The Past Is Like The Wind

I waited for my boyfriend for three hours at his birthday party. Sean Ziegler was supposed to show up dressed as the star of night. However, his secret lover, Josie Sullivan, called him to the hospital. She had pretended to sprain her ankle. There, she recorded a video of her and Sean kissing. In the heat of the moment, Sean stood up and pushed her against the door. But he was supposed to be paralyzed. “Sean, why haven’t you told Wendy that your legs are fine now?” “If she knows, she’ll pressure me to marry her. Seriously, who does she think she is? Wendy’s just a free maid. She’s not good enough to be my wife,” Sean said in a muffled voice. After that, he continued to kiss Josie intensely. Wearing the wedding dress I had designed, Josie looked provocatively into the camera. The video then ended with the sounds of them kissing. It turned out that Sean had been lying to me all along. I threw the cake that I made for him into the trash. Then, I texted my mom. [Mom, I’ll go on that blind date.] Chapter 1 My mom sent me a voice message. She sounded surprised and happy. “Wendy, you’ve finally come to your senses! I told you Sean isn’t good enough for you. I’ll send you the contact information for your blind date soon.” I told her that I would be back in three days. After our conversation ended, the door handle turned. Following that, Sean entered in a wheelchair. When he saw me sitting on the couch, he frowned and scolded me out of habit, “Didn’t you say you’d celebrate my birthday? Why are you just sitting there?” The cake I had made for him was lying in the trash. I stared at Sean before I looked down at his legs. He dared not look at me, probably because he felt guilty. He quickly turned away and spoke impatiently. “Forget it. I knew I couldn’t count on you. I didn’t expect you to celebrate with me anyway. I’m hungry. Make me something to eat. You can do that, right?” Sean ordered me around without a care. I was just disappointed. To him, I was not his girlfriend of five years. I was a free maid. He thought that it was normal for me to do things for him and take care of him. He saw me as a servant, not a lover. Right then, my disappointment grew. I wanted to ask him why he had been lying to me. However, after some thought, I decided not to. I did not care about his legs anymore, and I was leaving anyway. Just then, someone knocked on the door. Soon after, Josie walked in without asking. She did not seem to notice the tension between Sean and I. She walked over to him and affectionately tied a scarf around his neck. Then, she straightened up and raised an eyebrow in fake surprise. “Wendy, you’re here too? I was bored, so I knitted this scarf. I have no idea if Sean will like it.” Sean glanced at me and said with a smile, “Josie, you’re so talented. This scarf looks great.” They were exchanging flirtatious looks right in front of me. I took a glimpse of the scarf that Josie had knitted. I suddenly remembered that I had also knitted one for Sean a week ago. What did Sean do at the time? He looked at it with disgust and tossed it on the floor like trash. “Wendy, if the time you spent on knitting was spent on work instead, people at the company wouldn’t ostracize you,” he said in a mocking, disdainful tone. I lowered my head and picked up the scarf. That night, Sean suddenly grabbed it from the couch and hurried out in his wheelchair. I thought that he had just lied about not liking it. Worried that he might catch a cold, I quietly followed him. However, I saw him give the scarf to Josie, who was waiting outside. “Josie, this scarf is for you. You don’t need to buy clothes for the stray dogs anymore. Wendy’s scarf is warm. You can lay it on their bed.” Chapter 2 Sean’s irritated voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “Wendy, are you deaf? Didn’t I tell you to make Josie a cup of coffee?” I took a deep breath. I needed to bear with it. Just three more days… Three more days, and I would be done with both of them. Josie spoke up for me. “Sean, don’t talk to Wendy like that. Maybe she’s just tired from taking care of you, so she didn’t hear you.” Then, she glanced at Sean’s legs. He hated it when people mentioned it. Sean glared at me and said, “Wendy, don’t be difficult. I’m your boyfriend. It’s your job to take care of me!” He gritted his teeth as he looked at me. “That’s about to change,” I suddenly said. It was my first time talking back to him. Sean was caught off guard. When he noticed that I was not panicking as usual, he glared at me again. After that, he told Josie to push him outside for a walk. The moment they left, I started packing. Anything related to Sean went straight into the trash. Halfway through, Sean came back. He sat in his wheelchair and watched me coldly at the doorway. “What’s wrong? Can’t handle being called out? Why are you so sensitive? You’re nothing like Josie. She’s strong and tough.” Sean snorted. He put me down to make Josie look better. I used to get upset and overthink when he said things like that. However, I would be gone in a few days. I did not care about Sean or Josie anymore. Suddenly, Sean rolled his wheelchair closer. He picked up the baby clothes I had left on the bed—the ones I had bought six months ago for the baby I lost. His hands trembled slightly as he held them. What was he trying to do? Acting like a loving father? “Wendy, we’ll have another baby,” Sean promised me. But I did not care anymore. My heart still hurt from what happened six months ago. That day, Sean and I had gone for a prenatal checkup. At the hospital entrance, we ran into Josie. She was bruised all over, and her face was swollen. She claimed that she had accidentally fallen down the stairs. For the first time, Sean left me to take Josie to her appointment. As a pregnant woman, I was already in an emotional and sensitive state. I felt hurt and ended up arguing with him. How could he leave me to take care of another woman? That was when a rowdy kid bumped into me and knocked me over. Yet, Sean’s first reaction was to protect Josie. He watched as I fell to the floor. As a result, I lost the baby. The shock affected my health, and the doctor said it would be hard for me to become pregnant again. Sean did not receive a response from me. He turned around after a long time, but I had already walked away. He stood there for a while and assumed that I was just upset. He snorted and did not think much of it. I later went out to throw the trash, and Sean approached me in his wheelchair. He saw me discarding the gifts he had given me. “Why are you throwing those out?” He sounded a bit angry. “There’s no point in keeping stuff that I don’t need,” I said flatly. He froze in shock before he awkwardly went back inside. By the time I finished packing, it was already 10 p.m. It finally hit him that something was wrong. “Why are you packing your things?” he asked nervously. “Just getting rid of clutter,” I said calmly. He sighed in relief and said with annoyance, “At least tell me next time. Don’t throw out this gift I got you by mistake.” I turned to him, and he was holding a necklace. He had bought it for me two years ago. It was cheap and rusty. It was his first gift to me in the four years we had been together. However, I later discovered that it was just something he had picked up from a street market. I had treated it like it was special and worn it for a long time. I smiled bitterly. Sean signaled for me to put it away, but I took the necklace and threw it in the trash. Chapter 3 Sean held back his anger and stared at me. I was acting very differently tonight. I usually obeyed him, but today, I was pushing his limits. However, I could not care less about him. Amid the silence, Sean’s phone rang. I knew right away that it was Josie. “Hello, Sean, are you home? Someone’s knocking on my door, and I’m scared.” She sounded pitiful. Sean frowned, and he was clearly concerned. He comforted her and told her that he would be there in about ten minutes. After that, he ended the call. Noticing that I was looking at him, he came up with an excuse. “A staff member from work is having a family issue. I’m going to check on them.” Did he think I did not hear them talking? I had no desire to argue, so I just responded with an “Oh” and stayed quiet. “Wendy, can you drive me there? You know I can’t drive right now, and the driver’s gone,” he said. His tone left no room for refusal. He was not asking; he was telling me. I looked at his legs with a mocking gaze and smiled faintly. “Are you sure you can’t drive?” Sean froze for a moment, but he quickly composed himself. “You know I wouldn’t lie to you, Wendy.” He seemed a little worried and looked at me sincerely. On the drive to Josie’s place, we did not speak. When we arrived, she opened the door and immediately ran into his arms. Sean looked at me nervously. Seeing that I was not reacting, he boldly stroked her back and whispered comfortingly to her. I did not want to watch them, so I walked away. Sean stopped me. He had been with me for at least four years. So, I thought that he might say something to pretend he cared. Sadly, he did not even bother to pretend. “Wendy, Josie’s scared. Make her some porridge. She loves the one you make,” he said sternly. Then, he continued to comfort Josie in his arms. I suddenly realized that Sean had been asking me to make him porridge every morning lately. Normally, he hated it. So, it was because Josie liked it. “Wendy, I know it’s rude to ask you to cook, but it’s what Sean wants. Don’t you love listening to him?” Sean snorted and said, “I won’t marry someone who defies me.” All the disappointment I had been holding inside came out. I laughed. Turning to them, I coldly said, “Sean, remember this. I used to willingly make you breakfast and take care of you because I loved you. But who do you think you are now?” With that, I ignored Sean’s angry expression and walked away. That night, he did not come home. As I was about to fall asleep, I received a video. It was of Josie and Sean lying in bed naked. Josie even provocatively showed the camera a peace sign. I wanted to delete it, but in my half-asleep state, I accidentally hit the video call button. The next second, I heard moans from the phone. Sean picked Josie up, but when he saw the phone, he stopped. I felt disgusted and hung up. I cast aside all the messy thoughts in my head and fell asleep. That night, I slept deeply. The next morning, Sean was already sitting at the foot of our bed. He was in his wheelchair, and he had an inexplicable look on his face. “Did you see everything last night?” he asked carefully. Just then, my mom texted me. She asked me when I was coming back. I told her that I would be back in two days. Sean did not like that I was ignoring him. He nervously tapped on the bedside table and asked, “Who are you texting?” “My mom is asking me when I’m going back,” I answered truthfully. “Oh,” he replied and did not think too much about it. “By the way, you didn’t see anything strange last night, did you?” he asked again. I was annoyed, so I shook my head. He seemed relieved. “Good. By the way, I made breakfast. Do you want some?” Chapter 4 This was the first time he had made me breakfast, and I was surprised. After I got ready, I sat in the dining room and looked at Josie in the kitchen. She acted like she owned the place, while I felt like an outsider. She happily put the food on the table. “Wendy, try the food I made,” she said excitedly. If there had not been such hostility in her eyes, I might have enjoyed the meal. Sadly, that was not the case. I took a few bites, and Sean noticed that I was not interested. So, he suggested taking me out shopping for clothes. It was laughable. In the four years we were together, he never once went shopping with me. He would always say, “I’m busy. You should understand that work is important.” Yet, he would go on trips with Josie. I sneered as Sean waited for me to decide. I was not interested in being with him anymore. It was evident based on the way I had been acting since last night. He was afraid of losing a free maid. He was used to having me take care of him. Sean wanted Josie to remain special to him, so he kept ordering me around. With that said, I still agreed to go shopping. I needed to buy some things. Josie insisted on coming along. She tugged at Sean’s sleeve and said, “Sean, take me too. I promise I won’t get in the way.” She looked so sad, with tears in her eyes. He looked at me with uncertainty. “Sure, she can join,” I replied flatly. He was surprised by how indifferent I was. Since Josie was there, he did not ask any questions. He gave me a worried look, but I had already stood up to change. When we got to the mall, Josie eagerly offered to push Sean’s wheelchair. While inside, we passed by a dessert shop. She looked at me and told Sean that she wanted some dessert. “Didn’t you have enough last night?” he joked. Josie playfully hit him, and they started messing around outside the shop. I did not care about them and focused on texting my mom. She had been pestering me to go home. She and my dad missed me. “Are you coming in to eat?” Sean suddenly asked. He signaled me not to refuse so that he would not lose face in front of Josie. However, I did not give him what he wanted. “No, I still have some things to buy. You two go ahead.” As I turned to leave, Sean grabbed my arm. “Wendy, what’s going on with you? You’ve been acting strange these past two days. Are you jealous of Josie?” He sounded confident, and I almost rolled my eyes. Not wanting to argue, I just nodded. He let go of my arm and spoke in a superior manner. “Josie and I are just colleagues. Don’t read too much into it. If you like something, let me know. I’ll pay for it.” I was about to refuse, but he and Josie had already gone into the dessert shop. When I left the mall, the weather was nice. Both of them were waiting for me outside. Right then, I noticed that Josie was wearing a bracelet. I had bought it for Sean at church two years ago. It was not expensive, but it almost cost me my life. I had gotten in a car accident that day and almost died. However, I had clutched that bracelet tightly, so it was perfectly intact. Back then, Sean had told me how important it was to him. He promised that he would always wear it and never give it to anyone else. I shook off the thought and gave Sean a mocking look. He must have read my thoughts because he quickly tried to explain, “Josie wanted to see it, so I showed it to her.” Just then, someone with a knife lunged at a nearby person. It looked like he was about to hit Josie. Before the knife could reach her, Sean jumped out of his wheelchair. He quickly grabbed Josie and ran. Meanwhile, I got stuck in the crowd. I stared at Sean as he ran away with Josie in his arms. He looked for me after things calmed down, but failed to locate me. He did not know that I had already left the mall. I changed my flight and went to the airport.