Where Stars Don't Follow

When my husband once again chooses to abandon me to celebrate his true love's birthday, I finally let go.

He takes his true love stargazing; I don't cause a fuss.

He buys her an expensive scarf, but all I do is smile. I even tell him to buy another hat—it's pretty cold.

He thinks I've finally learned to be obedient. However, he has no idea I've secretly renounced my citizenship to join Doctors Without Borders.

By the time he comes to his senses, I've vanished without a trace.

I was thrilled and elated when I received the call saying that my application got through.

"Rest assured. I'll definitely show up and report for duty on the third of next month!"

After ending the call, I placed my hand over the necklace I wore around my neck. My eyes felt hot. The necklace was a memento from my late parents.

Both of my parents were doctors that served in a non-governmental organization to provide medical humanitarian assistance. My dream was to be like them and join the same field.

However, when I married Sean Chandler four years ago, I decided to put my dreams and passion aside since Sean felt that the job would be too dangerous. It was finally time for me to realize my dreams since there was nothing holding me back now.

I wiped my tears off. Just as I turned my head, I spotted Sean, who had just come out of the bathroom.

He was drying his wet hair with a towel. He frowned slightly when he noticed how the corners of my eyes were red.

"Were you crying?"

I shook my head. "Some dust fell into my eyes."

"Mm," he responded curtly. Sean did not even bother to point out how flimsy my excuse was. Perhaps it was because he was in a hurry to leave. So, he could not even be bothered.

Sean changed his clothes, and something slipped out of his pocket. I picked it up and saw that it was a receipt from a restaurant.

He froze for a moment. Then, he took the receipt, crumpled it up, and threw it into the dustbin. "I had a meal with the director recently. It was my treat."

I smiled wryly. The meals sold at that restaurant were designed specifically for couples. Customers who were not couples were not even allowed to enter the shop.

The college director Sean was referring to was a middle-aged man in his 50s. He could not even be bothered to come up with a more convincing lie. It seemed like he truly did not care anymore.

Sean was about to elaborate and explain when he did not get any response from me. Yet, his phone rang.

I saw the name "Evelyn" on the screen out of the corners of my eyes.

Sean moved out of my hearing range by going out to the balcony and closing the sliding floor-to-ceiling window.

The icy expression he always had on his face when talking to me was replaced with a soft smile. He ended the call shortly afterward. With a small frown on his forehead, he announced that he needed to drop by school because of an urgent matter.

Without waiting for my reply, he grabbed a jacket and headed out.

I knew that the urgent matter he spoke of was to take Evelyn Summerton out on a date since something like this had happened countless times up to this point.

As expected, just as Sean exited our building, a petite form could be seen hurrying toward Sean and clinging to him right away. Then, his car drove off in the opposite direction, even though he claimed he was stopping by the college.

Three months ago, Sean changed drastically when his secret crush, Evelyn, became a counselor at their college. Someone who was reserved and inexpressive like him would joke and banter with Evelyn.

Sean, who spent most of his time and concentration on his research, had also taken a week off to go stargazing with Evelyn because that was her request. Someone who was usually inattentive like him even got Evelyn an imported scarf with the latest design when he noticed the weather was getting colder.

On my birthday, I told Sean that I wanted to have some cake. Yet, he said that I was not a child anymore and that there was no need for us to celebrate my birthday.

However, Sean bought Evelyn a three-tiered strawberry cake for her birthday and even brought her to the amusement park.

When I questioned him about it, Sean said that it was only right for him to take care of Evelyn, who was younger and came to a new city all by herself.

Yet, Evelyn and her parents were simply living in different cities, whereas I had truly lost my parents a long time ago.

Sean was the only family I had left in this world.