Chapter 8
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Jonah nearly crashed his car against the greenery on the way home after he picked Cecelia up from the hospital.
“Jonah, what’s been going on with you these past two days? You even forgot you promised to watch a movie with me!” Cecelia complained.
“I’m a little tired today. You should ask Isla to go with you instead,” Jonah replied dismissively, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel in
irritation.
The unease creeping up his heart seemed to burrow further and further. It had been days, but Pearl hadn’t texted him even once.
When he got home, he was wondering whether he should take the initiative and give her a call when Cecelia started pestering him about calligraphy.
Jonah sighed helplessly. “I remember Pearl has a set of calligraphy pens. I’ll find you some in her study.”
Pearl was the only one using the study in this apartment. So, he was startled by how empty it was when he pushed the door open to the study.
“She used to keep a lot of books in here. She probably moved them to her dorm,” he said casually.
Yet, things became even more fishy the longer Jonah searched through the room. It was empty. The bookshelves, the drawers, even the closets they were all bereft of anything.
His heart started to pound against his chest as he scrambled to Pearl’s nightstand in their bedroom.
She had made an album for him in the past, and he knew she would flip through it every night.
Jonah held on to that last shred of hope as he opened the drawer. However, there was only a single sheet of paper waiting for him there. It was a divorce agreement, complete with his own signature right at the bottom.
“What? How?” he muttered in disbelief.
He flipped through it, utterly flabbergasted, before finally recalling that safety slip Pearl had asked him to sign a month ago.
It seemed she had already planned to divorce him back then. She even lied to him and tricked him into signing it without knowing what it really was.
A surge of rage rose in his chest.
Although his hands were forced when he was made to marry Pearl, things between them had been fine for the past four years. Plus, they were great in bed.
He had already made a decision to carry on with his life. He even thought they would have a child together after Pearl graduated.
So, the divorce papers were like a slap to the face–a humiliating and painful reality check.
Jonah didn’t hesitate to message her on Twitter, “What’s the meaning of this?”
Alas, all he got in reply was a notification from the app that he had been blocked. He tried calling her three times, but all he got for his efforts was that his call couldn’t be connected.
With all that done, he crumpled the agreement and tossed it aside in a fit of fury
Nevertheless, Pearl hadn’t even graduated from college. Although she had tried her best to be indifferent and mature, she was probably jealous of Cecelia. That was probably why she had cut him off.
Jonah’s grip on his phone tightened as he thought to just invite Pearl out that Sunday and explain everything to her.
He had wanted to dome clean the last time they had met up for dinner. He wanted to tell her that the child Cecelia was carrying was her ex–husband’s and that nothing untoward had happened between him and Cecelia.
He just didn’t think Cecelia would break down and try to kill herself when she found out.
“Jonah, you promised me you would keep it a secret! My image as a strong, independent woman would be in tatters when my followers find out that I’m pregnant with my ex–husband’s child. I’ll be torn to shreds online!”
Things had escalated so quickly and become so urgent that he didn’t have the chance to explain things to Pearl properly.
Still, Pearl would surely forgive him when she learned the truth, wouldn’t she? After all, she had taken the photo album with her. That meant she still had feelings for him.
A divorce agreement didn’t mean anything. Legally, they were still husband and wife.
If worse came to worst, he would just promise Pearl that he would keep his distance from Cecelia in the future.
He was still thinking about how to get back into Pearl’s good graces when Cecelia came in and handed him a package.
“Jonah, a courier dropped this off. I signed it on your behalf,” Cecelia said.
Jonah was still in a foul mood, so he took the package and tossed it onto the table without a care. A moment later, he figured it might belong to Pearl, so he hastily rose to his feet and ripped it open.
Something fell onto the ground with a soft flutter.
It was just a flimsy sheet of paper, but the bolded words were as clear as day–Certificate of Divorce.
