Page 173 of From Best Friend to Bride
I sank into my chair at my desk and slid the annulment papers out of the envelope. I tore them right into two, then ripped them again, and shoved them back in the stupid brown envelope.
Then, I got right back up and threw them in the stone cold fireplace.
It would have been far more fulfilling if the fire was burning, but nobody in their right mind would light a fire in July.
Then again, perhaps I could light it and claim momentary insanity.
The thought of Delilah not being my wife anymore was certainly enough to drive me to it.
I sat back down and stared at the envelope holding the divorce papers. I couldn’t even remember what was in them.I had no idea what she’d eventually agreed to accept as a settlement—all I could remember was her adamant refusal to take anything at all.
I hadn’t allowed it, of course. Not only would it ultimately become public, but I wanted to at least make sure she was taken care of on the chance it ended badly between us.
After all, Granny had warned us.
A part of me wished we’d listened to her.
The rest of me was glad we hadn’t, because I would never know what it was like to love someone so wholly if I hadn’t fallen in love with my best friend.
I pushed the papers to the side and started my laptop. The moment it booted, I opened my online banking and sent two payments.
One to Max for five hundred pounds.
One to Will for five hundred pounds.
The reference? ‘You win.’
Despite the clock reading midnight, my phone buzzed instantly.
MAX: Are you serious????
ME: Deadly.
Will’s text came next.
WILL: I KNEW IT.
ME: You win.
The next thing I knew, a new chat popped up with them both in it, and I groaned.
I really should have waited until morning.
MAX: What happened?? Are you not divorcing?????
WILL: You actually fell in love??????
Of all people, I thought these two would have been the least shocked. After all, Will had fallen in love with his girlfriend while faking it—that was exactly why they’d started betting on our relationship in the first place.
ME: Yeah.
ME: I don’t know how she feels, but I’m not divorcing her.
MAX: You do know you can’t force her to stay married to you, don’t you?
ME: I can and I will.
WILL: Pretty sure that’s false imprisonment.
