Rules Bend, Just Not for Me novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: The Folder

Jasper cancels the house, hands the divorce papers to a rumpled Tobin at Sabine's office, and collapses in the restroom with an infection from his secret vasectomy.

I did not sleep.

I packed instead, because moving kept the ache in my chest quiet.

Before dawn I dug my old camera out of the storage closet.

Three years of dust came off in my hands.

I pressed the power button.

The screen lit up.

Nothing was broken. I still had time.

I carried it to the living room, and my phone rang.

It was the real estate agent.

"Mr. Wynn, the owner accepted your offer on the house you and Dr. Aldous toured. We sign on Saturday."

I had forgotten about it.

Sabine had made a bigger salary this spring, and she wanted a bigger house.

It was her idea.

Everything after the idea was mine.

I had searched the listings, called the agents, compared the layouts and run the mortgage numbers.

She came to one showing.

I walked her into what would be our bedroom and asked what colors she liked.

She kept her eyes on her phone. "It's fine. You pick."

Tobin's name was at the top of the screen.

Before we finished the tour, he called, and she left me standing in the empty room.

"We're not taking the house," I told the agent.

"Wait. Why? Dr. Aldous loved it."

"Because we're getting divorced."

The line went silent.

I hung up.

By ten the bags were done.

I took the folder from the dining table and drove to the hospital.

Five years of marriage had come down to nine sheets of paper.

They weighed almost nothing.

In the lobby, two nurses stopped talking when I walked past.

One of them lifted her phone and angled it toward me.

"That's him," she whispered. "The husband who screamed at Tobin."

"I never screamed at anyone," I said.

She looked away.

Nobody asked what I had actually said.

In the elevator my phone buzzed.

It was Heath. "Two hundred thousand views. Tobin is trending. Do NOT go to her hospital."

I was already inside it.

A man in the corner of the elevator read the screen over my shoulder and stepped away from me.

On the cardiac floor I found Sabine's office at the end of the hall.

I knocked.

Tobin opened the door.

Surprise crossed his face, and then it was smoothed out.

"Jasper."

I looked past him, but he shifted his shoulders and blocked the gap.

His voice dropped low and kind.

"She's wrecked. We were in surgery all night, and then clinic all morning. She just fell asleep on the couch. What do you need?"

I looked at him.

His hair was mussed.

His shirt was wrinkled.

Behind him, her coat lay over the arm of the couch, and one of her shoes was on the floor.

My stomach turned over.

I squeezed the folder until the edge cut my fingers.

"She has to sign something."

He glanced down at it and smiled.

"She's finally resting. I don't want to wake her. Leave it with me and I'll hand it over when she's up."

"She'll read it?"

"The second she opens her eyes. I'll put it in her hands myself."

I almost said no.

Then I understood that I did not want to see her face.

Not for one second.

I gave him the folder.

"Thanks."

I turned and walked.

The picture followed me down the hall.

Her office. His wrinkled shirt. The two of them on a lunch break.

It looked easy. It looked practiced.

By the time I reached the men's room, I was sick.

I braced both hands on the sink and heaved.

Nothing came up.

I splashed water on my face and took two steps toward the door.

A hard twist went through my gut, deep and low.

The tile came up to meet me.

I woke to the smell of antiseptic.

A nurse bent over me, smiling in quiet relief when my eyes opened.

"There you are, sir. You've been out for an hour."

I pushed myself up, and the room tilted.

"What happened?"

She held out a printout.

Her face was serious.

"Your tests are back. You have an infection from your vasectomy."

She frowned at the chart.

"You're so young," she said. "Why would you have that done?"

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend