Chapter 6

The messages from Silas and Avery kept coming over the next few days. There were three days left before their anniversary. Avery's message came. "The sea breeze in Hessmir feels amazing. The seafood here is so fresh, but he said I can't have it because I'm pregnant, so he went out of his way to buy some Western food for me." She had also attached a photo of a beach in Hessmir. It showed white sands, palm trees, and Silas unpacking takeout containers not far away. Silas also sent Elodie a message. "There's not much Western food here. I had to go really far to find it. Elodie, what did you eat today?" Elodie caught up with her close friends that day. They had barbecue and stew and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. After all, she was about to start a new life under a different identity. It would be hard to see them again, and she wanted to say goodbye to them properly. There were two days left before their anniversary. She received a message from Avery again. "The baby's barely a month old, and he's already studying early childhood education. He's going to be such a great first-time dad." Attached was a photo of Silas' desk with a pile of books titled "Prenatal Education Guide", "The Wisdom of Early Learning", and "Pros and Cons of Breastfeeding". Silas' message came in after that. "Elodie, I've been reading all day and learned so much. What about you? What did you do today?" That day, she went to the bank to convert all the money in her accounts into euros and withdraw it in cash before deactivating every account registered under the name Elodie Hartwell. One day before their anniversary, Elodie received a message from Avery as usual. "He feels bad about me being pregnant and won't let hotel staff touch my clothes, so he did the laundry himself." Attached was a photo of Silas getting busy in a hotel laundry room. His message came in not long after. "I have no idea doing the laundry is such an exhausting chore. Let's just hire someone to do it in the future. I couldn't bear seeing you doing all of these." She had always hand-washed his clothes during the five years of their marriage. Now, he was washing clothes for another woman. How ironic. A local charity stopped by at that moment. Elodie handed over all her old clothes that she had washed and packed for them. She felt an overwhelming sense of relief after returning home and seeing how empty the house had become. It turned out that it only took a moment to decide to quit. It was easy for one to let go when love was gone. She went to the mountaintop alone the night before their anniversary. The wind whipped around her, but she didn't feel cold at all. All she felt was that the scattered stars and crescent moon hanging quietly in the vast sky above were beautiful. It was already nighttime when Silas called her. He sounded cheerful. "Elodie, I just landed. I'll be home soon. How about I bring you some snacks?" "I'm not home." "It's getting late. Where are you?" "I'm on the mountain." "The mountain? What are you doing there?" "I'm here to look at the stars." "Wait for me there. I'll come to you right now…" A burst of noise suddenly came from the other end of the phone. It was a woman's voice. He scolded the woman in a lowered voice. However, the woman didn't give up. He went silent for a while. She then heard what sounded like a man and a woman kissing. She heard it loud and clear. She sneered. "Silas, are you still coming?" His voice was husky, and he was breathing heavily. "Elodie, I promise I'll be with you from tomorrow onward. I need to wrap up a few things at the company tonight. I'll then give you my full attention, okay?" She smiled. "Sure." "You're being so understanding, Elodie. I'll see you at the venue tomorrow morning. Don't forget to bring the gift you prepared for me. I'm really looking forward to your surprise." "Silas." It would be the last time she called his name. "What is it?" "Nothing." It didn't matter anymore. Elodie Hartwell would no longer exist in the world after tonight. She hailed a cab after she descended the mountain. "Hi, head to the airport please." The driver saw she was alone and asked with concern, "Miss, where's your luggage? I can help you carry it." "I don't have any luggage. Just drive." All she carried was a passport and a plane ticket. Besides that, everything else was either donated or burned. Anything tied to Elodie Hartwell was gone. The car pulled up at the airport entrance 30 minutes later. She scanned the QR code and transferred all her money from her phone to the driver. The driver was slightly panicked. "Miss, you sent the wrong amount! It's 30 dollars, not 30 thousand dollars! I'll send it back to you." "It's fine. You can keep it. Thank you for driving me here." She took out her SIM card and snapped it in half before tossing it and her phone into a nearby trash bin after she got out of the car. After that, she walked into the terminal without looking back.