Chapter 8
Four days after signing the divorce papers, I called Dylan.
He took forever to pick up.
His tone was flat: “What?”
I made a sound of acknowledgment.
“You free tomorrow? Let’s go to city hall.”
The line went quiet for a few seconds.
“I’m on a business trip. We’ll talk when I get back.”
“How many days?”
“Not sure!”
“Dylan!” I sharpened my tone. “I need a timeline. You have to give me a timeline.”
“I already said I’m not sure!” Dylan’s voice shot up, barely hiding his irritation. “I signed the damn
papers, what, you think I’m gonna run away?”
“Two days.”
“What?”
I said: “I’m giving you two days. Show up at city hall the day after tomorrow, and I’ll leave you some dignity. Otherwise, I’m telling everyone you know about your affair.”
The second I finished talking, the line went dead.
I could picture Dylan’s rage.
He’d probably throw his phone across the room.
I didn’t care if he was actually busy or just making excuses.
15:05
Nine Years Wasted–Now I’m Marrying Your Rival
14.29
Chapter 8
I only cared about getting this done as fast as possible.
What surprised me though was that the next evening, Dylan actually showed up at my door.
“What are you doing here?”
“Need to ask you something.”
“What?”
Dylan looked at me, then let out a bitter laugh: “What, I don’t even have the right to come inside
anymore?”
His sarcasm made me frown.
“What exactly do you want to say?”
Dylan’s face darkened.
“Claire, you’ve gone too far. No matter what, this is between us. You shouldn’t be going after some
young girl.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Playing dumb?” Dylan’s eyes were full of mockery. “You gonna tell me Peach losing her scholarship
has nothing to do with you?”
“Peach? Who?”
ow voice suddenly cut in.
Dylan jumped.
‘Derek?”
Derek slowly walked out from behind me, staring at Dylan with no expression.
‘Who’s Peach?”
Dylan looked between me and him.
‘What are you doing here?”
15:05
Nine Years Wasted- Now I’m Marridng Your Divol
1430
Capize St
“I asked you a question. Who’s Peach?”
“None of your business!”
“You gonna tell me, or do I have to find out myself?”
Dylan’s lips pressed into a thin line, but he stubbornly kept his mouth shut.
I was getting a headache.
“Fine, go inside. I’ll talk to him.”
Derek started to say something, but I cut him off.
This is between Dylan and me. Stay out of it!”
After a long standoff, Derek finally went back into the room.
Looking at Dylan, I let out a heavy breath.
“I don’t know anything about Peach’s situation. If you used your brain for two seconds, you wouldn’t be coming to me. If I really wanted to screw her over, I’ve got photos of you two hooking up, evidence of you keeping her – I could get her expelled. Dylan, I just want a divorce, I’m not trying to
start drama, you…”
“Hooking up? Keeping her? Divorce? You had an affair? You two are getting divorced?”
I stared at Derek in disbelief: “Could you not eavesdrop?”
Derek ignored me, fixing Dylan with a dark look.
He barked: “Talk!”
“This is between her and me. Mind your own business.”
“Oh, mind my own business?”
The second he finished talking, Derek’s fist connected with Dylan’s face.
“You piece of shit!”
15.05
Nine Years Wasted–Now I’m Marrying Your Rival
14.94
Chapter 8
Dylan was never one to just take a beating.
Even when he was in the wrong, he’d swing back.
Watching the two of them wrestling on the ground, I closed the door with no expression.
Later, I had no idea when they stopped fighting or when they left.
The next day, I got to city hall right at eight, took a number, and waited for Dylan.
About ten minutes later, Dylan showed up.
He sat down next to me without a word, face bruised, looking completely defeated.
Soon enough, they called our number.
I stood up.
But Dylan suddenly grabbed my wrist.
His voice came out rough: “I lied to you that day. I didn’t go see her, we’re done. She called me saying
her scholarship got canceled, and I knew it wasn’t you. I just… I was suddenly so happy because I
finally had an excuse to come find you. I never wanted a divorce. I never once thought about
divorcing you.”
Dylan’s voice got quieter and quieter, almost choking up.
I’d never been able to handle Dylan crying.
when we first got together, I’d said yes because he’d gotten teary–eyed with me.
But now…
“Dylan, you crying makes me kind of sick!”
Dylan’s grip on my hand tightened suddenly.
He was slow to react, opening his mouth in confusion.
“What did you say?”
I pulled free from him, tore up the paper in my hand, and took a new number.
15:05
Nine Years Wasted–Now I’m Marrying Your Rival
14.7་
Chapter 8
“You know, from when this whole thing started until now, we’ve never actually sat down and talked. You never asked how I found out about your affair, never asked what I knew.
“Let’s walk through this whole thing. Starting six months ago, our sex life wasn’t great. You were miserable, and while you were out drinking you met Peach. Maybe because she looks kind of like me, maybe because she’s younger and more energetic, you couldn’t control yourself and cheated. Since cheating is obviously wrong, you had to find problems with me to justify it. You said ever since I turned thirty, you thought I was kind of gross. Because of the lines on my face, because my body wasn’t as tight anymore. You said I was like a wilted flower, that you could smell something off
about me from across the room.
“Dylan, when you used those cruel words to describe me, do you know how disgusting you looked to
me?
‘I started questioning myself, wondering how blind I must have been to step in a pile of dog shit. The shit was stuck to my shoe, but somehow it was complaining that my shoe stank.”
15:05
