My wife is a pilot. We had our wedding three years ago, but she's stood me up 18 times since then when we agreed to register our marriage.

The first time she stood me up was when her apprentice took his first flight. I waited outside city hall the whole day for her.

The second time she stood me up was when she turned around after receiving a call from her apprentice. She left me by the roadside.

Later, whenever we set a date to register our marriage, her apprentice would run into all sorts of trouble.

Finally, I decided to leave her. But after I board a flight to Avalonia, she chases me all the way there like she's lost her mind.
Chapter 1
Ivy Rivers and I had been married for three years, yet we still hadn't registered our marriage legally.
Today marked the milestone of her 1,000th successful flight. It was also the 17th time she'd promised to finally register our marriage with me.
But at the celebration banquet, while her direct supervisor was forcing drinks on me, she was busy exchanging dishes and toasting with her male pilot apprentice.
Despite my high fever and drinking to the point of near collapse, she didn't even look my way. Numerous coworkers shook their heads and clucked their tongues, their eyes filled with sympathy as they regarded me.
Anyone with eyes could see who I was enduring this physical discomfort and drinking for. Yet after the celebration banquet ended, Ivy, who was supposed to go with me to City Hall to register our marriage, stood me up once again.
She drove the car to the restaurant entrance and blocked me from getting in with one hand.
"Owen drank a little too much on my behalf just now, so I'll be driving him home. You should take a cab back. We probably won't make it to City Hall this afternoon. Let's talk about it another day, okay?"
After saying this, she didn't care about my reaction at all. She hurriedly got out of the car and carefully helped Owen Gardner into the passenger seat.
We started dating eight years ago, and had been married for three years. This was already the 17th time Ivy had postponed our marriage registration because of Owen.
Usually at times like this, I would have broken down, shouting, arguing with her and demanding answers. Who exactly was her husband? Who had just been drinking on her behalf?
But this time, I just smiled slightly. "Alright, be careful on the road."
Ivy paused at my words, seemingly surprised by my calm attitude today. After a moment, she returned to her cold demeanor. "I'll buy you a gift to make up for it when I come back tonight."
With that, she drove off. Before leaving, she made a point of closing the car window for Owen, afraid the drunk man would catch a cold from the wind.
In the past, she'd never allowed any smell of alcohol to linger in her car. Every time I drank for her, she'd open the convertible top even in winter, let alone close the windows.
Looking back now, it was only because the person in the car was me. The noon heat in Orlion made people sweat profusely, but my heart felt inexplicably cold.
I took a deep breath and returned the marriage application forms to my bag. I knew it was time to let go of this eight-year relationship as well.
Chapter 2
That afternoon, I went straight back to the company and submitted my resignation letter to my supervisor, Layton Guerra.
"Does Ivy know about your resignation?"
Mr. Guerra was clearly surprised by my decision to leave. After all, I'd been the airline's top flight attendant for seven consecutive years, and staying with the company would guarantee a bright future.
I managed a bitter smile. "I'll tell her tonight, though I doubt she'll care."
"My, my. These past few years, you two flew new routes together and won company awards together. The CEO even attended your wedding personally three years ago. Everyone was so envious, but I suppose..."
Mr. Guerra trailed off with a long sigh, his voice full of regret.
Yes, those were indeed beautiful memories. But memories were just memories. We could never go back.
After submitting my resignation, I returned home around 10:00 pm. The house was eerily quiet and empty. On my phone, a social media post from Owen popped up because he'd specifically tagged me.
The caption read, "Special thanks to my beautiful mentor for staying by my side all afternoon. As a thank you, I'm taking her to Marcus Vale's concert tomorrow! Looking forward to it."
I knew then that Ivy, who'd said she'd come home at noon, wouldn't be returning. This had happened too many times in our three years of marriage.
After making myself a simple bowl of instant noodles, I opened my email.
Looking at the job offers from over ten airlines across different countries, my cursor landed on the one from Meridian Airways in Avalonia. Without hesitation, I clicked accept and booked a flight to Avalonia for the day after tomorrow.
Five years ago, when Ivy was flying to Avalonia, she encountered the biggest incident of her career. Since then, that wordAvaloniahad become her taboo.
Not only did she refuse to fly there herself, but she hadn't let me fly that route once.
"Ivy, once I go to Avalonia, we'll probably never see each other again in this lifetime," I murmured to myself.

Chapter 3
The next morning, I woke up and started packing my luggage. I was halfway through when Ivy came home looking exhausted.
Following her through the door was a strong scent of men's cologne that caught me off guard.
Ivy hated the smell of cologne. Every time I used it, she would scold me. So I hadn't used any cologne for a long time. Looking back now, she didn't hate cologneshe just didn't like me using it.
Seeing me packing, she paused. "Owen sobered up too late last night. I got a hotel room by myself. That's why I didn't come home."
I looked up at her, somewhat surprised. This was the first time in three years of marriage that she'd voluntarily explained herself to me.
I nodded without speaking. She then slowly walked up to me and asked, looking down, "Are you packing because you have a work flight?"
I nodded. "Something like that."
After hearing this, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief for some reason, then continued, "I have something to do today. I'm just here to grab something, and then I'll leave. I won't be here for lunch."
"Okay."
I didn't look up, continuing to pack my luggage. I'd originally planned to tell her about my resignation over lunch, to officially end our eight-year relationship, but it seemed there wouldn't be a chance now.
With that, Ivy grabbed a red paper bag and the clothes hanging by the door and hurried out. After she left, the photo frame that had hung on the doorframe for eight years suddenly fell to the floor.
Broken glass lay scattered in every direction.
I looked overit was a photo from our first concert together. In the picture, our hands were clasped together, our faces full of smiles.
That day, she'd promised me that no matter how busy she got, she'd accompany me to a concert every year. But since Owen became her apprentice, she'd forgotten all about it.
The clock ticked away in the empty house.