He Let Another Woman Play My Wife, So I Walked Away as His Real Wife Chapter 05

He Let Another Woman Play My Wife, So I Walked Away as His Real Wife Chapter 05

The moment I finished signing my name, the laughter in the living room died.

The countdown had froze on one. The person filming had forgotten to lower their phone, and the camera

was still trained on me.

Just as they had for the past three years, they were waiting for me to break down and cry, so they could hold it up as proof of how much I loved Gavin.

But this time, I simply capped the pen and pushed the divorce agreement back across the table.

The smile slowly disappeared from Gavin’s face. He looked down and turned to the last page. When he saw that the signature really was mine, his expression went completely cold.

“Erin, do you even know what you’ve just signed?”

“I do.”

“These aren’t the fake papers we used to wind you up before. The asset split is real. The property terms are real. Even the supporting legal papers are real.”

I nodded.

“That’s exactly why I signed.”

A few people finally reacted, forcing out awkward laughs as they tried to ease the tension.

“Erin’s really selling it this year.‘

“Gavin, just call the game off already. Keep this up and you really will wreck your marriage.”

“Exactly. It was only a seven–day stunt. It was just a joke.”

A joke.

For three years, they had handed my clothes to another woman, pushed me out of my own bedroom, and given her my place at family dinners. Every reaction I had was, to them, just part of the joke.

I looked at the photos covering the wall.

The first year, I had fought back tears as I took my custom gown back. The second year, I had stood outside the master bedroom holding a pillow. The third year, I had walked out of the Whitmore family dinner alone.

Under every photo, they had written how long I had “held out“.

No one remembered why I had cried. They only cared about who had won the bet.

I walked over to the wall and filled in this year’s entry.

[Year Four: Held out for seven days.]

After a moment, I added another line.

[Bet over. Marriage over.]

Gavin suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Enough. You quit your job, moved out, left the family group chat, and now you’ve signed this. All of it was just to make me cave first, wasn’t it?”

“I admit it. You won this year. Now cross out your signature, apologise to Claire, and we’ll draw a line under

it.”

Even then, he still believed everything I had done was meant to get a reaction out of him.

He thought I had moved out because I wanted him to come after me. He thought I had resigned because I wanted him to comfort me. He even thought I had signed the divorce agreement because I wanted him to prove that I mattered more than Claire.

But I did not want to win anymore.

“Gavin, I was never part of your bet. I was done with this game the moment I put my wedding ring in your

hand.”

His grip tightened.

Claire suddenly stood up and pushed the keys and the family signet ring towards me.

“Erin, I’ll give them back. I’ll move out right now. Don’t divorce Gavin because of me.”

She said she was giving everything back, yet her eyes never left Gavin. She was clearly waiting for him to tell

her to stay.

I did not touch the keys or take back the ring.

“He gave them to you for these seven days. They’re yours after that too.”

Claire’s expression stiffened.

“But there’s one thing I want to know. Was the way he looked after me during these seven days really just an

act?”

Gavin did not answer.

That silence was answer enough.

He remembered that Claire did not eat parsley. He knew she got cold at night. He would cancel a meeting the moment she mentioned a stomach ache. And to spare her embarrassment, he had repeatedly let people

believe, in front of everyone, that she was his wife.

Whether any of it had been part of the game no longer mattered.

What mattered was that every time he made one of those choices, he knew it would hurt me.

The lawyer spoke up then.

“Signing this doesn’t end the marriage on the spot. You can file for divorce tomorrow. Once the waiting period is over, the court can finalise it.

Gavin stared at me.

“You’re really going through with this?”

“Tomorrow morning at nine. I’ll be waiting for you at family court.”

I picked up my ID from the coffee table.

When I reached the door, the smart lock still would not recognise my fingerprint. Claire instinctively reached for the spare keys, as though she meant to open the door for me.

Instead, I pushed down the handle from the inside.

“One last time. I’ll see myself out.”

Behind me, Gavin did not follow.

He probably still thought I would change my mind.

But even after the door closed behind me, I never looked back.