Second Lead in My Own Love Story Chapter 09

Second Lead in My Own Love Story Chapter 09

Days passed. And on day twenty-one, I gave the flowers he sent to the cleaning staff to throw away.

The messages he sent-I didn’t reply to a single one.

The calls he made-I blocked them all.

Little by little, his confidence wore away. The light in his eyes faded day by day, replaced by a thicker, heavier despair.

He finally understood that some things, once broken, could never be put back together again.

The day the divorce waiting period ended was clear and sunny.

Luke drove to pick me up. He was wearing the same white shirt he had on the day we first registered our marriage, his hair neatly styled. It almost looked like he wasn’t heading to a divorce-but to a wedding.

The entire drive, we said nothing.

When the car stopped in front of the courthouse, Luke turned off the engine but didn’t get out right away.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse.

“Avery… is there really… not even a single chance left?”

I looked at the bright sunlight outside the window and gave a small nod.

“No.”

The last trace of light in his eyes went out completely.

He opened the glove compartment and took out the diamond bracelet he hadn’t managed to give me on

the night of the party.

“Take this…” He handed me the jewelry box. “Consider it… compensation. I got the braided bracelet back

from Sarah. I burned it in front of her. I’ve cut all contact with her from now on.”

My gaze fell on his wrist.

There, he was wearing a braided bracelet.

It was the one I had cut and thrown away. The middle of it had a clear break, now clumsily wrapped and repaired with gold thread. It looked crooked-like an ugly scar.

He noticed my stare and instinctively pulled his hand back a little.

“I… I found it again,” he said softly. “Avery, I know I was wrong… I…”

I looked at the bracelet he treated like a treasure, then at the diamond bracelet shimmering under the light.

And suddenly, none of it mattered anymore.

Late affection was worth less than nothing.

I shook my head and opened the car door.

“Let it go, Luke.”

His hand, still holding the jewelry box, froze in midair.

He stood there for a long time before letting out a low, trembling “Mm,” his voice thick with emotion.

We finally became strangers in the legal sense of the word.

At the entrance, he said, “Let me drive you.”

“No need.” I stopped a taxi. “I’ll go on my own.”

The car started moving. Through the rearview mirror, I saw that he didn’t leave right away. He stood alone at the entrance of the courthouse, his tall figure looking especially lonely under the sunlight.

After we had driven a good distance, I somehow turned back to look.

I saw him finally get into the car-but he didn’t start it immediately. He slumped over the steering wheel, his shoulders shaking violently, like a lost child silently falling apart.

But I didn’t ask the driver to stop.

My future would no longer include him.

The taxi sped forward into the wind, toward a brand-new life.

And at last, I could live only for myself.

The End.