Chapter 3
Julia walked into the civil affairs office, clutching the divorce papers in her hands.
When she handed in the documents, the clerk gave her a small receipt. “You’ll need to wait a month before you can get your official divorce certificate.”–
Julia nodded, said nothing, and turned to leave.
Outside, the sun was hot and bright. The receipt felt like it was burning in her fingers.
In one month, she and Nathan would be nothing to each other.
When she got home, the place was pitch black. Flipping on the lights, Julia was greeted by her own footsteps echoing through the empty villa.
Nathan hadn’t been back in days, but she’d seen him on Sarah’s social media. Photos of him in an apron, cooking in Sarah’s kitchen. A side profile of him sitting by Sarah’s hospital bed. Sarah leaning on his shoulder, grinning at the camera, flashing a peace sign.
Every photo was like a knife, digging into Julia’s heart.
Her phone buzzed. Nathan was calling.
She stared at the screen for a long time before finally answering.
“Julia!” Nathan’s voice was soft, almost coaxing. “Remember how you always wanted to see a meteor shower? There’s one tonight at Green Peak. Let me take you.”
Julia tightened her grip on the phone. “Where have you been these past couple days?”
“I’m almost home, I’ll pick you up!” Nathan cut her off. “Wear something warm, it gets cold in
the mountains.”
He hung up so fast, she didn’t even get a chance to say no.
An hour later, Nathan’s Maybach pulled up in front of the house.
He wore her favorite black coat and held a bouquet of sunflowers–the same kind he’d given her on their very first date.
“I missed you,” he said, pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head. “Work’s been crazy lately.”
Julia caught the faint smell of disinfectant on him, and instantly thought of the hospital photos
on Sarah’s social feed.
She didn’t say anything. She just gently pushed him away. “Let’s go.”
On the way to Green Peak, Nathan was strangely attentive.
He kept offering her water, wiped her forehead the second he noticed sweat, and when she got tired, he just carried her up the mountain without a word.
Chapter 3
“Am I heavy?” Julia asked, draped across his back.
“You’re light as a feather,” Nathan replied, kissing her wrist. “You need to eat more.”
For a second, she was thrown back five years, to when they’d just started dating and he’d carried her up the mountain, teasing her about being too skinny.
The mountain breeze tangled her thoughts.
While Nathan was pitching the tent, his phone wouldn’t stop buzzing. He glanced at it a few times but just pressed decline.
“Aren’t you going to answer?” Julia asked.
“No one matters more than you right now,” Nathan said, smiling as he ruffled her hair.
But Julia noticed his eyes kept drifting back to the phone. His mind was clearly somewhere else.
Night fell. The first shooting star streaked across the sky. Nathan reached for her hand. “Make
a wish.”
Julia closed her eyes.
Silently, she wished: I want to leave Nathan forever. Let us never meet again.
When she opened her eyes, she was alone.
Nathan was gone. Even his coat that he’d draped over the tent was missing. Only half a bottle of water was left on the ground.
Julia pulled out her phone. No missed calls. No texts.
Thinking about all those calls he’d just ignored, she could guess exactly what had happened.
She let out a bitter laugh and turned off her phone.
Since the tent wasn’t even set up, she started packing up her things to head down the
mountain.
However, when she got to the parking lot, she realized Nathan had taken the car.
The mountain path was so dark she couldn’t see her own hand. Julia switched on her phone’s flashlight, carefully making her way down step by step.
Suddenly, her foot slipped and she tumbled down the slope.
Before she could even cry out in pain, a sharper agony shot through her leg. She looked down and saw a snake slithering away.
She’d been bitten!
The searing pain spread, her vision blurring.
Fighting to stay conscious, Julia managed to fumble for her phone and, almost on autopilot,
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Chapter 3
dialed her emergency contact.
The phone rang for ages before Nathan finally picked up.
“Julia?” Nathan’s voice was muffled, mixed with Sarah’s sugary, playful laughter. “Something urgent came up, so I went down the mountain first. Sorry, just watch the meteor shower for a bit. I’ll have my assistant pick you up later…”
In the background, Sarah’s voice was crystal clear, “Nathan, this medicine tastes awful. Can you feed it to me?”
In that instant, Julia felt like her chest had been ripped open.
She wanted to tell him she’d been bitten by a snake. She wanted to say she was scared. But before she could get a word out, the call ended.
And then the darkness swallowed her whole.
