Divorce me I'm done serving you (Ayla) novel Chapter 888

Halle asked, “Why are you sighing?”

“I just didn’t expect that after all my hard work, I’d still look this unreliable in your eyes.”

Halle’s childhood had made her crave a lot of security. If she was going to take a relationship seriously, she needed to ask, again and again, whether the other person was sincere.

If she were only fooling around with James, she wouldn’t bother.

But something in her had changed.

She wanted to move forward. She didn’t want a casual game anymore. She wanted something real.

And the fact that she was seriously considering a future with James was, in itself, proof that his efforts had worked.

If James hadn’t kept sending those daily check-ins, sharing the small details of his life and building trust little by little, Halle would still be keeping him at a careful distance.

Halle was slow to warm up. She needed a "slow and steady wins the race" approach, where consistent daily check-ins could gradually build a foundation of trust.

As it turned out, James had stumbled into the perfect strategy without even trying.

She said, “Exactly. You still have plenty of work to do.”

James said, “Then, you have to give me chances to prove myself.”

“I’ve been giving you chances. Otherwise, I would’ve blocked you ages ago.”

James heard exactly what he wanted to hear and brightened instantly. “I felt that.”

“You’re very confident.”

"Well, look at what I'm bringing to the table. If you choose me, I won’t embarrass you. I’ll make you look good. And you’re smart. If you don’t choose me, what, are you going to fall for someone like Edgar? I believe in your judgment. Honestly, it’s hard not to be confident.”

Halle said, “Stop using him as your comparison.”

James asked, “Feeling sorry for him?”

Halle said, “No. You and he aren’t even in the same category. There’s no comparison.”

“Fine. I won’t compare myself to him. It only drags me down anyway."

Truthfully, James was still jealous. He knew Halle and Edgar had grown up together. Even if they now couldn’t stand each other, even if they had long stopped walking the same road, Edgar still carried weight in her heart—weight James, as the latecomer, could not match yet.

Of course, once he had been in Halle’s life longer than Edgar had, Edgar would become irrelevant.

James had Halle’s future. He wasn’t worried.

Halle only smiled.

James glanced at the navigation as he drove. “So, you’re planning to keep testing me—and actually give us a real chance, right?”

Halle admitted it. “Yes.”

James smiled, genuinely this time. "Look, since you’re officially back on the market, how about promoting me to boyfriend status? We can make it official, and you can put me on probation every single day for the rest of our lives."

Every now and then, he acted a little wounded, but he never rushed her.

That made Halle comfortable.

The biggest difference was that Halle could genuinely feel James wanting her to become better and better. When she was happy, he was sincerely happy for her.

When she wanted to push her career further, James encouraged her from the heart.

And whenever he could help, he lifted her up with everything he had.

Wasn’t that exactly what Halle wanted?

After spending this time testing him and getting to know him, Halle understood James better. She realized he wasn't at all like the persona he projected to the world. Beneath that polished exterior, he was a family man through and through. He was incredibly grounded, the kind of guy who knew how to make a house feel like a home. With him around, the whole vibe of the place just felt right.

Halle had already begun to feel safe with him. She decided she would choose a meaningful, ceremonial moment to make them official.

But then, something unexpected happened.

Halle never imagined her father would suddenly die.

Her father, Benjamin Kinsman, had been a spoiled rich kid in his youth, and age had not improved him much. He spent his life eating, drinking, playing, and chasing pleasure. He was overweight and had the usual issues with high blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol. Before his sudden death, he had downed nearly a pound of hard liquor.

It was sudden. Completely unexpected. He had only just passed 50. By any measure, that was an early death.

Halle had gone through a lot of awful things growing up, but most of them were emotional wounds. She had never really faced the kind of brutal disaster that left someone dead or crippled, like a car crash.