The Dice Said Divorce, but He Thought I’d Stay Chapter 01

The Dice Said Divorce, but He Thought I’d Stay Chapter 01

Harrison Vance’s foster sister rolled the dice on our marriage for the tenth time. An odd number meant divorce. An even number meant we stayed married.

It landed on five. Chloe Sterling pressed into Harrison’s side, giggling.

I bit my lip and signed the papers. By then, my hand had memorized the motions.

Afterward, Harrison pulled me aside — just like he always did.

“Come on. You know how Chloe is.”

Chloe was twenty, but mentally, she was still six. The tantrums never stopped, and no one ever said no to her.

“I’ll make it up to you. Our anniversary’s in a few days.”

On our anniversary, Harrison blindfolded me and led me up the steps to City Hall. “She’s getting harder to fool. Let’s just make it official this time.”

He held my hand like it was nothing. Like this was nothing.

His friends circled us with their phones out, laughing like it was a party trick.

“Only Harrison would hand Audrey divorce papers as an anniversary gift!”

“Look at Audrey — she’s about to lose it. Get this on camera. Chloe’s gonna love this!”

None of them knew about the deal I’d made with my grandfather.

This divorce was the real one. It meant I had to walk away from Harrison and never come back.

***

I walked out of City Hall with tears streaking down my face. My fingers wouldn’t loosen around the divorce papers.

The sky hung low and gray. I was completely zoned out, and I almost missed it — someone in the group called out.

“Wait — you actually divorced her just to keep Chloe happy? What if she doesn’t take you back?”

The others shut it down fast. “Please. Audrey’s obsessed with him. She’s not going anywhere.”

“Where would she even go? She’s got nobody.”

Harrison glanced up from his phone, frowning. “That’s enough. Chloe’s happy. We’re done here.”

The group, phones still raised, traded glances, laughed it off, and scattered.

Harrison slung an arm around my shoulders and launched into his usual routine.

Chloe’s brother had served with Harrison. He died saving Harrison’s life, and the grief broke something in Chloe. She never really came back.

So I was supposed to live with it — my marriage turned into a party game, a toy to keep a girl smiling. If Chloe was happy, I could stay. If she wasn’t, I was out.

Year after year. Over and over. Maybe she always mattered more to him than I did.

“Hey — why the tears?” His thumb swept beneath my eye.

I was never the crying type. The first time I did — since we moved in together — was the day Chloe invented this game.

Back then, I thought it was a joke. I laughed it off.

The next morning, Harrison shoved divorce papers into my hands. “Don’t be difficult. How much more do you need to upset her before you’re satisfied?”

“Just sign it. Stay somewhere else for a while. I’ll come get you when she calms down.”

So I swallowed my pride. Blinked back the tears and nodded.

But giving in didn’t save me from anything. It just happened countless more times.

I flattened my hands against his chest and pulled back. His collar shifted with the movement, and a flash of color peeked out from his neckline.

His hand flew up to cover it — reflex — but when he caught me staring, he pulled the collar aside instead. The scar underneath was ugly, jagged — and scribbled over with childish doodles.

“Chloe did that. Said if she colored it in, it wouldn’t hurt anymore.” He shook his head. “Such a kid. She actually thinks it works.”

His voice tried for annoyance, but his whole face had gone soft. Something inside me went cold.

Years ago, Harrison had been a field surgeon with Doctors Without Borders. That scar was what he’d brought home. He never talked about it. Never let anyone see it.

On our wedding night, he wouldn’t take his shirt off. But it rode up, and I saw it.

I was so in love with him back then. I leaned in to press my lips against it.

He flinched before I even made contact. Got up, walked out, and the only thing he left behind was the look on his face. Pure disgust.

I pulled the covers around myself and sat there, not understanding what I’d done wrong. It took weeks of begging and apologizing before he came home.

Everyone in our circle heard about it. I became the joke.

I was still standing there, lost somewhere inside my own head, when Harrison opened the car door and guided me in.

The dashboard was buried under Chloe’s things — plush toys, stickers covering every surface. I’d asked once to hang a little matching charm there, something for the two of us. He told me it was childish.

He pulled onto the road. Neither of us spoke.

Then his phone rang — Chloe’s ringtone. I couldn’t hear what she said.

Harrison slammed on the brakes.

The seatbelt bit into my stomach. Pain shot low through my belly, and cold sweat prickled across my skin.

His whole face changed — soft, warm — everything for the voice on the other end. “Don’t cry, okay? I’m coming home right now.”

Then he turned to me, and every trace of warmth was gone. “I need to get back. Go to dinner without me.”

The reservation I’d made weeks in advance. Our milestone anniversary. He wanted me to go alone.

All that anticipation, gone just like that. “I’m not going. I’m heading home too.”

Harrison’s jaw tightened. “Don’t. You know what Chloe does when she gets like this—”

“I’m going back to pack my things. We’re not headed to the same place.”

That stopped him cold.

I unclicked the seatbelt. My hand found my stomach — still flat, still my secret. I opened the door and stepped out.

No fight. No questions. It always came down to the same thing — Chloe didn’t like me.

It didn’t matter how kind I was to her, how hard I tried. Harrison would never choose me.

I looked at him through the glass. Maybe it was my silence that got to him — how easily I always gave in.

His grip tightened on the steering wheel. “When Chloe gets better, things’ll be different. I promise.”

My mouth pulled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Harrison… what if I can’t wait anymore?”