Chapter 8
three days without
But in my
As long
days
me,
Michael hadn’t slept a wink. He kept imagining what would happen when we met at the courthouse.
Cerity, would I waver again? Would I buy into this love one more time?
freef without him, I was already at peace. I was looking forward to a future that belonged only to me.
the prison of his love, I couldn’t imagine how far I could soar.
as he showed up on time at the court, I would pretend none of this ever happened. I would let this unhappy chapter stay sealed in the past forever.
1/1
Three days later, we met without issue at the courthouse’s entrance.
He had missed 33 wedding ceremonies. But he was right on time for the divorce.
Seeing me, Michael stepped forward. “Yvonne, I’ve been thinking… Maybe this isn’t the end for us. Now I finally know what losing you feels like. I’ll never betray you again. This pain is unbearable.”
For three whole years, he had never repented. Was three days really enough for him to gain this kind of clarity?
I gave a bitter smile and shook my head. “Michael, I gave you 33 chances over three years. If you’d even once wanted to turn back, we wouldn’t be here now. If you really care about me, then give me a life of my own.”
Michael shivered.
He never treasured his chances because he thought they’d never run out. He believed that one day, when he got tired of playing around, he could host a wedding and I’d go back to being his perfect wife.
But if that really happened, was I even his wife?
I’d be nothing more than a puppet, a woman tethered to him, without autonomy or dignity.
“The choice is simple. Why keep dragging this out? For the sake of our futures, let’s divorce.”
People came and went from the courthouse. Who knew how many had walked in with the same love and hate in their hearts?
Michael stood in silence for a long time, then finally signed his name with trembling hands, stripped of all his pride.
I smiled gently. “Wish me freedom. I wish you the same.”
I’d signed so many papers for him in the past–most were business–related which were done routinely and emotionlessly.
But this time, it felt like fresh air had filled my lungs.
After struggling so long in Michael’s world, I finally severed the chains and stepped into a land where everything was beginning anew.
From here on, I would own everything. No one could hurt me. I lived for myself now.
This body was my world. This heart, my law.
No one could threaten me again. No one could judge me.
