Chapter 3

Ronan made grilled fish, fried chicken, beef steak, and vegetable salad.

He picked up all these recipes because I once said I wanted to try them.

Three months after we met, he proposed to me.

"Will... will you marry me?" Ronan asked, his voice trembling.

He sat across from me, his eyes shining, lips pressed together, fingers nervously picking at the edge of the tablecloth.

Seeing how flustered he was, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you even know me? Do you realize I spend half the year in Tstoryn, and I could end up dead there any day?" I asked.

"I know," he replied.

I added, "You know I'm often hard to reach. I'm not really the caring type, and my work means family can't always come first..."

"I know," he cut me off. "I really do. I get it."

He looked at me, speaking slowly and clearly. "Stephanie, when I slipped on that mountain road, I thought I was done for.

"No signal, nobody around, the sun was setting, and the temperature was dropping fast.

"Then you showed up. You crouched by the roadside, asked if I had any broken bones, and took the long way down to rescue me.

"The moment you reached out your hand, I thought, 'This is the girl I want to spend my life with.'"

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

"I know this is sudden," he said. "You can say no. But I had to tell you. I was worried maybe I only liked you because of that whole adrenaline rush, but after these three months, I've figured it out.

"I want to be with you, to share my life with you. When you come back home, I want you to have someone waiting for you. I'll be that person. I'm willing to wait."

His eyes were bright, and his gaze was intense, almost scorching.

That night, he walked me downstairs and stood beneath the streetlight, watching as I headed upstairs.

When I got to the third floor, I turned to look back. He was still there, gazing up at me, like that day on the mountain.

I gave him a wave.

He waved back at me.

We kept our marriage under wraps.

I was the one who brought it up.

Given the nature of my job, being connected to a movie star would draw way too much attention. I didn't want my work getting messed up by all that drama.

Our first year of marriage was pure bliss.

Whenever I came back to the country, he'd sneak out to pick me up, and there'd always be a light left on for me.

If I woke up in the middle of the night, he'd gently pull me into his arms, brush the hair from my face, pat my back, and kiss me softly.

He'd whisper, "I'm here."

As long as I was in the country, he'd fly home during his breaks from filming, even if he only had a single day off.

Back then, I thought he loved me.

But as time went on, those moments grew fewer and fewer.

It wasn't that he didn't want to come. But I was getting busier and busier.

I was heading to places like Sytak, Lerotin, Yashair, and Verof. The places I went were getting riskier, and the signal kept dropping.

Sometimes, I'd be out of touch for a whole month.

When I finally got out of the war zone and turned on my phone, it was flooded with Ronan's messages.

At first, he'd share all kinds of things, like what he cooked, what he filmed that day, and funny things that happened to him.

But later, it was only some simple messages. [Lost contact again.

[It's fine. I know you're busy. Just check in when you can.

[I'll be waiting for you.]

After that, he stopped texting as much.

One day, I was scrolling through our chat history and saw he'd sent a meme a few days ago, a puppy sitting at the door with the words, [Waiting for you to come home.]

I didn't reply.

It was not that I didn't want to reply. I had no idea what to say.

Saying [I'm fine] was a lie. Nobody was really fine in a war zone.

Telling him [I miss you.] was just as fake, because I was too busy to think about Ronan.

Texting him [Wait for me.] was pointless. I couldn't even tell when I'd be back myself.

So I didn't reply.

And after that, his messages stopped altogether.

That time when I came back home, I didn't tell him.

He was always the one coming to me, but this time, I decided to go to him first.

When I got to the set, he'd just finished a kissing scene. After the director yelled "cut," the actress was blushing as she chatted with him, acting flirty and close.

I stood there watching for a long time, but he never noticed me.

I came and left quietly, without saying a word.

Then a trending topic blew up online: [Ronan Stone Caught Deep in Conversation with Mystery Woman Late at Night. New Romance?]

The photo was blurry, but I could make out Ronan and a girl sitting in a corner, looking at ease.

I stared at that picture for ages, zooming in again and again.

The girl was young, with long hair and a smile that made her eyes crinkle.

That night, I couldn't sleep.

I found myself wondering if Ronan ever really loved me.

And I realized I was hurting over how much he'd changed.

I was hurting because he barely texted me anymore.

I was hurting because he was getting cozy with other women.