My Soldier Husband Chose Another Woman

To come back home and marry me, Hayden Cross spent four whole years stationed at an overseas peacekeeping base.

Everyone knew Hayden would lay down his life for Vivian Sterling.

In his first year, just to secure a priority slot to return home, he charged single-handedly into a war zone to rescue hostages. He came back with not a single inch of his body unscathed, but he clutched that application form like his life depended on it.

In his second year, to retrieve a lost engagement ring in the jungle, he waded through a swamp for three days and three nights. Even burning up at 104 degrees, he was still calling out my name.

In his third year, to earn merit, he patrolled the most dangerous border line for six straight months. When he came back, both his hands were so badly frostbitten that the flesh was raw and bloodyhe nearly had to have them amputated.

I had always believed he wanted to marry me more than anyone else in the world.

I was carrying handmade leather candy I'd brought all the way from New York. It was Hayden's favorite flavor.

Because of the long journey, I'd been holding it carefully against my chest the whole way, terrified that even a single piece would break.

"Captain Cross, the documents from headquarters have arrived."

The communications room door was ajar, and the fax machine was screeching, spitting out a red-stamped document.

My hand, just about to push the door open, froze midair.

Through that narrow gap, I saw Hayden with his back to me, staring at the document he'd just received.

On it, four glaringly red characters were stamped: APPROVED FOR RETURN.

In that instant, I almost cried out loud.

After 1,800 days and nights of waiting, I had finally lived to see his return.

But in the next second, what Hayden did made my entire body feel like it had plunged into an ice cave.

His long fingers slowly and deliberately picked up a pen, and stroke by stroke, he added a single word in front of those four red characters.

NOT.

The red "Approved" became a black "Not Approved."

His hand was steady, the sound of the pen tip gliding across the paper was so softyet it shattered my five years into pieces.

"Captain Cross, this is the fifth time."

The deputy captain's voice rose, thick with confusion. "Miss Sterling has waited five years at home for you. The higher-ups finally approved it this time. Why are you turning it down again with your own hand?"

Hayden set down the pen, his voice carrying a coldness that chilled me to my bones:

"Vivian has a steady personality and is easy to console. She has her parents in New York to take care of her. Her life is stable. Waiting another year won't matter."

"But Lily can't."

He paused, his tone carrying a tenderness and helplessness I'd never heard before. "Lily has been serving as my accompanying medic these past five years. She got all her injuries trying to save me. She has severe post-war trauma. The moment I leave, she'll self-harm from the shock."

"Lily said the day I go home to get married will be the day she ends her life. I owe her five years of companionship. I have to repay it."

I gripped the box of pastries against my chest, my fingertips turning white from the force.

So all this talk of relentless gunfire and overwhelming missions for five yearsit had all been lies he told to protect another woman.

When he was in military academy, Lily Hartman had already been his personal assistant.

They had risked their lives together on this land for five years.

Meanwhile, I'd waited in New York like an idiot for five years because of his "military orders are absolute."

Just last month, he had even said in a video call: "Vivian, when I come back, we'll have the wedding."

Liar.

Hayden Cross, you are nothing but a liar.

"What about Miss Sterling? What about her five years of waiting? Aren't you afraid of breaking her heart by treating her like this?"

The deputy captain's tone carried a hint of accusation.

Hayden was silent for a long time.

So long that I thought he might feel even a sliver of guilt.

Then he suddenly stood up and crisply unbuttoned his uniform.

He took the tactical belt down from the wall, his voice calm:

"That's why I'll never let her find out the truth. Tonight, I'll run a hundred laps around the field carrying sixty-six pounds of weight. I won't stop until I finish. These hundred laps will be my atonement to her."

In tropical heat, running a hundred laps carrying sixty-six poundsthat was torturing himself to the edge of death.

I stood outside the door, listening to his heavy footsteps echoing on the scorching rubber track.

"Thump, thump..."

Each sound felt like a slap across my face.

If this had been the old me, I would have rushed over crying to stop him, would have stayed up all night applying cold compresses out of heartbreak.

I remembered two years ago, when he said in a video call that he'd been slightly injured, I sobbed uncontrollably.

Across the screen, his eyes were as gentle as water: "Vivian, don't cry. Every tear you shed shatters me here once more."

But now, I just stared numbly as he ran beneath the night sky.

He was using this self-harming form of penance to kidnap my guilt.

He'd cover himself in wounds to make me ache for him, to make me afraid to push.

These hundred laps weren't to marry me.

They were the psychological currency he paid so he could stay by Lily's side with a clear conscience.

I turned around and threw the box of pastries I had carried across three thousand miles directly into the base's incinerator.

It was his favorite New York leather candy, made by an old craftsman I had searched high and low to find.

Now, in the flames, it slowly melted into black charcoal.

Due to wartime communication restrictions, I could only use the satellite phone in the communications room to call back home to Brookhaven.

The call connected, and my mother's gentle voice came through.

"Vivian, did you see Hayden? Is he still not coming home this year?"

Mom sighed, her voice full of heartache. "I've said it all alongif a man truly wants to marry you, he can do it even if the sky falls down. You've wasted five years of your youth in New York. Are you really going to keep waiting?"

I listened to Hayden's silhouette running on the field outside the window.

"Vivian, listen to Mom. Come home."

"Do you still remember Trevor Bennett? He was transferred back to Brookhaven last year as Deputy Director. He's been waiting for you. He said as long as you're willing to come back, the Bennett family can hold the wedding anytime. Mom just doesn't want to watch you debase yourself any longer."

Six years ago, for Hayden's sake, I had rejected a stable life and rejected my childhood sweetheart Trevor Bennett.

"Mom," I spoke, my voice without a single ripple.

She paused on the other end: "Vivian?"

I looked at the blood-red sunset on the horizon, and the last flicker of fire in my heart went out.

"I'm not waiting anymore. I'll come back to Brookhaven tomorrow and marry Trevor Bennett."

After hanging up, I didn't go find Hayden to make a scene.

I went back to the family reception room and began packing all my things.

His uniform hung on the wall; a photo of us sat on the table.

In the photo, he had his arm around my shoulder, smiling with such devotion.

I dug out the medal he had sent home last year. He'd said he'd earned it with his life and that it would be our token of love.

Now, the medal glinted coldly under the lamplight, like a resounding slap.

I dropped it into the toilet and pressed the flush. It disappeared without a trace.

Because of last night's weighted run, Hayden had collapsed right there on the field.

When I walked into the base infirmary, Hayden was lying on the hospital bed, eyes closed, hooked up to an IV.

Lily, dressed in a white coat, was sitting beside the bed, gently dabbing his cracked lips with a water-soaked cotton swab.

Her movements were tender.

"Captain Cross is just too stupid," Lily said without lifting her head, her voice low. "He pushes himself this hard every time just to get back to New York sooner to marry that Miss Sterling. But doesn't he think? With all these injuries, who's going to take care of him when he gets back?"

I stood at the door watching this scene, my heart constricting like it was being squeezed by a steel wire. I could barely breathe.

Once upon a time, Hayden had taken care of me like this too.

The year I caught a cold that turned into pneumonia, he ran three blocks through a blizzard just to buy me the pear soup I'd craved. When he came back, his eyebrows were caked with ice.

While blowing on the soup to cool it, he coaxed me in a soft, heartbroken voice: "Vivian, good girl. Drink this and it'll stop hurting. From now on, I'll watch over you. I'll never let you get sick again, not for the rest of your life."

Now, that same tenderness, he was giving to someone else.

Hearing the noise, Lily turned her head.

Seeing it was me, a flash of panic darted across her eyes.

"Miss Sterling? When did you get here?" She jolted to her feet, the water cup in her hand crashing to the floor.

Hayden startled awake.

He opened his eyes, and the instant he saw me, his pupils contracted sharply.

"Vivian... why are you here?" His voice was hoarse, and he instinctively tried to sit up, but the movement pulled at the wounds on his back, making him break out in a cold sweat from the pain.

"I heard you self-harmed again to marry me, so I came to see," I said calmly, walking to the bedside, my gaze sweeping over his blistered hands. "Hayden, I almost believed it."

Hayden's face stiffened for a moment, then he looked urgently at Lily: "Lily, step outside first. Vivian and I have things to discuss."

Lily bit her lip, her eyes rimmed red: "Your wounds haven't been re-dressed..."

"Out!" Hayden's tone hardened.

Only then did Lily leave, glancing back every few steps.

Just before stepping out, she deliberately adjusted the work badge on her chest.

I saw it clearlyit was the position of Chief Accompanying Medic for the peacekeeping base.

A position that should have belonged to the specialist sent from headquarters.

So Hayden had used his authority to forcibly keep Lily by his side for five full years.

"Vivian, listen to me." Hayden grabbed my hand desperately. "Last night I just felt guilty, felt I'd let you down, so I wanted to burn off some energy. Lily is just the doctor here. There's really nothing between us..."

"Nothing?"

I looked down at him, my eyes filled with nothing but cold mockery. "Hayden, you dared to reject the return-home marriage approval with your own hand. What am I really to you?"

Hayden's breath suddenly stopped, panic flooding his eyes: "You... you saw?"

"Saw what?" I tilted my head and gave a pretend-confused smile.

"Saw you personally write an application for a one-year extension? Or saw you putting on this whole martyr act for atonement?"

Hayden's face turned from white to green.

"Vivian, let me explain. Lily really is very ill. She can't survive without me..."

"Enough."

I cut him off, exhausted beyond measure. "I don't want to hear a single word of your explanation. If you love her so much, then keep staying to be with her. One year, nine years, even a lifetimedo whatever you want."

I shook off his hand and turned to walk out of the infirmary.

Behind me, Hayden was still frantically calling out my name, but I didn't stop.

Walking out of the infirmary, the sunlight stabbed at my eyes.

I pulled out my phone and dialed my mother.

"Mom, please contact the Bennetts. Tell Trevor I'll be back in Brookhaven the day after tomorrow. If he's willing, we'll go register the marriage the first day we meet."

My mother was stunned for a long while on the other end, then answered with a trembling voice: "Okay... okay! Mom will arrange it right now! Vivian, I'm glad you've come to your senses. Mom will wait for you in Brookhaven."

I returned to the temporary guest house.

This room was filled with old keepsakes I had collected for him over five years.

Every letter he had written me had pressed dried flowers I loved stuck to the envelope.

Every medal he'd given me, I had carefully wrapped in red velvet boxes.

There were also stubs from every plane ticket from when I'd flown across the world to see him.

I once thought these were proof of love.

Now I saw them as evidence of my own stupidity.

I found a huge trash bag and started clearing them out one by one.

The medals went into the trash bag.

Those memory-filled photos, I crumpled into balls and threw away.

I saw the fountain pen he had once given me.

I remembered him saying: "When we get married, I'll use this pen to sign my name on our marriage certificate."

I gave a cold laugh, grabbed the pen, and snapped it hard against the corner of the desk.

The expensive barrel cracked open, ink splattering across my hand.

I threw away the last thing belonging to Hayden.

The room became emptyjust like my heart.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

Lily pushed the door open, her eyes triumphant.

"Hayden has already submitted another stay application for me. In this war zone, no one can replace my positionand no one can replace his place in my heart."

She walked up to me, her tone full of venomous provocation: "What does waiting five years matter? The person who's slept beside him for five years is me. The person who survived death with him is me. You're just a joke living in a fantasy."

I looked at her and felt that she was pitiful.

She thought she'd won.

What she had schemed so hard to steal was a piece of garbage I didn't even want.

"Lily."

I looked at her calmly, even revealing a genuine smile. "Congratulations. I don't want this piece of trash anymore. I hope you can guard him for the rest of your life."

The smile froze on Lily's face.

I picked up my light suitcase and walked right past her, out the door.

"Tell Hayden for meninety-nine laps is too few. What he owes me, he can't repay even in this lifetime. But it's okay. I'm generous. I'm giving him to you two."