My Husband Left Me Out of the Christmas I Paid For, So I Left novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Midnight on the Ice

I signed at four in the afternoon, at Ellie's table, with her blue pen.

Clinton's lawyer had emailed the settlement an hour earlier with his signature already on it.

He was keeping the debts he had made and taking nothing of mine.

There was no bargain on the last page, and no letter.

I read every line anyway, and I signed where the little flags said.

Then I shut the laptop and put my forehead on the cool wood.

"Is it done?" Ellie said from the stove.

"It's done."

"How do you feel?"

"Hungry."

"Good sign," she said. "Eat first. Then go find my brother."

"Where is he?"

"Where he goes when he doesn't want to be found. The end of the pier."

By eleven-thirty that night, half of Bayfield was out on the harbor ice with bonfire barrels and paper cups.

Someone had strung lights between two ice shanties, and a boy was setting off sparklers in the snow.

I walked past all of it, down the long wooden pier that ran out past the ferry slip.

The wind was sharp, and the planks creaked.

Stian sat at the end in his canvas jacket with a thermos beside him, looking at the black water.

He heard me, and he did not turn.

"You left," I said.

"I did."

"You said you'd wait."

"I did say that."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because you had to be able to walk out and have nothing waiting for you," he said, to the water. "Not even me. It had to be your answer. I didn't want to be part of it."

I sat down on the boards beside him.

They were freezing through my coat.

"It was my answer," I said.

He waited.

"I told him no. In one sentence. I didn't even raise my voice." I pulled my gloves off. "Then I signed the settlement at Ellie's table. It's finished. I'm not married anymore."

← Chapter 21 · All chapters · Chapter 23 →

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