Bride Number Ninety-Nine: My Groom Married Her First Chapter 09

Bride Number Ninety-Nine: My Groom Married Her First Chapter 09

The day the divorce was finalized, Florence saw its first snow of the season.

Grant didn’t come to court.

His lawyer said he’d been in a car accident on his way back.

I signed the documents and walked out of the courthouse alone.

There was one scheduled email waiting on my phone.

The sender was Grant.

Inside, a single video file.

In it, he sat in what had once been our honeymoon suite, the dress Hazel had torn spread out in front of him.

His fingers were bleeding from needle pricks. The stitches were crooked and uneven.

He worked for a long time, and had finally finished mending the torn twin-rose motif.

Then he looked up into the camera.

“Eleanor.”

“I always used to think you’d never leave.”

“Because when I had nothing, you stayed with me anyway.”

“Then I had money. I had the company. I had everyone’s flattery. And somehow, I forgot that you get tired

too.”

He opened his palm.

The ring, mended over and over, sat there.

“The ring can be fixed. The dress can be fixed.”

“So why won’t you give me one more chance?”

The video cut out for a few seconds.

When it came back, his eyes had already gone red.

“The doctors say my stomach’s really bad.”

“You used to nag me to eat properly, and I resented you for it.”

“Lately, I’ve had lobster bisque every day. But none of it ever tasted the way yours did.”

He forced a smile.

“Eleanor. I think I finally understand how much it hurt you that day.”

“I just understood it far too late…”

At the end of the video, he hung the dress back in the closet.

“If you never come back, I’ll keep it here forever, waiting for you.”

“But if, someday, you’re willing to look at me one more time…”

“I’ll still be here.”

The screen went dark.

Snow landed on the phone and melted into a single drop of water.

I stood at the courthouse doors and didn’t look back.

That afternoon, his assistant told me Grant was out of danger.

I only sent one line in reply.

[Wish him well.]

Nothing else.