Chapter 2Wedding Eve Thunderstorm

When Charlie sent someone to deliver food, I was in a deep sleep and didn't hear the doorbell.

By the time I woke up, the food outside the door had already gone cold.

I opened the packaging. It was all the light flavors I loved. We even had a microwave at home to reheat food.

But I only felt nauseous.

I put the food in the fridge and called my best friend, Kiera, to let her know I was leaving.

She angrily ranted about Charlie for fifteen minutes.

"Are you stupid? Now that he's successful, you're just going to leave quietly and let him off the hook?"

"If you ask me, you should go through with this wedding!"

"Slowly collect evidence of his cheating, then file for divorce and take half of his assets!"

"You've been with him for ten years. Are those ten years of your youth worth nothing?"

Yes, ten years.

I had been with Charlie for ten years.

I watched him go from a nobody startup founder to falling and getting back up, through ups and downs, until he finally established his own brand.

The toughest times were during the pandemic years.

His company, which had just started to take off, was on the verge of bankruptcy. Most of my flights were grounded.

We had to give up the spacious apartment we were renting and move back to a cramped basement.

At that time, it was really difficult.

So difficult that we had to compete with sewer rats for rice to eat.

Charlie had to pay off the debts he owed for goods on time, otherwise it would affect his credit score.

He was forced to do manual labor.

I begged my superiors to let me fly, taking on any flight no matter how dirty, smelly, or difficult.

That's how we finally got through that period.

I'll never forget the day we paid off our debts. Charlie locked the basement door, dragging a suitcase with one hand and holding mine with the other.

He took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Rachel, thank you for getting through this with me!"

"I, Charlie, swear to heaven!" He raised his finger, "I will definitely make something of myself and marry my girl in grand style!"

At that time, the young man's sincerity was transparent.

But after walking in the torrent for too long, it was washed away until the color was no longer clear.

Actually, Kiera is wrong.

From an outsider's perspective, I must fight for something to do justice to these ten years.

But if I say I don't hate Charlie, probably no one would believe me.

Maybe I hated him when I stumbled upon that erotic scene in the helicopter.

Afterwards, all that was left was deep exhaustion.

I just want to leave.

Get away from him, away from this place that holds ten years of our memories, leave everything behind and start over.

"I don't want to make things too ugly with him." I lowered my head.

Call me weak or cowardly if you want.

I don't want to tear away the fig leaf between Charlie and me, destroying the most beautiful memories of our ten years.

Because that was my youth too.

No matter how rotten the person in my youth has become, he was still the man I once loved deeply.

"You..." Kiera sighed, "So when do you plan to leave?"

I flipped through my email. The offer from Atlantic Airways had arrived.

"Two days."

In two days, I'll be leaving this place.

...

At 10 p.m., Charlie still hadn't come back.

Ever since Charlie's career took off, we've been on different schedules.

Sometimes when I flew red-eye flights, he'd already be gone by the time I got back.

Since then, I've asked the company not to schedule me for night flights, hoping to have our private time together when I return home at night.

I got used to waiting.

But this time, I don't want to wait anymore.

Just as I turned off the lights to go to sleep, Charlie called.

The sound of running water came through from the other end, especially jarring in the dead of night.

"Rachel, don't wait up for me."

"I originally booked a flight to get back tonight, but as soon as I landed, I got dragged into a meeting."

"The people below know I'm about to take my honeymoon leave, so they're taking this time to hold all the meetings for next quarter while they have me..."

"Don't be angry. After our wedding is over, I promise I'll make it up to you with a proper honeymoon."

I wanted to ask him, what flight could fly from the rooftop garden of the Empire State Building to here?

What kind of meeting requires the participants to wash up in a hotel room first?

But I didn't say it out loud.

"Work is important. Take care of yourself too."

He was about to reply when the water sound on the other end stopped.

Someone was walking barefoot on the wooden floor.

The sound of clothes rustling arose.

I could almost hear someone breathing into Charlie's ear.

There was a dull "thud".

Charlie's phone hit the ground, and the sound of lips and teeth intertwining came through the speaker.

Perhaps he was too eager.

So eager that he didn't even hang up the phone.

I masochistically listened to the whole thing, until the woman's coquettish gasps arose.

"Charlie, are you really going to get married?" she asked.

Charlie must have lit a cigarette, exhaling smoke.

"What else can I do?" He chuckled lightly, "She's been with me for ten years. I have to give her a title at least, so people don't say I'm ungrateful."

"Such a generous old man..." The woman sneered, "Haven't you ever wondered if she, as a flight attendant all these years... if she's been with other men..."

Charlie didn't speak again.

The woman hadn't realized anything yet and continued chattering, "I heard she's flown to India many times... I've heard those flights are not clean..."

"Also, in her line of work, I don't believe there are no sugar daddies... Didn't you say she helped you through the economic crisis for a few years..."

"Enough!" Charlie shouted angrily, "Don't talk about things you shouldn't know! I know very well what kind of person Rachel is. It's not your place to comment!"

I hung up the phone.

My whole body was shaking uncontrollably.

I knew very well that Charlie had taken it to heart.

He's usually emotionally stable and wouldn't get angry unless he had doubts.

I recalled those most difficult years.

To help Charlie pay off his debts, I did indeed fly many trips to India. The memories are heart-wrenching.

The dirty and chaotic environment goes without saying.

The scariest part was the scrutinizing gazes of the passengers, like wolves eyeing their prey.

After each flight, there would be many black handprints on my bottom.

That wasn't even the worst of it. Once, I was tricked by a passenger in the back row who pressed the call button. He grabbed me and dragged me into the bathroom to assault me.

Fortunately, a colleague heard my cries for help passing by and rescued me.

On the way home that day, I cried for a long time, but wiped away my tears before reaching the front door.

I didn't want Charlie to know.

I also didn't want him to feel guilty or worried.

So I didn't say anything, not even mentioning the times people offered to be my sugar daddy.

Yes, people wanted to be my sugar daddy, more than once.

There were also quite a few business elites who expressed interest in dating me.

But I turned them all down, one by one.

Because I knew very clearly, Charlie only had me.

And I only had him.

I believed every word he said, every vow he made. I believed he would have his day.

But now, I've waited for it.

Yet I no longer want it.