Love Fades In Time

I applied for paid time off to visit my wife, Luna Reid, a scientist who was away on an overseas assignment. As I was bored on the plane, I scrolled through social media when I was bored on the plane. Then, I came across a post. [My ex-girlfriend, who’s married, invited me to go on an overseas trip. What should I bring on that trip?] The netizens made fun of him. [Naturally you have to bring condoms. If you accidentally get her pregnant, her current husband will become the father of your child.] Some other netizens chastised them. Initially, I was reading it for my own entertainment. At that moment, I came across a comment left by a private account. [I’m that married ex-girlfriend. I hope that everyone can be mindful of their words.] [We’re not doing this for any immoral reasons. We just want to make up for lost time.] [The coming two weeks are the only time we have left together. I just want time to pass a little slower. I just ask for it to be a little slower.] I stared at that profile picture intently. The woman in the profile picture was none other than Luna, who had been overseas for three years. She had a two-week break, and she initially planned to return to the country to be with me. However, a day before her break, she suddenly told me that her research was at a critical stage, so her time-off had been cancelled. I missed her terribly, so I secretly applied for time off at work to give her a surprise. I had not expected that surprise to turn sour on me. At the same time, I received a text message from Luna. [Baby, starting tomorrow, for two weeks, my work has a do-not-disturb policy, so please don’t contact me.] Chapter 1 [Please don’t contact me.] Those words pierced through my heart like a dagger. I was hurt. I had always known that Luna Reid had an ex-boyfriend. However, I did not know that she viewed him as the one that got away. I wanted to call her and question her. But in the end, I merely acquiesced. I did not expect her to immediately call me in the next second. Her voice sounded indifferent. “Are you mad?” I pursed my lips. I was just about to speak when my laptop had a notification sound. Julian Anderson wrote another comment. [As long as I can be with you, I don’t care what others say or think.] Even though Luna was on the phone with me, she still replied to that comment instantaneously. [Even if I can only spend another short two weeks with you, I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.] I heard her typing over the phone. I felt a lump in my throat. I was really upset. I did not say another word. Instead, I immediately ended the call. The plane landed. After I retrieved my baggage, I stood outside of the airport and looked at the unfamiliar surroundings. I suddenly did not know where to go. I wanted to buy a return ticket. However, I could not get over it. Even if it ended up in a divorce, I should confront her in person. With that thought, I hailed a taxi to the research center she worked at. However, when I showed the taxi driver the address, he told me that it did not exist. I did not believe him. I asked a few other drivers. Everyone said the same thing. I finally realized something was wrong. I recalled saving Luna’s supervisor’s phone number, so I quickly gave him a call. When he answered, I immediately asked him, “Mr. Ford, sorry to bother you. May I know when your overseas program is ending?” Mr. Ford was a little dumbfounded after hearing my question. “What overseas program? We’ve been in the country all along. “How about you, Declan? When are you coming back? It’s not good to be separated from your wife for that long.” Chapter 2 Mr. Ford said the last sentence meaningfully, as though he was implying something. My mind immediately went blank. Luna had never been sent overseas. She was in the same city all along. Why did she not return home then? Where had she been for the past three years? A ridiculous yet clear guess formed in my mind immediately. My body turned cold. Without any hesitation, I immediately bought flight tickets home. After travelling for more than ten hours straight, I felt extremely tired. Even so, I still could not shut my eyes to rest. Whenever I shut my eyes, I was overwhelmed by all the emotions. After I landed, I switched on my phone. There were a dozen missed calls. They had all been from Luna. Initially, I wanted to ignore the calls. However, another call came through the next second. I had just answered the call when she questioned me angrily. “Declan, why were you not answering my calls? Why are you throwing a tantrum? “I told you I was forced to cancel my time off. Why couldn’t you be a little more understanding?” I grabbed my phone tightly as my knuckles turned white. “Luna, have you ever lied to me?” Luna stayed quiet for a moment. Immediately after, she sounded really impatient. “You’re insane! “Declan, I’m extremely busy. I don’t have time for your nonsense! “I’m calling you to inform you that I’ll be very busy for the next two weeks. Please don’t send me text messages every single day.” After she said that, she ended the call. I heard the beeping sound from the phone and felt my heart drop. I almost could not breathe from the pain. After I calmed down, I immediately called my friend, who was a lawyer. “Tell me about the legal consequences of bigamy. “I’m fine. It’s just Luna. She’s cheating on me. Oh right, can you help me to get her current address?” Half an hour later, my friend, Luke, sent me Luna’s latest address. My eyes teared up when I saw that she was staying in Rose Manor. Our house was located in the same area. However, her current address was located at the far east, whereas our horse was located at the far west. It was only a few hundred feet apart, but I had never bumped into her once for the past three years. How ironic. I drove to her apartment complex and waited for her while I smoked. My throat felt dry from smoking, and my eyes were bloodshot. However, I could not stop myself. I found it hard to believe that the woman who claimed to love me had been lying to me all along. After three hours, a familiar figure finally appeared before me. It was Luna, who had lied to me about her overseas project. A man tightly held her slim waist. They were acting like a couple. I had never met Julian Anderson. However, I had seen pictures of him online. Hence, I immediately recognized that Julian was the man. The last bit of my hope died. At that very moment, I did not even have the courage to go up to her. My hand shook as I called Luna. After a long while, she finally answered. Before she said anything, I immediately asked, “Luna, where are you actually?” Luna paused for a few seconds before answering. “I told you that I’m at the research center. Which part of that sentence don’t you understand?” Chapter 3 “Which research center would that be?” As I did not want to give in, I persisted in asking. I heard a male voice saying, “Luna, please don’t be angry. Something urgent must’ve happened with Declan for him to look for you. “We’re going on our trip tomorrow. You should settle everything by today.” Luna finally suppressed her anger. She said in a slightly irritated tone, “Declan, I know it’s my fault for not keeping my promise, but my project is really urgent. “After this project ends, I’ll submit my time-off report again to go back home to spend some time with you.” “Luna.” My voice was very soft. “I called your supervisor, and he said that they never even had an overseas assignment. “So where have you been in the past three years? Who are you living with?” I had spoken every single word through gritted teeth. Luna suddenly sounded a little frantic. She stayed quiet for a really long time. At one point, I even thought she would just end the call. Finally, in seemingly reckless abandon, she answered with a hoarse voice, “That’s right, I’m still here in the same city for the past three years. I never went overseas. But I do have a strong reason for doing this. “Don’t worry, Declan. I remember that I’m still your wife. “Give me two more weeks. I’ll come back and explain it to you in person.” I immediately rejected her. “I want to listen to your explanation now.” “Declan!” Luna raised her voice. She sounded angry that I had exposed her lie. “Can you stop being this difficult? “I told you I just need another two weeks. What else do you want from me?” She was the one who lied to me, but she made it seem like I was being unreasonable. I felt sad for myself. I found the whole thing ridiculous. The woman that I had loved for ten years had lied to me for three years. She had treated me like a complete idiot as she abused my trust. “Luna—” I just spoke when Luna interrupted me fiercely, “That’s all. If you have anything else to say, you can say it in two weeks.” After that, she hung up on me. When I called again, the call no longer got through. She had blocked me. I boiled with rage. Just as I was about to get out of the car, my phone buzzed. It was a text message from an unknown number. [Declan, I’m Julian. Luna has been with me for the past three years. I hope you don’t misunderstand her.] Before I could reply to him, he sent another two text messages. [I’m sorry, Declan. I never meant to want Luna’s company for this long. It’s just that I have leukemia, and I might die soon. I just wanted to make up for lost time before I die.] [If you’re angry, lash it out at me. Luna’s innocent. She was just too kind.] Even though he seemed to be explaining their situation to me in these text messages, it was concrete evidence that Luna had been cheating on me. Apparently, Julian was afraid that I would not believe him, so he sent a medical diagnosis report and a photo to me. In the photo, he was lying on the hospital bed in his hospital gown. Luna was carefully shelling pistachios for him Was Luna not allergic to tree nuts? One time, I had accidentally touched her cup after shelling pistachios, and she had yelled at me. Chapter 4 She had even thrown the cup away right in front of me. At that moment, I suspected that she did not dislike pistachio. Instead, she disliked me. However, she was willing to shell pistachios for Julian. Love was not just a word. It had to be carried out with actions. I did not believe in a single word Julian had said. Compared to my complexion, his complexion was extremely rosy. If he said he had a terminal illness, I would be a corpse by comparison. I glanced at the hospital name on the report and immediately turned my car around. An hour later, I came out from the hospital and drove to Luna’s research center. I heard from her colleagues that she had indeed taken time off for two weeks. However, the person she was spending time with was not me. I forced a smile and told one of her colleagues that I was simply collecting something for her. Her colleague did not sense anything amiss. She led me to Luna’s desk. On Luna’s desk, the wedding photo that I had placed there was gone. Instead, it was a photo of her and Julian. I opened the first drawer. There was a custom-made pink notebook. I knew she had a habit of journaling. Hence, before she claimed that she was going overseas, I had visited several factories to customize that for her. I loved her so much, yet she treated me like a fool. My hands trembled when I took out the notebook. I almost could not breathe from the heartache when I read the first line on the first page. [To my forever love, Julian.] I continued to flip through the book. The journal started from the first day she claimed she was overseas. [14 May, Sunny Day.] [From today onwards, I can finally live with Julian. I know it’s wrong for me to do that to Declan, but Julian doesn’t have much time left. I don’t want him to have any regrets, and I don’t want any regrets for myself. Besides, I’ve had enough of Declan, and I need a breather. After Julian leaves, I’ll make it up to Declan.] [8 June, Sunny Day.] [I’m very happy with Julian. I’ll do anything if it means I can be with him forever.] [10 August, Cloudy Day.] [I found out about Julian’s secret. He never had cancer after all. He has been lying to me. But why don’t I feel like exposing the truth? Is it because of the baby in my tummy? Or is it because I’m too happy with him? I already applied for a long leave so I could give birth to our child. I’ll just pretend this has never happened…] I did not know how I left the research center. I only knew it was a hot summer day, yet I still felt extremely cold. As I was about to get into my car, I heard Luna’s roar. “Declan, why are you here at my workplace? What do you want?” She seemed angry, yet her gaze betrayed a hint of fear. I looked behind her and saw Julian. Julian carried a taunting glint in his gaze. After meeting his gaze for a few seconds, I looked away and looked at Luna again. She still looked very beautiful. She looked just like the girl I had fallen in love with ten years ago. Chapter 5 However, she was rotten to the core. Luna avoided my gaze and reached out to grab my arm. “Don’t you want an explanation? Follow me, let’s go home now. I’ll explain it all to you.” The moment she leaned in, I smelt cologne on her. I was nauseated, and I almost threw up. I flung her hand away forcefully. “Don’t touch me, I’m disgusted by you!” Luna’s face became pale. Her lips were trembling. “Declan, what are you talking about? “I told you that I’ll explain it to you after we go home. What else do you want from…” Before she finished speaking. Mr. Ford walked out from the research center. He saw me standing next to Luna, so he was very pleased. “Declan, you’re a good man. I only dropped you a single hint, and you immediately came back to the country to visit Luna. “It’s no wonder Luna asked for a two-week long holiday. It turns out that you’ll be spending some time together. “You haven’t seen each other in so long! What are you standing here for? You should go home.” Luna tugged my sleeve forcefully as she looked at Mr. Ford’s smiling face. She was hinting at me not to say anything. Apparently, she still found the situation embarrassing. In spite of that, she was willing to step all over me and my dignity for her own reputation. I flung her hand away and ignored her pleading eyes. I said directly, “Mr. Ford, you’ve misunderstood this. I’m not the one who went overseas for three years.” Mr. Ford was a little puzzled. He frowned as he glanced at me, and then at Luna. “What do you mean?” I sneered and pointed at Julian, who was standing nearby. “Mr. Ford, this is Luna’s ex-boyfriend. He’s the one who has lived with Luna for the past three years, claiming himself as her husband.” Luna was furious when she saw that I did not try to hide the truth. She slapped me. “Shut up!’ Then, she turned to Mr. Ford as she explained herself, “Mr. Ford, please don’t take it the wrong way. There is a misunderstanding between us. “Julian’s a distant relative. He’s seriously ill, so he’s in the city to treat his illness.” Julian also started to tear up. He looked at me in confusion and sadness. “Declan, I know you don’t like me, but you can’t simply ruin Luna’s reputation. She’s your wife. “As long as you don’t fight because of me, I’ll immediately leave.” After he spoke, he immediately turned around and left. However, he had only taken a few steps when he suddenly passed out. Luna screamed in fear. “Julian, are you alright? Don’t scare me! “Declan, if something happens to Julian, I’ll make you pay!” Mr. Ford was shocked as he quickly took out his phone to call the ambulance. I walked forward and stepped onto Julian’s arm. “Stop acting. Don’t you know that you’re a terrible actor? I’m utterly disgusted.” The next second, I tossed the pink notebook in front of them.