Chapter 1
1173 Words
The moment Autumn Clayton finished signing the divorce papers, Cameron McBride was standing right in front of everyone, cooing to his girlfriend.
"Cameron, I'm done."
At the sound of her voice, Cameron merely hummed. He took the papers, checked them over, snapped a photo, and sent it away.
Then he leaned back down, speaking softly into his phone. "See, baby? I really did it. The papers are real, you can ask your lawyer if you don't believe me. Don't be mad at me anymore, okay?"
The person on the other end seemed delighted, and a broad smile spread across Cameron's face.
When he finally hung up, he remembered Autumn sitting beside him.
He tapped a few times on his phone screen before saying, "Don't worry. Even after this, you'll still be Mrs. McBride. I promised you that, and I meant it. But this girl is stubborn, so I need you to play along when we go to the civil office. Once she calms down, we'll sort everything out again."
Autumn glanced at the notification showing a large transfer, and let out a bitter, self-mocking smile.
Before she could speak, the voices around her rose in a roar.
"She's so sweet! She just signed divorce papers and didn't even make a fuss! Cameron, where did you find such a perfect girl? I'm jealous. Hook me up with someone like her!"
"Legend behavior! The man's got charm! If my partner found out I was pretending to leave her for someone else, she'd tear the place apart just thinking about it."
Someone noticed Autumn's silence and patted her arm as if to comfort her.
"Don't take it to heart, Autumn. We're still calling you Mrs. McBride, and we all know how much Cameron really cares about you. No one else could ever take your place."
"Exactly! Men just like the thrill of the chase. Cameron's just playing the part. He'll come back home where he belongs."
A cold chill ran through Autumn.
She took a deep breath, stood up, and said as steadily as she could, "Enjoy the party. I'm just going to the restroom."
But her trembling hands and hurried steps gave away how shaken she really was.
The moment the door clicked shut, every ounce of strength left her body.
She sank to the floor, the words she had just heard cutting into her like shards of glass.
She stared at the ring on her finger, and finally let the tears fall.
She and Cameron had grown up side by side. They had been engaged since childhood, and when they came of age, it had felt like the most natural thing in the world to be together.
He had covered whole streets with flowers for her on Valentine's Day. He had kissed her at midnight on New Year's Eve and sworn they would spend every one together.
He knew she valued effort more than anything, so every year he would bake her a birthday cake himself, even though he was violently allergic to cream.
On the night of her coming-of-age ceremony, she had given herself to him completely.
On their graduation day, he had knelt in front of the whole university and promised to love her forever.
Marriage had felt inevitable.
But less than three years later, Cameron had started seeing a third-year university student behind her back.
When she found out, they argued endlessly, until she was screaming and sobbing, and he was just looking at her with tired, distant eyes.
Eventually he sighed, sounding utterly fed up. "Autumn, I do love you. But we've been together since we were kids... twenty years. It gets boring.
"You can see other people too, I don't mind. Just stop fighting me on this. Once the fun wears off, I'll come back. You'll always be Mrs. McBride."
Autumn stared at him, stunned.
She refused to accept it, but Cameron didn't care. He kept seeing her anyway.
Slowly, Autumn broke.
To distract herself from the pain, she started seeing a university student named Simon Laurent.
At first, it was just a petty impulse. She had no real feelings for him. She treated it like keeping a pet, sending him an allowance every month, hoping it would make Cameron jealous enough to fight for her.
But Cameron didn't care at all. He was too wrapped up in his new girlfriend.
Simon, on the other hand, spent every penny she gave him on gifts for her, often adding far more of his own money on top.
He never just took. He gave everything he had. His eyes were always bright with pure, unreserved affection.
He sat quietly beside her when she was hurting, remembered every little thing she liked, and turned passing comments into thoughtful surprises by the very next day.
His love was fiery, honest, and untainted.
Slowly, the hollow space in her heart began to fill.
One day she asked him what he wanted in return. He said he wanted nothing, only the right to stand beside her openly.
She had panicked and turned him down.
Meanwhile, Cameron's girlfriend had found out he was married. She wore the designer gowns and carried the luxury bags he bought her, pouting and saying she wouldn't be the other woman. She wouldn't so much as hold his hand until he was single.
Cameron thought it was all a game. He came to Autumn and asked her to pretend to divorce him to teach the girl a lesson, promising he would throw her away once she gave in.
He even suggested she could use the same trick if Simon ever complained about not being the main one.
Autumn suddenly had no idea what she was to him. The pain was so sharp she could barely breathe.
She turned on every tap in the restroom, so the running water would drown out her sobs.
She couldn't understand it.
How could two people who had loved each other so deeply just change their minds?
When she had no more tears left, she washed her face and walked out.
She didn't go back to the party. She went home instead, curled up on the sofa, and sat there until her hands and feet went numb.
Then her phone rang.
She answered slowly, and saw Simon's face on the screen, eyes red, voice soft and pleading.
"Autumn... please stop loving him. Give me a chance instead."
She looked at him, at his bright, honest gaze, holding her own weary reflection.
And finally she understood.
Even the finest food goes bad.
She had never doubted what they had, but nothing stays the same forever. Cameron had already fallen for someone else, so why was she still clinging to what was gone?
So she agreed to try, really try, with Simon. And she signed Cameron's divorce papers, not as an act, but for good.
She wouldn't wait for something rotten to taste sweet again.
Once the cooling-off period ended, they would be done with each other for good.
She would never bother with whoever Cameron chose anymore.
- Writer
