Seven years after my divorce from Hallie Walker, I ran into her by chance at a flower shop.
She was buying flowers to celebrate her husband’s promotion, while I had stepped inside to avoid the rain.
After a brief, awkward moment, we exchanged greetings.
Hallie asked kindly how I had been over the years. I answered respectfully that everything was fine.
As we were about to part, she suddenly said, “Byron Stewart, you seem a bit different from before.”
I smiled but stayed quiet. In truth, nothing had changed. I just… didn’t love her anymore.
——
A cold wind blew through the crack in the door.
My right leg, the one that had been hurt before, began to ache faintly.
I rubbed it gently and said nothing.
The only sound around was the rain tapping against the window. The silence broke when the shopkeeper brought out a bunch of irises.
“Mrs. Walker, you and your husband have such a good marriage.”
“Even on a rainy day, you still remember to buy him flowers.”
Taking the flowers, Hallie glanced at me without thinking.
She gave her usual kind of reply. “Harrison Robinson has been under a lot of pressure at work lately; seeing these flowers will make him feel better…”
With a nod, I gave a few polite compliments.
As the rain slowly stopped, I took my bag and got ready to go. When I reached the door, Hallie suddenly caught my hand.
“Where do you live? Let me walk you home.”
“There’s no need.”
I stepped back a few paces, keeping some distance from Hallie.
Calmly, I said, “I’m afraid your husband might take it the wrong way.”
As she turned around to leave, Hallie seemed to say something.
The wind was too loud and I didn’t catch it. Only the breakfast in my hand was soaked through by the rain.
What a waste.
I tossed the ruined food into the trash can.
The wind lifted my sleeve, showing the scars left from the past. I stopped, remembering something.
It had been seven years since my divorce from Hallie. And three years since I had truly let her go.
There was no sadness I imagined, none of the wild emotion I felt right after the divorce.
I was calm now, like looking at someone I no longer knew.
The rain had ended and the sky was clear.
Pulling down my sleeve, I walked unsteadily toward the steamed bun shop.
Cooper, who was helping out inside, greeted me with a bright smile.
“Byron, you’re here! I found a box while cleaning up.”
“See if you still want it. If not, I’ll toss it out. That way, I’ll have room for the dough press.”
I wiped the dust off the box. Right away, my eyes landed on Hallie’s neat, flowing handwriting. [A gift from Byron.]
Curious, Cooper leaned closer.
He jokingly asked, “Oh, which woman gave you this present?”
“The wrapping looks so fancy, it’s clear she spent time on it.”
He eagerly checked the signature at the bottom.
As soon as he saw the graceful handwriting, he froze. His voice shook a little. “Hallie Walker?”
“You mean that famous genius beauty with a PhD?”
“That stunning astrophysicist PhD who got featured in an international journal for discovering an asteroid?!”
Cooper’s look toward me instantly turned full of surprise. “Byron, who are you really?”
Opening the box, I said quietly, “I was Hallie’s ex-husband.”
The unstable, unpredictable man. He had once stayed in a mental hospital because of his delusions.
The ex-husband she saw as a lasting shame.
Under Cooper’s constant questions, I sat down and told him my story with Hallie.
When I first met Hallie, she wasn’t yet known as a legendary genius.
She was just seen by the neighbors as a troublesome child with a quiet and strange personality.
No friends and no family. Her parents didn’t like her simply because she was a girl.
After their divorce, they passed her around like an unwanted burden.
Nashville’s winter was freezing cold.
Wearing only a thin undershirt, Hallie trembled in the stairwell. Feeling sorry for her, I brought her home.
While her father was playing games, he happened to notice her incredible skill in math.
From that moment, Hallie’s life completely changed.
At ten years old, she won the International Mathematical Olympiad and by fourteen, she entered Phoenix University without needing to take the entrance exam.
At sixteen, her published work gained global attention, earning her many awards.
The parents who once didn’t want her now fought over her custody, but she knelt before my father and bowed three times.
"I know in my heart who truly cares for me and who really loves me."
"From now on, you and Calla are my real parents."
"I’ll take good care of you and Byron."
After that day, Hallie kept pushing forward, never once thinking of leaving me.
When I was being recommended for university admission, she asked the school to lower the required score for me.
When I decided to stay and teach at the university, she requested a position through her student connection.
I often worried that I couldn’t keep up with Hallie, but she looked at me and said, "When I was eight, my parents divorced and neither wanted me."
"I sat alone in the stairwell from sunset to sunrise and you were the one who took me home."
"From that moment, I promised myself that I would never leave you."
"Byron, without you, there wouldn’t be who I am today. No matter how far I go, I will never leave you behind."
That’s the kind of person she was, unbelievably stubborn. Once she decided on something, she would hold onto it tightly.
Even when doing research projects, chasing after me and even when she cheated on me.
“Cheated?”
Hearing that, Cooper’s eyes went wide in shock.
“You two grew up together, childhood sweethearts, such a close bond and she still cheated?”
“Who’s the other man? A second-generation heir? A good-looking guy?”
“Or one of those scheming flirts from TV shows who love stirring trouble?”
Neither of those.
Hallie’s affair partner was a dark-skinned, skinny, plain-looking flower farmer. By that time, Hallie had already reached great success in her career.
She no longer chased after money or fame. She began putting more of her time into personal interests.
She didn’t care for stocks or investments, didn’t care for beauty or fashion.
But one day, she suddenly became interested in flowers. Imported, cheap, ordinary, rare, she liked them all, bringing every kind to her small garden.
Among all of them, her favorite was the iris I once gave her for her birthday.
"It was this flower that made me fall in love with flowers from all over the world."
"Such a simple seed, with a little human care, can grow into something so beautiful."
"The whole process amazes me."
She said she loved flowers, but what she loved even more was watching them bloom.
In that small world of hers, she was like the ruler of everything.
Flowers opened and faded, died and grew again. It all depended on her.
What Hallie said, I couldn’t really understand. To me, a flower was just a flower; it bloomed when it wanted and faded when it was time.
Why worry too much?
Lifting his head while moving the flowers, Harrison suddenly spoke. “Professor Walker is right, I feel the same way.”
“How well the flowers grow depends completely on how much care the grower puts in.”
“Look at this iris, it’s thriving because I’ve taken good care of it.”
That autumn, when the irises were in full bloom, the two of them met.
Because of the flowers. And also because of me.
After that, Hallie started ordering flowers from Harrison often. Roses, magnolias, lilacs.
Soon, our villa looked almost like a rooftop garden.
Their connection grew stronger and deeper.
Then one day, Hallie suddenly said she wanted to sponsor Harrison’s education.
“He’s just a young man, smart and hardworking. It would be a shame to waste his talent.”
Harrison nervously rubbed the rough calluses on his palms.
On his dark face, a worried yet eager smile appeared. “Byron, I’ll study hard.”
“My grades are good. My mom got into a car accident, so I had to quit school to take care of my family.”
“As long as you give me a chance, I won’t let you down!”
His young face already showed tiredness and lines beyond his years. When I looked into those honest eyes, I remembered something.
At eight years old, Hallie had sat on the stairs, lost and helpless.
My heart softened again.
For a long time, I treated Harrison like my own little brother. I bought him clothes and tutored him.
I taught him how to live and how to behave.
He always called me “brother,” saying I was the best person he’d ever met. If ever he had the chance, he would repay me.
And he really did.
He was accepted into the same school where Hallie and I worked.
On the night he got his acceptance letter, he climbed into Hallie’s bed.
That day, I had gone home early on purpose, wanting to make a special dinner to celebrate.
When I got home, what I saw was…
The two of them, messy and hugging. Their bodies were pressed together.
Right then, I completely lost control.
I threw the cake at them.
I broke every flower and plant in the house.
Hallie stood in front of Harrison, coldly watching me. “Byron, if you’re done, close the door.”
“You’re shameless, but Harrison isn’t.”
Between me and Harrison, she chose him without any hesitation.
I couldn’t take it anymore and forced Hallie to give me an answer.
She frowned at me. “Byron, you’re still my husband. As long as you don’t act out, Harrison will never replace you.”
Harrison then dropped to his knees in front of me with a thud.
“Byron, I know I’ve done wrong, but Hallie and I truly love each other.”
“We’re soulmates, the two people who understand each other the most in this world.”
“Please don’t worry, I’ll never forget your kindness.”
“I don’t care about titles or status and I won’t fight you for anything. Just let me stay by Hallie's side!”
That year, I was only in my early twenties.
At that age, being young and hot-headed, I couldn’t stand even a small insult.
I wrote a complaint letter to the school.
I wanted to reveal the dirty and improper relationship between the two of them, but reality quickly gave me a harsh lesson.
The school would never expel Hallie, their strongest professor.
Instead, to calm her down, they gave me a warning and a punishment.
Hallie even made a public statement, asking the other professors to take good care of Harrison.
