Thirty Years Of Marriage I Thought Was A Mistake Chapter 11

Thirty Years Of Marriage I Thought Was A Mistake Chapter 11

A line had already formed outside the marriage license office at the county courthouse.

Adrian held my hand as we walked inside. At the information desk, a clerk glanced at us and asked, “Are you here to file for divorce?”

“We’re here to get married,” Adrian said.

The clerk blinked, probably because he sounded as solemn as if he were signing away his life.

Adrian filled out his section of the application quickly, his handwriting neat and firm.

I wrote much more slowly, forming every letter with care as though I wanted to carve our names into my bones.

Grace Miller and Adrian Prescott stood side by side on the page, just as they had in our previous life and did again in this one.

Once the license was processed, we were shown into a small civil ceremony room, where a judge led us through the standard wedding vows.

Halfway through mine, I suddenly started laughing.

Adrian turned toward me.

“What are you laughing about?”

“I was thinking about our wedding in our previous life. You never came to the county clerk’s office with me.”

He froze.

“I didn’t come?”

“Vincent came with marriage paperwork bearing what appeared to be your notarized signature,” I said. “He told me you had authorized him to handle the courthouse filing. I thought you didn’t care enough to show up in person.”

Adrian’s expression went rigid.

“In our previous life… I sent Vincent in my place?”

“Yes. That was why I thought I meant nothing to you.”

Adrian closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

When he opened them again, his eyes were red.

“Grace, I never authorized Vincent to handle any of that.”

My pen stopped moving.

“On my way to the courthouse that day, I was in a car accident and spent three days unconscious. When I woke up, Vincent told me the marriage paperwork had already been completed. He said you hadn’t minded my absence and that the formalities didn’t matter to you.”

The comments instantly erupted.

[Vincent was behind it???]

[So Vincent and Vanessa were working together in their previous life? He deliberately kept Mr. Prescott away and then lied that Grace didn’t care?]

[Grace thought Adrian didn’t care, while Adrian thought Grace didn’t care. They both believed the other person didn’t love them, and they lived that way for thirty years?]

[Oh my God. Did Vincent and Vanessa work together to keep them apart in their previous life?]

Adrian’s face had gone pale.

He pulled out his phone and placed a call.

“Open a full internal investigation into Vincent. I want every corporate account, expense report, transfer, and company-issued phone record we legally control. Have our attorneys refer any evidence of criminal conduct to law enforcement and seek the appropriate court orders for his private bank and phone records. Start now.”

He ended the call and looked at me, his Adam’s apple moving.

“Grace, if I had made it there in our previous life—”

“Don’t.”

I placed my hand over his.

“That life is over. What matters is that you came this time.”

Adrian’s hand trembled as he closed it around mine. His knuckles turned white.

“I’m sorry.”

His voice was so quiet that it sounded fragile.

“Grace, I’m sorry I made you wait thirty years in our previous life.”

“Then you can spend this life making it up to me.”

I smiled even as tears continued streaming down my face.

“Adrian, you aren’t allowed to die so soon this time. You have to live to be a hundred and stay with me through every sunrise and sunset.”

“I will.”

He pulled me into his arms and rested his chin on top of my head.

“I’ll stay with you in this life, the next one, and every life after that.”

When we walked out of the courthouse as husband and wife, the sun was shining brightly.

Adrian kept his fingers intertwined with mine and never loosened his grip.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“Where are we going?”

“Home.”

“Which home are we going to?”

“Our home.”

He looked down at me, and a smile finally appeared at the corners of his mouth.

“Everything is ready. All the house has been missing is you.”

The car stopped in front of an estate on the north side of the city, and I stared at it in shock.

It was identical to the home we had shared in our previous life.

A magnolia tree stood in the yard, a pot of jasmine rested on the second-floor balcony, and even the house number was the same.

“How did you know?”

“I remembered.”

Adrian took my hand and led me inside.

“This was your favorite house in our previous life. You said you wanted a magnolia tree in the yard so the whole property would smell sweet when it bloomed.”

“You also wanted jasmine on the balcony so you could wake up to its fragrance every morning.”

“You remembered all of it?”

“I remember every detail.”

He opened the bedroom door.

“These curtains are in the color you loved in our previous life. This is the bedding pattern you loved, and that is the lamp you kept beside the bed.”

I stood in the doorway and looked at everything before me.

At last, my tears broke free.

In our previous life, I had believed it was all coincidence. I thought he had arranged the house without giving it much thought.

But none of it had been accidental.

He remembered everything I loved and everything I disliked. He even remembered every passing comment I had made.

“Adrian,” I called through my tears.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“What are you thanking me for?”

“Thank you for finding me.”

He walked over, cupped my face in his hands, and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“Grace, thank you for waiting for me.”

One final comment drifted across my vision.

Then the image gradually faded, like a long movie finally reaching its ending.

[This was never a story about a supporting character’s comeback. It was a story about two people who had waited two lifetimes for each other.]

【The End】