I changed out of my wedding dress and bid farewell to my friends.
Sitting alone in a small pavilion in the forest, I gazed out at the still waters of the man-made lake. I opened the wooden box that held the fireflies.
As soon as they were freed, they lit up their emerald tails and soared into the open sky, free at last.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, and when they reached my lips, they tasted salty.
Jack had prepared these fireflies, saying, “When the wedding is over, we’ll release them together. It’ll be so romantic.”
Yes, it truly would have been romantic. But now, I was the only one left to witness it.
We met here, on this very mountain, because of the fireflies. And ironically, it seems our story ends here too.
In the third year of our relationship, our company went public, and everything seemed to be going in the right direction.
As we expanded and opened a branch in another city, we began to spend less time together.
But no matter how late it got, we always made sure to call each other and say goodnight.
We’d remind each other to eat on time during meals.
I thought we were still in a close phase of our relationship – after all, eight years together had forged a bond that felt deeper than just love. It felt like family.
But then Lucy Carter entered our lives, and everything seemed to change.
At first, after we took Lucy to the hospital, Jack only felt guilty.
After all, it was his distracted driving that had caused the accident.
But after Lucy was discharged, she started calling me often. I actually liked her quite a bit back then.
She was like a sweet little sister, always playfully envious of my relationship with Jack.
It felt like I had a small admirer.
But then, at some point, things changed.
She stopped calling me and began calling Jack instead.
At first, Jack would tell me every time Lucy contacted him, keeping me in the loop.
But over time, he stopped mentioning it at all.
I brushed it off, thinking it was probably because I wasn’t in the same city.
Even if Lucy did need me, I couldn’t be there for her right away.
But one day, when I returned to Sacramento for a promotional event, I was shocked by what I found.
The moment I stepped into the office, I realized Lucy hadn’t just “found a job” like she had mentioned over the phone.
She was working in my company.
Not only that, but she was using my office – under the title of Jack’s assistant.