Chapter 5
The broken glass and our photo were still in the trash bin. He slowly knelt down and retrieved the
photo.
Looking at the background, he remembered – this was taken eight years ago at a concert we
attended together. He recalled the promise he made to me that night at the venue. Since Scarlett
became his student, he hadn’t taken me to a single concert. Perhaps that was when he began gradually distancing himself from me.
Yet even now, he couldn’t understand why I’d left. After all, whenever he’d wronged me, he’d
ompensate with gifts. Like two days ago, after attending the concert with Scarlett, he’d bought me a Louis Vuitton bag.
With this thought, he went to the bedroom and opened the closet, searching for proof of his generosity. But he froze when he saw three identical Louis Vuitton bags alongside cheap bracelets
and fifteen–dollar scarves.
He recognized everything. These were all gifts from him. Cheap, repetitive – even the fifteen–dollar scarves were duplicates. He’d never noticed this before.
His mind wandered to the gifts he’d given Scarlett. Van Cleef & Arpels necklaces, Hermès bags, Cartier bracelets… Each gift was worth far more than what he’d given me, and more importantly, each was thoughtfully chosen, never duplicated.
He sank deep into contemplation.
Minutes later, he took out his phone and sent a message: “James, I want to request the Paris route.”
“What?” “Thaddeus, did I hear that right? You want to fly to Paris? Didn’t you swear never to fly there again? Five years ago, I had to specially request headquarters about this – they gave me hell
for it.”
The call came less than a minute after his text, the voice filled with shock and disbelief.
Five years ago, after the incident on his Paris flight, Thaddeus had demanded never to fly that route again, threatening to resign if headquarters didn’t agree. Every veteran at the airline knew this story. His sudden request to fly Paris now was astounding.
“I’m serious, James. Please submit another request to headquarters. It’s urgent!” His voice was
unusually determined.
Unspoken Farewell at 30,000 Feet
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“What’s happened?” the voice on the phone pressed.
“James, let me ask you something. These past three years, has everyone thought I crossed a line with Scarlett? That I’ve wronged Claire?” Thaddeus asked after a pause.
His question was met with silence – sometimes silence is the clearest answer.
“I understand,” Thaddeus said bitterly. “Since Scarlett became my student, I haven’t properly dined with Claire, haven’t celebrated any holidays with her. Even the gifts I gave her were carelessly chosen, often duplicates. I just counted – I’ve canceled our marriage registration over a dozen times in these three years.”
“But even so, I never thought we’d actually separate.”
“But today, Claire resigned and left for Paris.”
As Thaddeus finished, the other end of the line finally responded.
