The next morning, I woke up and saw that Morris's blog had been updated in the early hours for the first time in four years.
After all these years, you're still the only one who makes my heart race.
The photo was Cassandra, eyes closed, resting peacefully.
She was draped in the blanket I'd left in Morris's car. The IV line was cradled in his palm, warming it for her.
The girl slept so serenely, the man beside her so attentive, so tender. They really did look like a perfect match.
If only that man weren't my husband.
I swallowed the sting rising in my chest and took a cab to apply for my visa and residency permit.
This overseas assignment would keep me away for a long time. I probably wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.
Before I left the country, I would take care of every last piece of paperwork, including divorcing Morris.
In the cab, I got a text from him.
I'll be going abroad for a week soon. Exchanging research notes with a lab overseas.
I glanced at it and didn't reply.
When I arrived at the visa center, I saw them through the glass window. Morris and Cassandra.
They weren't touching. A careful distance separated them. But their eyes kept finding each other, and every glance carried a thousand unspoken words.
I clenched my fists and tried to stay calm, but my chest swelled with something hot and sour. Before I knew it, my feet had carried me closer.
"Morris, your lab is so busy. You really don't have to come with me to Finland."
My breath caught. Then I heard Morris answer, his voice impossibly soft:
"Seeing the Northern Lights is something I promised you a long time ago. I just didn't have the means back then. Now I do. Why wouldn't I make it right?"
"Cassandra, after this trip, I'll go back to being a proper family man. Don't worry."
A sharp, strange pain split through my chest.
Every word carved into me like a blade, stroke after stroke.
When we first got married, I had made the exact same request.
"Morris, look how beautiful the Northern Lights are in these photos! Let's go to Finland for our honeymoon!"
He'd frozen for a second, then refused without a moment's thought.
"No. Finland is too far. I can't take that much time off."
I'd tugged on his arm, coaxing him playfully, and all I got in return was a sudden eruption of anger.
"I said no, Regina!"
"Either pick somewhere else, or we cancel the honeymoon entirely."