She Walked of Spring, Yet Hated the Short-lived Bloom

The moment the plane's engines sputtered and failed, the flight attendants handed out paper and pens for us to write our last words.
Right in front of me, my wife, Luna, wrote down another man’s name.
“Rich,” her pen whispered across the page, “it took me half a lifetime to realize… you were always my one true moon.”
“If this plane goes down, and they’re lucky enough to find the wreckage, let my ashes be returned to Rich’s side.”
Rich. My adoptive brother. The one who shattered my mother's ashes.
As fate would have it, the crisis was a false alarm. The plane landed with no casualties.
Back home, Luna invited me to a dinner party to celebrate our survival.
I handed her a set of divorce papers instead.
“Sign them,” I said. “It’s time you went to find your real moon.”
…
Luna just stared at me, her expression blank for a second.
“Alex, I’m busy right now. I don’t have time for your jokes.”
“Tonight’s party is important. It’s not just for us—it’s a chance to see friends and family we haven’t connected with in ages.”
Friends and family, or just Rich?
She’d spent two hours in front of the mirror this morning, cycling through outfits. I hadn’t missed the engagement ring she’d prepared, tucked away in its box. The one engraved with the initials “R.V.” for Rich Vance.
This party wasn’t a celebration of life. It was just an excuse to see him again.
“Could you move? That table isn’t set yet,” Luna said, her voice soft but strained.
I didn’t budge. My hand, holding the documents, was unyielding.
“Just sign it.”
Her brow furrowed. “Alex, do you really have to be like this?”
“Yes.”
She sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Look, I know you’re still angry about what I wrote on the plane.”
“But we thought we were going to die, Alex.”
“I was just writing whatever came to mind. I didn’t think you’d take it so seriously…”
I shrugged her hand off. “Let’s get a divorce.”
Before we were together, Luna had pursued me relentlessly. She used to say my quiet, reserved nature was what drew her in, that she’d never met a man like me—cool and distant, like the moon in the sky.
But after I accepted her proposal, I suddenly became boring. Stale.
Five years of marriage, and my quiet nature had turned into a flaw.
Countless times, I’d overheard her telling others:
“I just feel like my life wasn’t supposed to be… this.”
“Alex is so rigid and dull. It’s like we’re from different worlds.”
“Rich is different. He’s vibrant, passionate, and so kind.”
“He’s like… a ray of moonlight that brightens everything.”
In those moments, my nails would dig into my palms, a dull, crushing ache spreading through my chest.
She knew. She knew exactly who Rich was to me.
If he hadn't hidden that venomous snake in my mother's trunk, she never would have crashed on the freeway. If he hadn't intentionally caused a scene at her funeral, her urn wouldn’t have been shattered, her ashes scattered and lost.
Rich and I were sworn enemies, bound by a debt of blood.
And Luna had chosen his side.
Guests were beginning to arrive. Not wanting to prolong the scene, she snatched the pen from my hand in a fit of pique.
“Fine! You want a divorce? I’ll sign it!”
Without even a glance at the contents, she flipped to the last page and scrawled her name. Then she threw the papers in my face.
“There. Are you happy now?”
Expressionless, I picked them up from the floor, checked the signature, and tucked the folder safely into my bag.
This party might have been to celebrate our survival, but as far as I was concerned, it had nothing to do with me.
I grabbed my coat to leave, but a low voice stopped me from behind.
“Big brother, leaving so soon? You only just got here. Did I do something to offend you?”
“Look, I even brought you a gift.”
Rich stood there, a smirk playing on his lips, dressed in a sharp red suit and holding a gift-wrapped box. The sight of his perfectly innocent face made my entire body go rigid. My hands clenched into fists.
An image flashed in my mind: my mother’s funeral. Rich, pretending to trip, sending her urn crashing to the floor. Then, “accidentally” knocking over a vase, soaking her ashes, rendering them unsalvageable. And through it all, his face, streaked with crocodile tears, insisting it was all an accident.
The memory made me sick. I turned to walk away.
A hand grabbed my arm, hard.
“Alex, don’t be childish,” Luna hissed. “We’re the hosts tonight. At least have the decency to stay.”
“What will it look like if you just walk out?”
I shook her off, my patience snapping. The sound of my palm connecting with her cheek echoed in the sudden silence.
“Luna, I’m not in the mood for your little play. And in case you forgot, today is the anniversary of my mother’s death.”
I shot a venomous glare at Rich.
“I find it disgusting to breathe the same air as a murderer.”
“Don’t you dare use that word to describe him!” Luna shrieked, her eyes turning red as she rushed after me. “I told you, it was an accident!”
I didn’t bother to respond.
I made it to the parking lot, ready to drive off, but my pockets were empty. No keys.
“Looking for these?”
Luna stood behind me, dangling my car keys from her fingers, her smile devoid of any warmth.
“Give them back.”
In the next second, she tossed them, and they clattered into a storm drain.
“You want to leave? Fine. After the party’s over.”
“You know what they’ll say about Rich if you’re not here. The gossip will hurt him.”
I stared at her, a bitter, self-mocking laugh catching in my throat.
“He deserves it.”
She knew full well the cloud of suspicion that had hung over Rich since my mother’s death. She just wanted me there as a prop, to create the illusion that we were all one big, happy family.
But I refused to play along. I wouldn’t accommodate a killer.
No keys, no car. Fine. I turned and started walking toward the main gate.
This was a private estate in the hills. Just driving down the mountain took half an hour.
Laughter echoed behind me.
“Brother, are you really going to walk? You won’t get down until the sun comes up!” Rich called out. “Luna, darling, don’t worry about me. You should go drive him down. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to him…”
In the reflection of a parked car, I saw the adoring, gentle look Luna gave him.
“Forget him,” she said. “Let’s go back to the party.”
I don’t know how long I walked along that winding mountain road. Blisters formed and burst on my feet. I finally took my shoes off, carrying them in my hand as I limped forward. At least it wasn’t too late. I could still make it to the cemetery for my mom.
Just as my energy was completely gone, a car horn blared behind me.
“Get in.”
The window rolled down, revealing the sharp, elegant face of Victoria Frost.
“Victoria?” I stopped, stunned. “When did you get back from overseas?”
“Landed yesterday.”
Yesterday. The same day my flight nearly went down.
Before I could process it, Victoria was out of the car, scooping me up in her arms as if I weighed nothing.
“What in the world happened to you?” she murmured, her voice a mix of warmth and concern.
Inside the dimly lit car, her face was close, her voice a soothing balm. For some reason, I felt a blush creep up my neck. “Nothing. Just got divorced.”
Victoria’s gaze was intense. “Divorced?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “Decided it was time to let myself go.”

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