He Took Me For Granted, I Divorced Him

Chapter 4

After Kylie got out of the car, silence hung heavily inside the cabin.

Outside the window, neon lights flickered as skyscrapers retreated into the distance.

For a brief second, it felt as though seven whole years of memories were being left behind in the dark.

Once inside the neighborhood, I brought the car to a stop and looked at Hector through the rearview mirror.

"Hector, we need to talk."

He slowly woke up, rubbing his eyes with an irritated expression. "Talk about what? I told you to apologize to Betty and send her money. Did you do it or not?"

I took a deep breath, my eyes filled with bone-deep exhaustion. "I'm trying to talk to you calmly. Can you just..."

Before I could even finish my sentence, his phone chimed multiple times.

Hector glanced at the screen, and his face instantly turned pale.

He barged out of the car, walked over to the driver's side, and yanked my arm to pull me out without a word of explanation.

"What are you doing?!"

I let out a startled cry, caught completely off guard as my high heel twisted and a sharp surge of pain shot through my ankle.

Yet Hector didn't spare me a single glance. He slid into the driver's seat and blurted out anxiously, "Kylie says she feels like she's being stalked and she's terrified right now. I have to go check on her!"

Holding onto the door frame to steady myself, the sharp agony in my ankle intertwined with the icy chill in my heart.

For a moment, I was overwhelmed by the sheer absurdity of it all, and a cold laugh broke from my lips. "Hector, use your brain for once!

"How long has it been since she got out of the car? Is she seriously not home yet?

"Besides, her place is in the complete opposite direction of ours. Is reaching out to you somehow faster than calling the police?"

Hector stared at me in disbelief, as if I were some cold-hearted monster.

"Enough!"

It was as though he had finally seized the perfect excuse to explode, glaring at me as he spat out, "Aren't you just trying to force me into renovating that miserable house?! Let me tell you right now, I refuse! I'm going to divorce you!

"Are you satisfied now?!"

With that, he floored the gas pedal and sped away, leaving me with nothing but a cloud of foul exhaust smoke.

I stood there frozen, my ankle throbbing with pain, yet my heart felt as quiet and serene as a graveyard.

That night, I called my brother, Roderic Buckley, who was miles away, and poured out everything that had transpired over the past two weeks.

On the other end of the line, Roderic's voice trembled with sheer rage, but it ultimately softened into gentle reassurance. "You did the right thing. Come home. I'm waiting for you."

Hearing his comforting words, I realized that I still had a home—a real, warm sanctuary.

At that thought, tears instantly welled up in my eyes, and the brave front I had maintained for so long shattered completely in a single moment.

Very soon, I would be able to break free from everything here and go home.

Early the next morning, I dug out a divorce agreement that Hector had already signed long ago.

It was something he had handed to me during his proposal.

Back then, Hector had looked so full of confidence, promising me, "Selene, this is my pledge to you! If I ever wrong you in the future, I will walk away with nothing! Please trust me!"

Back then, I chose to trust his love, assuming this document would stay hidden forever.

Yet today, this very agreement became my ultimate way out.

I signed both copies of the agreement and headed straight to Hector's company.

At the front desk, I happened to overhear him talking about me to a few of his colleagues, his tone laced with familiar contempt. "You can't go around spoiling a woman like Selene, or she'll actually start thinking she can run the show!

"Back when she forced me to buy that stupid property, I refused to let her renovate it. Look at that—aren't we saving all that money now?

"Divorce? Does she even have the guts to leave me? She's just a housewife. If she leaves me, who else would ever take her?"

Listening to his harsh words, a strange, eerie calm filled my heart, with not a single ripple of emotion left.

I placed the envelope containing the signed divorce papers on the front desk. "Please hand this over to Hector. Thank you."

That afternoon, I boarded the flight back home.

The moment I landed, Hector's call came crashing through, his furious roar echoing out of the speaker. "Selene, are you completely out of your mind?! Why didn't you pay for my grandmother's nursing home?!

"She was almost kicked out today, do you realize that?! If anything happens to her, I swear to God, we are completely done!

"Right now! Immediately! Go pay the bill! Or else we are getting a real divorce!"

Listening to his hysterical, accusing shouts, I took large strides toward Roderic, who was waving at me a short distance away.

"As you wish. We are already divorced."