July

Chapter 3

My hands were trembling as I handed the phone to Yaoyao.

I was desperate to know where He Xiuyuan was, my voice shaking uncontrollably. “I want to video call him.”

Yaoyao nodded, but as soon as the call went through, He Xiuyuan declined it.

I gripped the hem of my veil tightly and tilted my face upward, but tears still fell against my will. “Call him again.”

After the video call was declined countless times, He Xiuyuan finally called back with a voice call.

His voice was a bit raspy. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“Where are you?” At this point, I could no longer keep my emotions in check.

“I’m…” He hesitated for half a second before changing the subject. “I’m coming back right now.”

I was almost hysterical as I asked, “Are you at a hotel? You went to find her, didn’t you?”

I could hardly go on. I leaned helplessly against the corner of the wall, my voice thick with congestion. “He Xiuyuan, tell me… who is Qi Yue?”

There was instant silence on the other end of the line.

I clutched my chest and sobbed frantically, gasping for air until, finally, I had no more tears left to shed.

I felt so pathetic.

On our wedding day, my husband’s ‘White moonlight’ had shown up, and he had abandoned me to go to a hotel with her.

What was even more pathetic was this:

I had been with He Xiuyuan for three years.

Every single one of his social media handles was July.

Even after I got pregnant, when I asked him what we should name our baby, he had blurted it out without a second thought: “July.”

Though I had wondered what that month meant to him, I respected him and didn’t pry.

It wasn’t until today that I realized his first love was named Qi Yue…

How could he use my child to commemorate their love with such a clear conscience?

What did I even mean to He Xiuyuan?

What did my three years mean to him?

I didn’t understand. If he hadn’t cleared her out of his heart, why did he get together with me?

Chapter 3