Chapter 20
The moment Jonah heard Lily’s words, a chill shot down his spine.
“What… What do you mean?”
“What do I mean? Seriously?” Lily scoffed, arms crossed. “And you call yourself a professor. I used a fake account, pretended to be Kayla, and sent a bunch of messages to myself, but you just believed it. You even made her apologize to me.
“God, you’re pathetic. Say it yourself–aren’t you the dumbest man alive?”
Everything from the past few weeks came crashing back into Jonah’s mind, painfully vivid.
He’d forced Kayla to apologize at the hospital. He’d stormed into her office and accused her of being rude and disrespectful. He’d believed every disgusting word was from her, without even questioning it.
Lily was right. He had been a fool, but what he couldn’t forgive was that she lied to him.
“What happened to you?” he asked hoarsely. “If Ms. White were still alive to see this, she’d be devastated.”
“Spare me the fake sympathy,” Lily snapped. “You swore to her you’d marry me, remember? You couldn’t even keep that promise. And honestly? My mom was useless. She couldn’t even get you to marry me while she was alive. Useless when she was living, and just as useless now that she’s dead.” Gone was the soft–spoken young lady from his memories. Standing in front of him now was a bitter, twisted woman–cruel and full of venom. “Get out!” Jonah snapped. He’d always believed his worst crime was neglect–of not being there for Kayla when it mattered.
But now, he understood. He had crossed a line. He let a lie ruin the woman he loved.
Lily got dressed, smiling like she’d won. “Kayla’s never going to forgive you, Jonah. You’ve got no one left but me. You can’t get rid of me. I’ll cling to you for the rest of your life.”
She walked out, and the room fell silent once more.
Jonah stood by the window and lit a cigarette. He stared out at the city, lights twinkling in every window, but none of them felt like home anymore.
At 8:00 am the next morning, Kayla arrived at the courthouse and saw Jonah already there.
He looked exhausted and clearly hadn’t slept, but he had shaved and was dressed sharply, looking every bit put together.
They didn’t exchange many words. They filled out forms, stamped documents, and received their certificates.
- རཱཾ ཋ ཇ ཇ ཛ ཇ
In under 30 minutes, they were officially divorced.
As they stood at the front steps, Jonah handed Kayla a folder and said, “I was the one who messed up. This is to make it up to you.”
Inside were the deed to a property, a bank card, and a statement balance of five million dollars.
Jonah came from a well–off family. If he hadn’t stayed on as a university professor, he probably would’ve started his own business by now and become a successful entrepreneur.
Kayla glanced at the contents briefly, then pushed the folder back.
“I don’t want it. Like you said, technically, you didn’t cheat. You didn’t do anything unforgivable. We’re getting divorced because I realized we’re just not right for each other.”
There was a calm, steady look in Kayla’s eyes–no love, no hate, just quiet clarity.
And somehow, that was what hurt the most.
Jonah lowered the hand holding the folder and let out a bitter laugh. “As long as you’re happy.”
“I will be.” She smiled faintly. “I’m flying this afternoon. I should go.”
With that, Kayla turned and walked away.
Jonah stayed where he was, watching her figure grow smaller and smaller, until she disappeared into the crowd.
He’d thought long and hard about this moment. He told himself he should let her go and let her live her life. But his heart wouldn’t let it end like this.
They had shared so many loving moments together–maybe, just maybe, he still had a shot at winning her back.
After pulling out his phone, Jonah opened his email app and sent off the resignation letter he’d written to the dean of Jolsa University.
If their divorce marked the end of one chapter, then it could also be the beginning of another.
Kayla had always been the one chasing after him. This time, it was his turn to follow her.
