I Said “I Do”… Then Woke Up at My Divorce Chapter 01

I Said “I Do”… Then Woke Up at My Divorce Chapter 01

A freak accident at her own wedding tore Vivian Mercer away from the altar and threw her ten years into the future.

One moment, she was about to marry Grayson Ashford.

The next, she was sitting in a courtroom, trying to divorce him.

A sharp pain split through her head.

Vivian opened her eyes and heard a cold voice.

“Ms. Mercer, regarding your divorce case against Mr. Ashford…”

Her head snapped up.

A large screen stood at the front of the courtroom.

[Petitioner: Vivian Mercer]

[Respondent: Grayson Ashford]

[Matter: Petition for Dissolution of Marriage]

[Date: July 8, 2026]

Vivian froze.

A cold feeling spread from her fingertips through her whole body.

Grayson Ashford.

Only moments ago, he had been wearing a tuxedo and standing before a room full of wedding guests.

He had been reaching for her hand.

Now he was the man she had taken to court for a divorce.

Grayson sat at the respondent’s table.

He wore a black suit.

His eyes were cold.

The man who had once begged the Mercers to let him marry her now looked at her as if she were only a problem.

Whispers came from the seats behind her.

“So that’s Vivian Mercer?”

“Grayson chased her for three years. Everyone in Northgate knew.”

“That didn’t help her much. Her own husband can’t stand her now.”

“I heard she kept asking for a divorce. The Mercer family went broke because of it. Her father jumped from his office building, her mother died, and Vivian lost her mind.”

The blood drained from Vivian’s face.

Before she could understand what they were saying, strange memories crashed into her mind.

They were sharp, painful, and far too real.

By the third year of their marriage, Grayson had started an affair with Lily, a twenty-two-year-old graduate student.

He had not even tried to hide it.

He brought Lily into the Ashford estate and treated her like an official partner.

Vivian had grown up watching her parents love each other.

She could not accept another woman in her marriage.

She broke down, returned to the Mercer home, and filed for divorce.

Grayson refused.

“Vivian, I spent three years getting you to marry me. You don’t get to walk away whenever you want.”

Vivian would not give in.

Neither would her family.

So Grayson destroyed the Mercers.

Their company fell apart almost overnight.

Her father was left with hundreds of millions in debt.

He jumped from the roof of his own office building.

Her mother suffered a heart attack after hearing the news and died that same night.

Vivian broke under the pain.

Over the next several years, she filed for divorce again and again.

Grayson never stopped her from filing.

He did not need to.

Northgate was an Ashford town in everything but name.

The family owned banks, private hospitals, law firms, and half the land in the city.

They gave money to judges and politicians.

No court in Northgate would end an Ashford marriage without Grayson’s approval.

When he was in a good mood, he came to court.

When he was not, he did not even show up.

He watched Vivian struggle like a cat playing with a trapped mouse.

This was her thirty-second divorce petition.

The memories came too fast.

Vivian’s vision went dark.

She collapsed.

When she woke again, she was in the main bedroom of the Ashford estate.

Night covered the windows.

A single floor lamp lit the room.

Grayson sat beside the bed with an unlit cigarette between his fingers.

When he saw her open her eyes, he barely looked up.

“You’re awake?”

Vivian stared at him.

She said nothing.

Grayson seemed used to her silence.

He reached over and pulled the blanket higher around her shoulders.

The movement almost looked gentle.

His next words were not.

“Vivian, haven’t you caused enough trouble?”

Her fingers shook.

He looked down at her.

“Thirty-two hearings for one divorce. Isn’t that embarrassing enough?”

Her throat tightened.

“You think I’m the one who should be embarrassed?”

Grayson frowned as if she had said something foolish.

“You knew what the Ashford family was like before you married me.”

“My father kept other women for years. My mother learned to accept it.”

“There are only two women in my life. You and Lily.”

“Why can’t that be enough for you?”

Something closed around Vivian’s chest.

Ten years ago, Grayson had knelt in the Mercer living room.

His eyes had been red as he spoke to her parents.

“For the rest of my life, there will only be Vivian.”

Now he could look at her and ask why she would not accept another woman.

Vivian gave a soft, empty laugh.

Grayson’s eyes sharpened.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing.”

She slowly looked up at him.

Her voice held no emotion.

“I just realized how stupid I used to be.”

Grayson watched her.

Vivian lowered her eyes first, as if she had finally given up.

“I won’t fight anymore.”

The room went quiet.

Some of the tension left Grayson’s face.

“You finally understand?”

Vivian nodded.

“Yes.”

“No more divorce petitions?”

“No more.”

“And Lily?”

“Let her move in. Give her the second floor. I don’t care.”

Grayson dropped the cigarette into the ashtray and stood.

He looked down at her.

“Vivian, you should have understood this years ago.”

“The Ashford family is not a place you enter and leave whenever you please.”

“No woman has ever left this family through divorce.”

“The only way an Ashford wife leaves is in a coffin.”

He turned and walked out.

The door closed.

The obedient look disappeared from Vivian’s face.

She slowly sat up and pulled a folded document from inside her dress.

Grayson’s signature was clear on the last page.

It was a notarized agreement he had signed before their wedding.

It said that if Grayson cheated on her, Vivian could file for an uncontested divorce.

He had also signed away his right to fight the case.

Back then, he had held her hand and spoken in a soft voice.

“Vivian, if I ever betray you, you can leave whenever you want.”

In this future, Vivian had destroyed the agreement during the first year of their marriage.

But this copy had come with her from the wedding ten years ago.

Whatever had pulled her into the future had brought the agreement with her.

And this time, she would use it.