On the eve of our wedding, I found a spreadsheet on Nathaniel’s laptop. It was filled with details about the girls he had dated. In my column, it read: 【Docile, suitable for marriage.】 While in his first love’s column, it read: 【You are a wild bird; you belong to the proud skies far away.】 He said he wouldn't marry her. Because his wife had to manage three meals a day, care for him, raise his children, and serve his difficult parents. He couldn’t bear for her to do that. I didn't argue, nor did I make a scene. The next day, I went back to the network news bureau. Nathaniel didn't know that I had a spreadsheet too. An application form to transfer to Africa as a war correspondent. The man I truly loved was still there. I had to go find him. 01 "You want to go back to being a war correspondent?!" A shocked exclamation erupted in the newsroom this morning. I had just handed in my transfer application. "Yes," I said calmly. "I want a long-term assignment in the Congo." "Elena..." Sarah, the station director, was speechless for a long time. "You’re excellent at being a war correspondent. We all saw that three years ago. But you’re right in the middle of preparing for a wedding! Everyone assumes you’re about to go on leave!" "Will your fiancé even agree to you going back to such a dangerous place?" I was silent for a fleeting moment. "I’m not getting married." "What??" InSarah’s shocked gaze, I spoke with firm certainty. "Yes. The wedding is off." Yesterday, Nathaniel went out to run wedding errands. He asked me to send him the inventory list of things on his computer. I opened the file labeled 【Wedding Plan】. But what I found was his relationship record. There were six girls listed. Each entry was a detailed account of their height, appearance, and background. Mine was at the top. 【Name: Elena Vance. 【Family: Orphaned. No parents, simple social connections. 【Personality: Virtuous, housewife potential. Silent and obedient. No ambition. 【Remarks: Can manage housework. Good for breeding offspring.】 At the bottom, he had highlighted a few words in yellow: 【Suitable for marriage.】 My heart dropped in an instant. I paused for a few seconds, then continued scrolling. The other girls had similar evaluations. 【Extravagant. Not considered.】 【Lazy lifestyle. Not considered.】 【Has a dependent younger brother. Not considered.】 But the last entry. Except for her name and a photo, it was empty. There was only one line written in the remarks: 【You are a wild bird; you belong to the proud skies far away.】 Her name was Chloe Albright. 02 I remembered when we were finalizing the guest list. Nathaniel had been hesitant about that name. He added it several times, only to delete it again. I asked him why. He said she was currently traveling the world and probably wouldn't make a special trip back. So... she was the first love. Nathaniel’s Messenger account was still logged on to the laptop. I found Chloe Albright. Their chat history had been wiped clean. But her latest Instagram Story read: 【Dammit! The man I love is getting married. I’m going to crash the wedding and steal the groom!】 Nathaniel had replied privately: 【Stealing won't work. I won’t marry you.】 【Waaaaah! Fine! So you’ve found true love this time, have you?】 【...What are you talking about?】 【Humph! Forget it! Your family is so archaic and rigid. Marrying you means serving your entire clan. I won’t do it! My journey is the stars and the sea!】 【Yeah, I know. That’s why I married the person they wanted me to marry. I couldn't bear to put you through that.】 03 Couldn't bear to? Hearing that word from Nathaniel’s mouth was truly rare. Nathaniel and I met through a blind date set up by mutual friends. He was young and successful, the youngest deputy chief of surgery at a prestigious university hospital. He was also handsome. But because he had an old-money, traditional, and difficult pair of parents, he had never married. They were incredibly controlling and demanded a submissive daughter-in-law who had an eye for servitude and would wait on them hand and foot. The first time I went home with Nathaniel to meet his parents, his mother brought a basin of water and demanded I kneel to wash her feet. I was willing to endure all of it. Because when I first saw Nathaniel… I thought, for this face, I would do anything. We dated for two years. His parents were very satisfied with me. And he gradually became accustomed to a perpetually clean and organized home, warm meals always ready, and shirts ironed to a crisp. But his attitude was always lukewarm. Until his birthday this year. I wanted to personally bake him a cake. But the oven exploded during preheating. By the time he rushed to the hospital, he found my arm full of glass fragments. For the first time, he was somewhat out of character, panicking as he held my face, his voice trembling. "You don't need to do this for me... You can do without..." But even then, he never said he couldn’t bear to. Later, he proposed. I had assumed he did it out of a sliver of true emotion, willing to commit to me. I never imagined he only did it to appease his parents. Chloe Albright was the one he cherished, so much so that he was willing to let her go. The moment I saw their conversation. I knew this relationship should end. He was acting for his parents; I was acting for myself. But no matter how good the acting was, it was still a play. 04 Returning home from the news bureau, I dug out several camera bags from the deep recesses of the bookshelf. They held my deeply buried memories of the past. The feel of the camera casing was now unfamiliar, and the batteries had long since dried up. While waiting for the battery charger to do its work, I inserted the memory card into my computer. I opened those long-buried photos. The first was of a black woman in a refugee camp waiting for cholera medicine. The second was of a five-year-old child soldier who was barely taller than his rifle. The third was of refugees in North Kivu living in shattered tents. … The smell of smoke and dust seemed to pierce through time and space. My heart felt gripped by a pair of sharp claws. I lay back in my chair, calming my soaring heart rate, and let out a light, self-deprecating laugh. I didn't know if Nathaniel would still put the words 【Docile and obedient】 in my remarks column if he saw these. As I was thinking, my phone vibrated. It was a text from him. He sent the location of a restaurant. I suddenly remembered that he invited the bridesmaids and groomsmen for a small gathering tonight. I had no close friends, so they were all Nathaniel’s friends. However, I knew clearly that this was just an excuse for an invitation. Because today. Chloe was back. 05 I arrived at the restaurant. They had already finished ordering. Chloe was sitting right next to Nathaniel. There was no seat for me. And when Chloe saw me, she sized me up with keen interest. Then she directed me. "Go pull up a chair and sit anywhere!" I sat in the farthest position from them. Throughout the meal, Nathaniel only watched everything indifferently. He didn't say a single word. Someone asked: "Chloe, we thought you wouldn't make it back this time!" "Are you kidding? This is Nathaniel getting married! I would return even if I had to crawl, just to see what kind of option he finally picked!" Several people exchanged meaningful glances. "That’s true. The relationship between you two is not ordinary." After that, they began asking Chloe about her travels. By the time the main course arrived, she had finished telling stories about yellowfin tuna fishing in the Mediterranean, the Portuguese Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, and climbing the Uluru monolith in Australia. Their eyes were all shining. "Chloe, you’re a girl! You actually dared to go to so many places!" "Humph! I’m not the kind of woman whose world consists only of firewood, rice, oil, and salt for her husband and kids! The brave enjoy the world first!" 06 Amidst the joyful and boisterous atmosphere, she was the center of attention. Nathaniel sat beside her, rarely interjecting. However, his occasional side glances at her grew so tender that they seemed to drip with water. I silently downed half a shot of tequila. The back of my tongue was bitter with spiciness. Everything felt utterly meaningless. Chloe had already moved on to the story of her recent dealings with scammers in Egypt. She suddenly turned her head and asked Nathaniel. "Do you want to know how to say ‘dear’ in Arabic?" Nathaniel paused and shook his head. "I’ll teach you!" Chloe leaned against his shoulder, blowing air against his ear. "Habibi~" Nathaniel helplessly straightened her up, his earlobes turning pink. "Sit properly…" "Hurry up and learn with me!" Unable to resist Chloe’s persistence, he let out a sigh and obediently spoke. "Habibi…" "Bingo!" "Correct, you are my Habibi~" Her eyes swiveled and she suddenly looked at me. "Have you ever been to Africa?" 07 Someone immediately sneered. "Look at her. Does she look like it? Africa? She barely leaves the state line!" Even Nathaniel had a mocking look, shaking his head. Chloe narrowed her eyes, a victorious expression on her face. "That’s true. I asked the wrong person!" "We should ask her which nearby grocery store has the cheapest vegetables, or which brand of toilet bowl cleaner works best!" An outburst of laughter erupted from the table. She turned her head and started the next topic. I slowly clenched my fist. I think I was also somewhat drunk. Otherwise, how could I feel angry because of such clumsy provocation? "I have been," I said softly. The voices at the dinner table quieted a bit. Chloe tilted her head. "What?" "I have been to Africa." A fleeting look of astonishment passed her face, but it quickly turned disdainful. "Oh, no need to be so vain, right? If you haven’t been, you haven’t been!" "Lying is a bad look. It’s easily exposed." "I’m not lying." "Then you say, where did you go? Kenya? Morocco? Could it be South Africa?" She held her head high, seemingly certain I couldn't answer. I stared at her. "Congo-Kinshasa." 08 The air suddenly quieted. "...Where? Congo-Kinshasa? What kind of place is that?" "Drank too much, right? Even such things can be boasted about, haha!" "Which normal person would go there? Such a poor and chaotic place..." The fire in my heart burned brighter. Besides me, there were many other people there! Doctors Without Borders, peacekeeping forces, aid construction teams… Are all of them not normal people? "I have not only been there, but I have also stayed there for a whole year. "I have seen them fighting for mineral resources, I have been to Ebola treatment centers, distributed relief food with UN personnel… "I was even shot!" The room was in dead silence. Everyone opened their mouths wide. "Also." I swirled my drink in my hand. "There are no yellowfin tuna in the Mediterranean; they prefer tropical waters. The Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route is not in Portugal; it starts in France to Spain. And the Uluru monolith has been forbidden to climb since 2019." I narrowed my eyes. "Chloe, lying is a bad look. It’s easily exposed." 09 Her face instantly turned ghostly white. The puzzled and blank gazes of everyone swiped back and forth between us. Chloe suddenly stood up, pretending to be brave. "She’s an orphan with no background! How could she have been to those places! "She’s lying!" I leaned on my hand and smiled. "Then you show everyone the photos? Went to so many places, must have taken a few photos, right?" "I… I…" "Won’t be not having any, right?" She became increasingly panicked and turned to Nathaniel. "Nathaniel! What’s wrong with your wife!! "Is today not my welcome banquet! How could you let her bully me like this! "Forget it. Since I’m so unwelcome, then I’ll leave!" Saying so, she wiped her eyes and actually ran out. The scene immediately was in turmoil. Others were so anxious that they pushed Nathaniel. "Hurry up and chase! What if she gets lost in the middle of the night!" Nathaniel’s face turned black, he glared at me fiercely, and quickly walked out. Others also left their seats one after another. "Elena, we’ll leave first." Someone lowered their voice. "How does she have the face to target Chloe like this? Doesn't she know she’s just Nathaniel’s stable option, and Chloe is the real one?" "Jealous! Chloe is beautiful and knowledgeable. What does she have?" "She made Chloe embarrassed, and in the end, wasn’t it her husband who went to coax. Truly stupid!" They sneered as they went away. The massive private room was instantly left with just me. I let out a silent scoff. Poured another cup of tequila for myself. Tilted my head and downed it.
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