I froze in place. The warmth of the hug, even the faint scent of his laundry detergent, was so terrifyingly familiar it made my heart pound.
“Emily,” James called out again, his voice painfully hoarse. He sounded like a man who had suffered through countless sleepless nights, all his former arrogance ground down to dust.
I shoved him away with everything I had. Taking a step back, the alcohol in my system instantly cleared. Only then did I get a good look at him.
The streetlamp cast a thin, pathetic shadow over him. In just half a year, he had lost a massive amount of weight, looking incredibly haggard. His eyes were webbed with dark red veins, a blue shadow of stubble covered his jaw, and his clothes were wrinkled and messy from long travel—a complete departure from the meticulous, impeccably dressed man he used to be.
I lowered my eyes and pulled my coat tighter. My voice was flat, completely devoid of emotion. “Why are you here?”
James stared at my distant, indifferent face. His chest tightened violently, a dense, suffocating wave of sorrow welling up, choking the words in his throat.
“Looking for you,” he choked out. “Emily, I’ve been looking for you for so long.”
“How could you leave so ruthlessly…” His voice trembled. “In your eyes, was everything we had something you could just throw away?”
“You didn’t even leave me a chance to explain.”
I let out a soft laugh. I had changed my number, deleted my socials, and severed ties with every mutual friend we had. I had scrubbed him from my life cleanly, never expecting to run into him again. I thought our ending had been finalized on those signed divorce papers.
“Just say what you came to say,” I said coldly. “Otherwise, I’m going home.”
James grabbed my arm. “Emily, that agreement… I’m not signing it.”
Of course.
I felt zero surprise, only a deep sense of absurdity and exhaustion. I had saved up a lifetime of disappointment, and just as I finally walked off the stage, he decided to chase after me, desperately clinging to the empty shell of a marriage.
“There’s no point,” I said. “I don’t even want to look at you, let alone forgive you.”
“You blame me for not warning you?” I continued. “James, I told you everything. You were the one who turned your hearing aid off. You refused to listen to me.”
“How is that my fault?”
“We ended up here because of you. You built this ending with your own two hands.”
