When Love Ceases

"Leon, I heard you named the asteroid after me? I'm divorced now. I'm at the airport. Do you want to come see me?"

The message was from a contact saved as "Phoebe".

Just four short lines, and the man I had loved for five years completely lost his composure.

The next second, the door suddenly swung open. The phone screen also went dark at the perfect moment.

Leon had come back to get his phone. When he saw me standing by the table, he paused and asked, "Did you see my phone?"

I shook my head, pretending to be confused, and replied, "No."

He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. After grabbing his phone, he turned and left without another word.

I watched his back as he walked away, forcing a bitter smile. My chest felt tight, as if something invisible were squeezing my heart.

Just then, my phone rang again. It was my mother. Her voice was full of joy when I answered.

"Sweetheart," she said, "Nathan agreed to the engagement, but he wants it to happen in five days. If that's too rushed, I can—"

"It's not," I cut her off. "I'll come home in five days."

That day would mark exactly five years since I left home. Aetheris was too cold now. I wanted to go home.

It was time to end things with Leon.

…

Back in high school, Leon had been the top student. He had won numerous physics awards and had been recognized as a genius.

Although I had been engaged to Nathan at the time, Leon and I were the same age. Because of the close relationship between our families, he always looked out for me at school.

Over time, I couldn't help but focus on him more. But deep down, I had always known his heart belonged to someone else.

That person was Phoebe, another top student.

They had dated since high school. However, as they approached the stage of marriage, they started arguing frequently.

Leon had wanted to go to Aetheris to pursue his dream of working in aerospace, while Phoebe refused to give up on her dance career.

After their unhappy breakup, Phoebe had soon gone abroad and married a world-class dancer.

The night Leon found out she was married, he had shown up at my door drunk. He had always been calm and restrained, but that night, he had lost control for the first time and kissed me.

"Didn't you like me? Let's be together," he had said.

Only then had I realized my feelings for him had been far too obvious.

After that night, I had broken off my engagement with Nathan and followed Leon to the Aetheris. Once we got there, it had seemed as if he had completely moved on from Phoebe, and we started dating.

The dry weather had often made me sick. Whenever I had a cough or fever, he would stop working and take care of me.

When his female junior had tried to flirt with him, he had simply smiled and said, "Sorry. Someone already has my heart."

Since then, everyone at the research institute had known that Leon was deeply in love with me.

And I had believed it too.

I had even planted rose seeds in the desert behind the institute and told him, "When they bloom, let's get married."

Back then, he had held me gently and said, "Okay."

But everything that happened yesterday made all the things I did seem like a joke. How could roses bloom in the dry, endless desert of Aetheris?

I packed all my belongings into bags, ready to throw them away.

Just as I finished, I heard Leon's voice behind me. "What are you doing?"

"There's too much stuff in the room. I'm planning to throw some of it out," I replied calmly.

He nodded and didn't ask more. After all, I usually took care of things at home.

But sensing something was off with me today, he gently held me close and ran his fingers through my hair.

"I got caught up with work and slept at the institute last night," he explained in a soft voice as if trying to ease my mood.