Chapter 3

Back in the bedroom, I continued packing the rest of my clothes into the suitcase.

Julian saw Chloe out, and when he walked back in, he finally noticed the open luggage on the floor.

"All right, cut the attitude," he said, pulling out his phone.

"I'll take you to Disney this weekend."

"Haven't you been begging to go for ages?"

He began scrolling through booking apps. "I'll book the tickets right now. Two days. That should be more than enough for you to get it out of your system."

If this were the past, hearing those words might have sent a wave of pure joy through my chest.

Because I really had dreamed of that trip for so long.

Last year, Julian and Chloe flew to an academic conference near the theme park.

The conference only lasted two days.

Yet they stayed away for an entire week.

Chloe posted a full photo dump on Instagram.

In the first photo, she was wearing sequined mouse ears, posing in front of the fairytale castle.

In the second, Julian was holding her bucket of popcorn with a fond look on his face.

In the third, her arms were overflowing with Disney plushies.

Her caption read:

"Thank you, Julian, for giving me the fairytale childhood I never had."

That night, I stared at that post until my eyes burned.

I had wanted a fairytale too.

I had secretly browsed the official park app, researching ticket tiers, hotel packages, and FastPasses.

That evening, I gathered all my courage and asked Julian softly:

"Can we go together sometime? Just the two of us?"

He was engrossed in a research paper and didn't even lift his eyes.

*"It's loud, crowded, and childish."*

*"How old are you, Stella? Why are you still obsessed with things meant for little kids?"*

A few days later, Chloe brought all those plushies over to our house.

She casually hung a pastel fox doll right on the doorknob of Julian's private study.

When Julian saw it, he just chuckled softly.

*"Ridiculous."*

Yet he never took it down.

That plush toy hung on his door for six months.

Every single time I walked down the hallway, it felt like walking past a loud, public declaration of their unspoken romance.

And now, he was finally offering to take me.

Yet hearing it now, my heart felt completely hollow.

Julian tapped on his screen. "We leave Friday night at 9:40 PM and fly back Sunday evening. Does that work for you?"

I glanced down at his screen.

The flight he picked departed at 9:40 PM on Friday.

My first-leg flight to Finland boarded at 9:50 PM.

A ten-minute difference.

A wave of bitter irony washed over me.

He was always like this.

He always waited until I had completely given up, only to toss me the scraps of whatever Chloe had already enjoyed.

And he genuinely expected me to fall to my knees in gratitude.

"Julian."

"I don't want to go."

His fingers froze mid-scroll.

Julian finally looked up, his face tight with pure frustration.

"Stella, why are you always playing these mind games?"

"You used to whine endlessly about wanting to go, and I didn't have the time. Now that I'm setting aside an entire weekend for you, you don't want it anymore."

"What on earth do you actually want from me?"

I looked at him quietly.

After a long silence, a soft, tired smile touched my lips.

I never cared about the theme park.

I just wanted him to stand in a long line for me just once. I wanted him to remember my favorites just once. I wanted him to do something foolish and silly just for me.

He never understood that.

Or maybe, he understood perfectly well.

It was just that all his care and devotion had already been reserved for Chloe.

I zipped up my suitcase, looked into his eyes, and said calmly:

"Julian, I want a divorce."