7
The next five days were peaceful, and I felt
fulfilled.
Finally, on Friday afternoon, I received the
divorce decree.
I felt reborn.
I didn’t have to grovel anymore, endure
Chadwick’s anger, or see Charlotte’s social
media posts.
I was excited to leave work. I wanted to take
my coworkers out for dinner and karaoke.
I hadn’t been this happy in a long time.
I enjoyed hanging out with my coworkers
after work.
I got home at 11 PM.
When I got out of the elevator, I saw a figure
standing at my door.
L
The person was dressed in black, and the
green emergency light made it look spooky.
Since I had to drive, I hadn’t had any alcohol,
so I was terrified.
I looked closer and saw it was Chadwick.
He saw my reaction, and his eyes flashed.
I snapped, “What are you doing here in the
middle of the night?”
He pursed his lips, surprised that I didn’t care
about him.
He couldn’t get in because I had changed the
password and the locks.
He raised his head and pointed to the door.
“You changed the password. I can’t get in.”
I laughed and unlocked the door.
I was going to close it, but he grabbed the handle and pushed it open, saying, “Aren’t
you going to invite me in?”
He walked in.
I had bought a lot of new things. It didn’t look
as empty as the last time he was there.
He walked around my house as if he were at
home.
N
His leather shoes clicked against the wood
floor.
He looked around, as if he was looking for
something.
His eyes finally landed on the Van Cleef &
Arpels carnelian pendant he had given me.
It was still sitting where I had left it.
“Did you find it? You can leave now.”
I asked him, standing at the door.
Chadwick hesitated, then tried to look casual.
“I gave it to you. It’s yours. Also, I didn’t agree
to the divorce.”
I was annoyed and stopped being polite.
“The court already granted the divorce. It
doesn’t matter if you agree or not. Since you
said it’s mine, I can do whatever I want with
it.”
I went to throw the pendant away, but
Chadwick stopped me.
“You’ve been acting up for half a month.
Don’t you like it?”
The box fell to the ground, and the pendant
and a photo fell out.
I bent down to pick them up, but Chadwick
snatched the photo from me.
He looked at me in horror. I threw the things
in the trash and tossed it out the door.
I said, “Don’t worry, I just saw the photo
today. You can take it now and show it to
your wife.”
I pointed out that he should leave. He was
red-eyed and tearful.
“A photo?”
I nodded. “Do you want the others? I can
send them to you. You and your wife can
print them out and admire them.”
He blanked out. Then, he glared at me.
“You’re spying on me!”
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t even afford surgery
for my dad. Do you think I can afford to spy
on you? Charlotte sent them to me for free!”
Chadwick looked shocked. He took a few
steps back and sat down on the couch.
The angle of the photo showed that it was a
selfie.
He had asked Charlotte to buy the pendant,
and he had thrown it at me without even
looking at it.
If I had put it there, it wouldn’t make sense.
Charlotte was the only one who could have
done it.
“Whitney… Charlotte and I…”
“Are just friends, I know. How many times do I
have to say it?”
This was karma.
Chadwick was kicked out. I sat on the couch
for a long time.
Four years of dating and five years of
marriage, nine years, couldn’t just disappear.
I felt something, but not much.
I would be over it soon.
