The Stranger I Married novel · Chapter 22 of 24
Chapter 22: Midnight
At midnight the ballroom was nearly empty.
The band had packed up their cases, and the last of the caterers carried trays through the swinging doors.
Elias and I stood alone on the parquet under the birch ring, and I held the petition out in both hands.
"Take it," I said.
He looked at it.
"Maya. Whatever you've decided, I'll..."
"Take it, Eli."
He took it.
The signature on the last page was the one he'd signed in the dark weeks ago.
It was dry now.
"I'm not filing it," I said.
His breath stopped.
"Let me say this properly, because you've said yours properly, and I owe you the same.
I am not staying married because a man lost a letter.
I'm not staying because it's convenient, or because your mother just lost her chair, or because you've paid for my mother's hospital."
"I understand."
"You don't, yet.
I'm staying because I stood in that ballroom tonight and I looked for you in the crowd, every ten minutes, and every time I looked you were already looking at me."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Stranger I Married are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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