We Are Officially Divorced novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I was certain that Julian hadn’t been at the company. Instead, he’d been taking care of Elizabeth.

Thinking of his confident promise, I let out a small, bitter laugh.

He couldn’t even give me half an hour.

“Julian, if you knew these were the last hours I’d ever spend with you, would you regret standing me up again?”

No one was around to answer me, and I was no longer cared.

I skimmed her post, then messaged Lewis on WhatsApp.

“Mr. Fitzroy, today’s the last day of the waiting period. Do I need to come in to finalize anything?”

He replied fast: “No need, Ms. Leighton. Since today is the last day of the waiting period, the whole process is now complete..

“You’re officially divorced. Congratulations on your freedom.”

It felt like someone handed me my life back.

From today on, I didn’t need Julian’s love. I could finally live for myself.

Thinking of this, I felt enlightened and turned to go home.

With three hours left, I got rid of the last of my things, then lay on the sofa watching the sunset.

At the two-hour left, I took out my laptop and edited the photos I had taken today into a video.

With one hour left, I finished the montage. After watching it once, I turned the camera toward myself and pressed record.

I wanted to record a farewell letter I had written to Julian.

When it was done, I put the memory card back in the camera, placed the divorce papers on the bedroom nightstand, and wrote a short note:

“Dear Julian, as of this moment, we’re officially divorced. Congratulations to both of us.”

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After doing all this, I picked up my last suitcase and left the house, leaving the city altogether.

No one knew where I was going.

Meanwhile, Julian didn’t leave Elizabeth’s house until she had almost fully recovered.

He drove while calling me, wanting to keep his previous promise.

But no one answered. He kept getting directed to voicemail, and his texts were left unanswered.

In three years of marriage, it was the first time he couldn’t reach me.

Thinking of my recent car accident, he could not help but worry and turned back home.

In the new house, all the items were placed neatly in their original positions, no longer piled up messily.

But something was wrong.

There was nothing of mine here. Not a single trace.

Realizing this, his heart skipped a beat, and he hurried back to the old house.

Much to his dismay, the whole house was empty. Completely empty.

He looked everywhere, but no one was there.

Only when he entered the bedroom did he see a camera and a stack of documents on the nightstand.

Remembering how happy she had been holding the camera a few days ago, Julian felt momentarily relieved and pressed play to see what she had recorded.

He pressed play.

Cheerful music started. Clips of Washington University flashed by-plaza, library, basketball court-with captions.

“Julian, the plaza still has kids skateboarding. Remember where I first confessed? You turned me down so gently. I cried all day,

“Julian, the library’s still packed. I didn’t want to bother anyone, so I shot from far away. Your favorite spot, right?

“Julian, this is the court where you played. I watched you secretly for four years.”

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Scene after scene, he felt like he was back in college-carefree, six years ago.

He remembered how hard I’d chased him back then. A small smile tugged at his lips.

The music faded. One minute left.

He thought maybe it was a surprise-maybe I’d

appear.

He kept watching.

After a few black frames, my face appeared in the center of the screen.

My eyes were red and tired. Julian suddenly felt a sense of unease

“Julian, this is our tenth year knowing each other-and my tenth year of secretly loving you. Hard to believe, right? A whole decade. I’m surprised too. How many decades do we even get?

“In ten years I spent seven crushing on you, three as your wife. I tried so hard to be the person you loved. I gave everything. But life doesn’t always work that way. You never liked me. Even another three, seven, ten years-it wouldn’t change a thing.

“So on this day that means so much to me, I decided to let go of this obsession-and to accept how much you love Lizzie. When you watch this, I have something to tell you.

“Julian, we’re officially divorced.

“A month ago we both signed the papers. The marriage is over. I’m leaving. Don’t look for me. I wish you and Elizabeth happiness. And I wish myself a free life too.”

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