Chapter 4

The days without Caleb in my life passed in a blur, and before I realized it, there were only a handful of days left before I would be leaving the country. Even though I hadn't interacted much with Caleb in that time, I still learned how he and Aria were doing from Talia. Rumor had it that he and Aria had gotten into a huge fight, to the point that Caleb had completely disregarded her dignity and left her at a banquet, even slamming the door on his way out. Some insider gossip even claimed that I had been the reason for their argument. After hearing that, I did nothing but smile calmly, utterly unfazed. I was no longer the blind, lovestruck fool of the past who would constantly check social media for any news of Caleb and Aria. I even used to stalk the accounts of anyone who knew them, all so I could immediately rush back to Caleb's side at the first sign of things going south between him and Aria, to tell him that I was the one who loved him the most. For couples madly in love, any arguments that happened were usually forgotten the next day. So what if I was the cause of their lover's spat? Hadn't I always been just a small part of their game? However, I did notice that after the fight, Caleb had been calling me more and more frequently. Too bad for him, I would either reject the call or use all sorts of excuses to avoid seeing him. The day before I was to leave the country, Caleb invited me to the concert. "I've already bought the tickets. See you there, okay? I'll be waiting for you. It's our wedding anniversary today, you won't reject me again, right?" He had never once lowered himself to beg me in such a desperate tone before. In the past, all he needed to do was take just one step toward me, and I would walk the rest of the way as fast as I could to meet him, all so I could please him. Eventually, I realized that Caleb would take back even that one measly little step if it was for Aria's sake. Nonetheless, I genuinely didn't know what to say, for today wasn't even our true wedding anniversary—it was the anniversary of our fourth remarriage. After so many divorces and remarriages, I was the only one who tirelessly continued to remember everything to do with him without fail. In the end, I still agreed to his invitation, as I really did want to go to Zachary's concert. However, the night of the concert, I waited and waited, yet there was still no sign of Caleb. Just then, my phone chimed with a message. Tapping into it, I saw it was a voice message from Caleb. He had an apologetic tone to his voice as he spoke. In the background, I could hear the clamoring of a concert crowd, along with Aria's light laughter. "Sorry, Melissa, but Aria suddenly wasn't feeling too well, so I had to take her to the hospital. We still have plenty of opportunities to celebrate our anniversary together in the future. Once Aria leaves tomorrow, we can go do whatever you want, okay?" At that moment, a melodious singing drifted out from the venue, signifying that the concert had finally begun. "Thank you for the special invitation here, To witness your love. I keep reminding myself, To stop running away." I exited the chat window and checked my Instagram. This was the first time I had opened the app in a month. The first thing that caught my attention was the story Aria had posted just minutes ago, which showed a selfie of her and Caleb at the concert. "I'll give up all our memories, To let you have the love you want. Still, I refuse to believe, That this is fate." The song continued, its lyrics seemingly mocking me for still holding on to a small sliver of hope when I agreed to Caleb's invitation. But now? That sliver of hope had been well and truly crushed. This was already our seventh divorce—shouldn't I have learned my lesson long ago? Thankfully, this would be the last and final time. Free of any lingering attachments, I turned and headed for the airport, where I sat for the rest of the night. At 7:00 am, I checked-in for my flight. Caleb sent me a text, asking when we would remarry, but I didn't bother replying to him. At 8:00 am, I queued up to board the plane. This time, Caleb called me. Instead of answering, I blocked his number. By 9:00 am, I was already seated on the plane. Just as I was about to turn on airplane mode as reminded by the air stewardess, I received a call from Talia. However, it was Caleb's voice that came over the line, sounding thick with anxiety. "Melissa, where are you?"