This Christmas marks the seventh year since I, Camila Jones, married Jonah Bradley. After his thirty-second mistress showed up at my door, I finally decided to let go. I decided to dedicate myself to serving my country and disappear completely from his world. But he broke down and frantically searched for any trace of me. He said, “Camila, I was wrong. Please come back.” In the past, just one soft word from him would make me turn around. Unfortunately, this time, he’s destined to be disappointed. ***** When Jonah’s thirty-second mistress came to my door, I was in the kitchen preparing dinner for him. The girl before me was barely twenty, young and beautiful, with a smug smile plastered across her face. She looked at me with contempt and said proudly, “Mrs. Bradley, I’m Lainey Wallace, Jonah’s girlfriend—his lover.” She glanced at the apron I was wearing and sneered, “Can’t the Bradley family even afford a maid? I guess this is the difference between being loved and not being loved. Jonah never lets me go into the kitchen—he says the cooking fumes damage your skin.” My gaze fell on Lainey’s delicate hands, and hearing her words, I couldn’t help but freeze for a moment. A sharp pain shot through my fingertips. When I came back to my senses, I realized my finger had been cut by the knife, blood streaming down. Seeing my dazed state, Lainey laughed even more gleefully. She said softly, “Mrs. Bradley, they say the one who isn’t loved is the real third party. Jonah and I love each other, while to him, you’re nothing more than an obligation.” After saying this, she gently placed her hand over her stomach, her eyes sparkling with light. I suddenly felt like laughing. When Jonah’s previous thirty-one mistresses came to my door, they all claimed to be his “true love” too. But in the end, without exception, Jonah sent them all away. I thought this time would be no different, but looking at Lainey, an inexplicable uneasiness stirred in my heart, as if something was spiraling out of control. Seeing my lack of reaction, Lainey became frustrated: “Camila! You old woman, what gives you the right to cling to Jonah? You’re nothing but a burden to him! You’re incompetent and can’t even give him a child!” She pulled up her chat history with Jonah and held it in front of my face. Looking at their sweet conversations on the phone, my mind went completely blank. So Jonah could be this gentle with someone else—reminding her to eat breakfast on time and go to bed early. He would share many interesting stories with Lainey, even about a stray cat he encountered on the street. Lainey put away her phone and left, her high heels clicking. Ignoring the wound on my fingertip, I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my chat history with Jonah. As always, I was the one doing all the talking, with Jonah’s replies few and far between. I smiled silently, then dialed his number. The call connected quickly. Jonah’s cold voice came through: “What is it?” Hearing his voice, my heart still ached with a sharp pain, tinged with grievance. I told him about Lainey’s visit. There was silence on the other end, then his breathing suddenly became rapid. Then Jonah said urgently, “Lainey’s still just a kid. I’ll have a proper talk with her later.” Hearing those words, my heart slowly sank. After knowing each other for so many years and loving him for so many years, how could I not understand that his heart had already fallen for Lainey? I looked at the burnt food in the pot and smiled bitterly. I should have realized long ago that my marriage with Jonah had already reached its end.
“Camila, you need to think this through carefully. Once you join the Sailing Plan, you’ll be heading to a research facility in the Mojave Desert, and you won’t be allowed to disclose your location to anyone. Your communications will be strictly monitored. You might not be able to return home, even if a loved one passes away.” As he spoke, the white-haired researcher Titus Owens’s eyes began to well up with tears, and he gently wiped the corner of his eye. Seeing him like this made my heart ache. I poured him a glass of water and said firmly, “You know my parents were military. Being able to contribute to our country—I’m sure they would be proud of me.” My words moved Titus, but he still urged me to reconsider: “Precisely because you come from a military family, we don’t want anything to happen to you. You have to understand, the research facility involves national secrets, and the mission is extremely dangerous. You’re still so young. If you can’t handle it and regret your decision, it’ll be too late.” I knew that in their eyes, I was still too young. They believed I should have a better, brighter future ahead of me. This path was too harsh, too dangerous. They worried I couldn’t handle such pressure. But looking at Titus’s frail figure, my heart filled with bittersweet emotion. If they could dedicate themselves completely to their country, how could I back down? I gently but firmly interrupted Titus: “I’ve already considered everything you’re worried about. Right now, I have no parents, no children, no friends, no attachments whatsoever.” As I said those words, Jonah’s image flashed through my mind, and my heart still couldn’t help but ache. Perhaps because we were about to part ways, those beautiful memories kept surfacing. But whenever I wanted to forgive him, the images of his thirty-two lovers would flood my mind. My eyes grew warm as I struggled to suppress the pain in my heart: “I’m also getting divorced from my husband. We haven’t had feelings for each other for a long time. Rather than wallowing in self-pity here, I’d rather pour all my energy into scientific research.” Seeing my unwavering determination, Titus sighed and pulled out a classified document from his worn briefcase. As he watched me sign the confidentiality agreement, tears filled his eyes: “Camila, welcome to the Sailing Plan. This is the settlement fund the country is providing you. We won’t shortchange anyone who serves their nation.” I had originally planned to leave with Titus immediately, but he gave me two months to properly say goodbye to the loved ones I wanted to bid farewell to. I quietly watched his shuffling figure disappear into the distance, a bitter smile crossing my lips. The truth was, in this city, I had always been alone. During my seven years of marriage to Jonah, I had devoted all my energy to him, and those friends had gradually drifted away from me. Two months might be too long. “What are you doing?” A familiar voice sounded beside my ear. It was Jonah. Seeing him appear at my doorstep surprised me. I couldn’t remember when he had stopped coming home regularly. It was always me asking hopefully when he’d return, and only then would he reluctantly come home. Looking at that familiar yet strange handsome face, I felt a sense of distance growing in my heart. After a moment’s thought, I decided not to tell him about my departure. After all, I only had two months before I’d be leaving. By then, we’d be strangers, and I wouldn’t need to explain anything to him. Besides, he wouldn’t care anyway. When Jonah didn’t get a response from me, his tone carried a hint of displeasure: “What did you say to Lainey today?” I was slightly taken aback. Then he growled in a low voice: “Lainey is just a kid—she’s innocent! Can’t you stop being so harsh with her!” Hearing Jonah’s accusation, I smiled weakly. After all these years of marriage, this was the first time he had gotten angry at me over one of his mistresses. The concern in his voice was unmistakable. I glanced at our wedding photo on the wall. In it, we were smiling so happily, our eyes full of love for each other. Back then, we had truly been in love. It’s just that this relationship had slowly worn away through day after day of arguments. During our courtship, I used to worry and ask him: “Do you think we’ll have a seven-year itch?” He would always hold me tight and say: “No way. We grew up together—we’ve already been through countless seven-year periods.” I was intoxicated in his embrace, but I forgot that marriage and dating are ultimately different things. “Camila!” Jonah’s angry voice thundered in my ears like lightning. I snapped back to reality. Looking at his darkened expression, I smiled faintly: “I didn’t say anything. It was actually your girlfriend who came to my house to flaunt your relationship, mocking me for being nothing but a burden, worse than a servant. She also told me that the one who isn’t loved is the real third wheel…” Before I could finish, Jonah frowned and cut me off. He looked at me coldly: “Enough. Lainey just has a childish temper. She doesn’t mean any harm—you’re being too sensitive. Stop picking fights with her for no reason. Can’t you be more mature!” Looking at Jonah’s impatient expression, a wave of grievance suddenly washed over me. Just then, his phone rang. The moment he saw the caller ID, his expression instantly softened. He answered the call, and hearing that sweet voice on the other end, his smile deepened. Watching his retreating figure, I collapsed weakly to the floor. On the table, the words “Confidentiality Agreement” stood out in bold black letters on the document envelope. And he hadn’t asked a single question. He hadn’t always been like this.
Jonah and I grew up together. Both of my parents were military officers. When I was very young, I was kidnapped by terrorists. They took me to force my parents to betray their country and surrender to them. I was locked in a small, dark room, listening to the sounds of the terrorists confronting my parents outside. I pressed my ear against the cold door, desperately trying to make out what they were saying. In the end, all I heard were a few gunshots. The outside fell into deathly silence. No matter how much I screamed, there was no response. In that moment, I was terrified. I don’t know how much time passed before the door was opened. Jonah’s anxious and horrified face appeared before me, followed by a large group of police officers. I frantically searched among those familiar faces for my parents. But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find them. That’s when I realized that to save me and completely eliminate the terrorists, they had chosen to perish together with the enemy. I became an orphan. I lost my home. The Bradley family took me in. From then on, I lived in the Bradley mansion. But that experience of witnessing terrorists up close and living through my parents’ death left me with deep psychological trauma. I became afraid of the dark and scared of being alone. I couldn’t truly trust anyone. The only person who gave me peace was Jonah. On the day I was rescued, when the blinding light poured in, I saw Jonah standing before me with tears streaming down his face. During those days when I withdrew into myself, Jonah stayed by my side. He held my hand and softly sang lullabies to me. Whenever I woke up from nightmares, the first thing I saw was always his worried expression. Under the careful care of the Bradley family and Jonah, I slowly emerged from the shadows. Even though I was still afraid of the dark and being alone, as long as I could hear Jonah’s voice, I could fall asleep peacefully. So he would call me every day to help me fall asleep. Even when I woke up from nightmares again, I could immediately hear his gentle voice. When I was fifteen, a boy from a neighboring school stopped me and handed me a pink envelope with a blushing face. I stood there frozen, not knowing what to do. Jonah suddenly appeared beside me, returned the envelope to the boy, and rejected him on my behalf. The boy asked with some displeasure: “Who are you to decide for her? Just because she lives in your house, you get to make decisions for Camila?” Jonah had a faint smile on his face. He stood beside me, took my hand, and said gently but firmly: “I’m Camila’s family, and I’m also her boyfriend. Tell me, don’t I have the right to decide for her?” I used to think about how sweet the memories between Jonah and me were. But now, seeing the understanding and love between him and Lainey, my heart aches just as much. I treated Jonah as my salvation. But now he’s my poison. I calmly deleted our photos together one by one, and packed up the gifts he had given me piece by piece. Jonah often gave me gifts, some expensive, some cheap. The cheapest was a flower crown that had long since withered. It was something he wove for me by hand on the day we decided to get married. I had treasured it for these seven years. Looking at its dried and withered state now, I couldn’t help but feel emotional. While I was packing, Jonah’s parents appeared at the door. Seeing them, I felt a wave of shame. They had always been good to me, treating me like their own daughter. Yet I had left without a word, not even thinking about how sad they would be when they found out. Seeing me packing, Jonah’s mother Dianna Bradley looked surprised: “Camila, what are you packing? Did Jonah make you angry again?” Her kind eyes almost made me want to throw myself into her arms and cry about all the grievances of these past days. But I held back. I said calmly: “I was just worried about things getting moldy, so I took them out to check.” Seeing them carrying large bags, I asked curiously: “Why did you come so suddenly? You should have told us in advance so I could pick you up.” They exchanged glances, their expressions complex. Dianna was about to speak when Jonah’s father Peter Bradley grabbed her hand and shook his head. She sighed helplessly and forced a smile: “We haven’t visited you two in a long time, so we came to see you. We just got off the plane and we’re a bit tired, so we’ll go rest first.” With that, they hurried upstairs. I washed a plate of cherries and, carrying their forgotten suitcase, went upstairs to find them. But at their door, I heard Dianna’s complaining voice: “Why didn’t you let me tell her just now?” Peter replied helplessly: “Camila loves Jonah so much, how could you bear to make her divorce him?” Dianna’s tone became sharp: “But Lainey is already pregnant with Jonah’s child. You can’t let this child be born illegitimate! Haven’t we been good enough to Camila these twenty-plus years? She can’t have children, but plenty of people can give Jonah children! Jonah likes Lainey, so she should be sensible and let go!” I stood at the door, feeling as if I’d been nailed to the spot. After a long time, I realized tears were already streaming down my face. I quickly dragged the suitcase away, but accidentally bumped the lock while turning around. Inside was a whole case of baby supplies.
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