The Battery Rule That Only Applied To Me Chapter 05

I closed my eyes. 

“Then meet me at the courthouse tomorrow.” 

I ended the call and didn’t look back. 

Back at the hotel, Caleb still thought I’d calm down. 

and come back in a few days. He didn’t know the 

truth. 

A dead phone could always be recharged. My love 

for him couldn’t. 

The next morning, I went to the courthouse to get 

married. 

My phone was at 27%. 

In the past, I would have immediately found an 

outlet. Caleb had always said I had no business 

going out with my battery below 50%. 

This time, I simply slipped my phone into my bag. 

Owen Sinclair was already waiting for me at the 

entrance. He wore a black coat and held a 

portable charger in one hand. 

When he saw me, he didn’t ask what had 

happened the night before. He didn’t ask why I’d 

suddenly agreed to marry him, either. He just 

offered me the charger. 

“Here. Charge your phone.” 

I stared at him. Owen met my eyes. 

“Having a low battery doesn’t mean you’ve done 

anything wrong.” 

I accepted the charger, curling my fingers around. 

1. it. 

“Thank you.” 

His gaze settled on my face. 

“Does it hurt?” 

I shook my head. 

“Not anymore.” 

That was a lie. 

My cheek still ached where Sophie’s mother had slapped me. My wrist still hurt where Caleb had 

grabbed it. 

Even my heart still hurt. But I didn’t want to talk 

about it anymore. 

Over the years, I’d told Caleb I was hurting more 

times than I could count. Caleb had never once 

really listened. 

As we completed the paperwork, the courthouse 

official looked from Owen to me. 

“Are you both entering this marriage of your own 

free will?” 

Owen didn’t answer for me. He turned his head 

and waited. I gripped the pen. 

“Yes. I am.” 

By the time we had our marriage certificate in 

hand, my phone had charged to exactly 50%. 

The screen lit up. Caleb’s messages from the night. 

before were still waiting. 

[Come back when you’re done throwing your 

tantrum.] 

[Sophie’s been crying all night. What more do you 

want?] 

[Winona, don’t test my patience.] 

I stared at them for a moment, then opened my 

settings. 

I turned off location sharing, deleted our shared 

account on the couples‘ app, and blocked his 

number. 

When I was done, I photographed our marriage certificate and posted it on social media. 

The caption was one sentence. 

[From now on, I don’t have to report my battery level to anyone.] 

I turned my phone facedown in my hand. 

“Any regrets?” Owen asked. 

I shook my head. 

“None.” 

“Good,” he said quietly. 

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Caleb was still there. 

Sophie had changed out of her formal gown and 

was sitting on a couch, her eyes swollen from 

crying. 

“Caleb, hasn’t Winnie come back yet?” 

He frowned at his phone. The location–sharing 

screen was blank. 

He checked the couples‘ app. A notice said their 

shared account had been deleted. 

His face darkened. 

“She deleted the account.” 

Sophie bit her lip. 

“She’s probably still angry.” 

Caleb said nothing. He tried calling Winona. A red exclamation mark appeared beside their message 

thread. 

He stared at it, his knuckles slowly whitening. 

“She blocked me.” 

Sophie spoke softly. 

“Winnie’s gotten upset before. She’ll get over it in a 

few days.” 

He looked up at her. 

“She’s never blocked me before.” 

His phone rang. It was a friend. 

“Caleb, did you and Winnie actually break up?” 

His tone sharpened. 

“Who told you that?” 

There was a brief silence. 

“She just posted a picture. A marriage certificate.” 

“I thought you were the groom.” 

Caleb froze. 

He immediately tried to open my social media 

profile. My profile looked empty. All the old photos 

were gone. 

The meals I’d cooked for him. The photos I’d taken 

of the lights while waiting for him to come home. 

All those screenshots I’d sent to prove my battery 

was fully charged. 

He’d never bothered to look at them. Now he 

couldn’t. 

His friend sent him a screenshot. 

On the marriage certificate, another name 

appeared beside mine. 

Owen Sinclair. 

Caleb stared at it, suddenly struggling to breathe. 

Owen was the one man he’d never liked talking 

about since college. The only person who’d ever 

told him, in front of everyone: 

“If you can’t appreciate Winona, someone else 

will.”