had slapped me across the face. My palm scraped against the rough gravel, breaking the skin. Then, the blood seeped out.
I remembered how, once, when I accidentally cut my finger while chopping vegetables, he had panicked and insisted on taking me to the hospital. Meanwhile, now, he was speaking to Mila in a gentle, soothing voice. "Baby, are you okay? If you wanted to go hiking, why didn't you call me?"
"You were busy. I didn't want to bother you."
"But I'm your husband. How could that ever be a bother?"
***
I didn't dare to lift my head. Their affectionate words rang in my ears, stabbing into my heart like tiny needles. It hurt so much I could barely breathe. I couldn't believe that the man who once promised to protect me for a lifetime was now calling someone else his wife right in front of me.
I sat there for a long time. The couple's voices slowly faded into the wind. When I finally looked up, they were gone. The hike had drained me, but I still reached for my backpack, pulling out a first-aid kit to clean my wound.
It turned out that when a person was genuinely heartbroken, they couldn't even cry. My eyes burned, but not a single tear fell. I kept wondering, why couldn't Jace have just listened to me for one more second? We were so in love before. I could have accepted us becoming strangers again, but he clearly saw me as an enemy.
I was so useless. I couldn't even part ways peacefully with the person I loved the most. Later, when I couldn't find the alcohol wipes to disinfect my wound, that last bit of helplessness overwhelmed me. I slumped to the ground, whispering over and over again, "I lost it … I lost him … "
Finally, tears streamed down my face. In the vast, empty wilderness, my cries echoed, raw and unrestrained. I cried until I had no more strength left. I stared blankly at the sky, but even the blue sky and drifting white clouds couldn't bring me peace. It wasn't until the sun began to set that I forced myself to stand up and start making my way down the mountain.
Unexpectedly, my foot slipped and I accidentally fell to the cliff. At the moment of falling down, I even thought that it would be better to die like this. After all, there was nothing left in this world worth holding on to.