Married as a Dare? Sorry, It's for Life novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: Stamped VOID

At ten o'clock on Friday the judge signed the order in her chambers, and Nathan's supervisor carried it down the stairs herself.

Bowen waited at the county window with his stitched hand wrapped in white tape.

Dell stood beside him in a clean pair of scrubs, off shift for the first time in two days.

A dozen people had come in for passports and birth certificates and had somehow forgotten to leave.

Nathan stood behind his own counter.

The supervisor set the order in front of him.

"Not your file," she said. "But I'm making an exception. Stamp it."

She slid the heavy red VOID stamp across the desk.

Nathan took it.

His hand was steady.

He pressed it down on the license he had refused to issue on Valentine's Day, and the ink bled bright across Britt's name and Bowen's.

The sound it made was small.

"It's done," the supervisor said. "As of ten-oh-four, Bowen Sorensen is a single man."

Someone in the passport line clapped, and then everyone did.

Bowen did not clap.

He stood at the counter with his eyes on the stamped page and his jaw working.

"It's over," Nathan said.

"It doesn't feel like it."

"It will."

Dell squeezed her brother's shoulder and stepped out of the way.

The deputy leaned in at the courthouse door.

"Britt's truck is gone from the farmhouse," she told Bowen. "She left your father's key on the porch rail and a note that says she's at her sister's in Columbus."

← Chapter 22 · All chapters · Chapter 24 →

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