Fu Jingze saw me.

For a moment, nobody moved.

The hallway was so quiet that I could hear the sound of Jiang Li’s heels hitting the floor.

Tac.

Tac.

Tac.

Three days.

That was how long he had been gone.

Three days of ignoring my messages.

Three days of telling me he was busy.

Three days of making me believe that the man who had promised to spend the rest of his life with me was simply overwhelmed with work.

But now I understood.

He wasn’t busy.

He was just busy choosing someone else.

Jiang Li was the first to speak.

“Lin Mo…”

Her voice sounded surprised.

Not embarrassed.

Not guilty.

Surprised.

As if she couldn’t understand why I was standing there.

As if this apartment wasn’t my home too.

Fu Jingze quickly stepped forward.

“Why are you here?”

I almost laughed.

Why was I here?

This was the place where we had taken our wedding photos.

The place where I had spent weeks choosing furniture.

The place where I had prepared every little detail for our life together.

And he asked why I was here.

“I live here.”

My voice was calmer than I expected.

Fu Jingze frowned.

“You misunderstood.”

Those four words.

I had heard them too many times.

Every time he came home late.

Every time he ignored my calls.

Every time Jiang Li’s name appeared on his phone.

Misunderstood.

As if my feelings were the problem.

Not his actions.

Jiang Li adjusted her clothes and smiled awkwardly.

“Jingze, maybe I should leave.”

“No.”

Fu Jingze answered immediately.

The speed of his response hurt more than anything else.

He looked at her first.

Not me.

“It’s late. You’re drunk. I’ll send you upstairs.”

I stared at him.

Upstairs.

Send her upstairs.

To the apartment he had never mentioned.

The apartment he claimed was only for “emergencies.”

Suddenly, everything connected.

The missing days.

The secret bachelor trip.

The way his friends defended her.

The way she called herself a stranger while everyone protected her.

She wasn’t a stranger.

She had always had a place in his life.

I was the one who didn’t.

I bent down and picked up the wedding clothes suitcase.

Fu Jingze finally noticed.

“You’re leaving?”

“Yes.”

His expression changed.

Not sadness.

Confusion.

Like he couldn’t understand why I wasn’t crying or begging.

“Lin Mo, don’t be childish.”

I stopped.

Childish.

That was what he called me.

The woman who planned our honeymoon for six months.

The woman who stayed awake making sure every detail was perfect.

The woman who believed his promises.

“You canceled our honeymoon.”

He opened his mouth.

I continued.

“You replaced our trip with a bachelor vacation.”

“That’s not what happened.”

“You lied to me for two days.”

“Because I knew you would overreact.”

I looked at him.

And suddenly, I felt nothing.

Not anger.

Not sadness.

Just exhaustion.

“You still think the problem is my reaction.”

Fu Jingze was silent.

I pulled out my phone.

The recording was still there.

The conversation from his friends’ group.

His voice.

His words.

Everything.

I pressed play.

His own voice filled the hallway.

“Lin Mo always makes a fuss over small things. It really gets tiring.”

The color disappeared from his face.

Jiang Li looked away.

I watched him carefully.

For years, I wondered what I would feel when I finally heard the truth.

I thought I would break.

But I didn’t.

Because the hardest part had already happened.

The moment I realized I was alone while still being married.

“I wasn’t angry because you went on a trip.”

I picked up my suitcase.

“I was hurt because you made me believe I mattered.”

Fu Jingze stepped closer.

“Lin Mo, listen to me.”

“No.”

That one word stopped him.

“I listened for years.”

The hallway lights reflected on my wedding ring.

The ring he had placed on my finger while promising forever.

I slowly removed it.

His eyes widened.

“Don’t do this.”

I placed the ring on the table.

“You already did.”

Jiang Li suddenly spoke.

“Lin Mo, you’re making this bigger than it is.”

I looked at her.

The girl who had always been protected.

The girl who had always been chosen.

“You’re right.”

She seemed surprised.

“I am making it bigger.”

I smiled faintly.

“Because I finally understand how small I was in his life.”

Nobody answered.

I dragged my suitcase toward the elevator.

Behind me, Fu Jingze called my name.

Not Lin Mo.

Not wife.

Just my name.

For the first time in years, it sounded like he was afraid.

“Where will you go?”

I pressed the elevator button.

Before, that question would have frightened me.

Because I had built my entire future around him.

But now…

I had already chosen.

“Australia.”

His face changed.

“What?”

“I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“You can’t just disappear.”

I looked back at him.

“You did.”

The elevator doors opened.

I stepped inside.

And as the doors slowly closed, I saw Fu Jingze standing beside Jiang Li.

The two people he had chosen.

The life he had protected.

The woman he thought would always wait.

But he didn’t know one thing.

While he was spending his last days of freedom with his first love…

I had already started building a life where I would never need him again.

And the next morning, when Fu Jingze finally checked the wedding registration documents…

he would discover the biggest mistake he had ever made.

Because we were never officially husband and wife.

And without knowing it…

he had just given me the easiest way to walk away.