Countdown to the End of Us

"Hi, are you the attorney? Yeah, I want to get a divorce."Yes, I wanted to get a divorce, but I had to keep it a secret from my wife."Tell your wife to sign these. Once the month-long cooling-off period's over, the agreement goes into effect."When I got home, my wife, Lauren Claude, was drunk. She was happy, see, since her true love got a divorce.…When she sobered up the next day, she said, "Let's get another wedding."I knew she only wanted that to trick her true love into coming home. Still, I agreed to it with a smile, but within the wedding planning contract she signed was another agreement. The divorce papers."I thought the contract was supposed to be… less thick."A frown creased her forehead. She flipped through the pages, but she never signed them.The woman was a famous entrepreneur in Riverton. Cheap tricks would not work on her. The second last page was the divorce papers I snuck in.I hung my head low, though I was not exactly nervous. "I think there's a ton

In the end, she explained, "You know our marriage is a secret. We've not gotten any good opportunities to tell anyone. I promise you, we'll make it public someday. But now, we need to deal with this project."I nodded, but I said nothing. I did not tell her that our priority was the upcoming wedding. Nor would I tell her that the cooling-off period would be over at the same time. After all, nothing was more important than Felix to her.The woman made sure that Felix and I would not meet throughout the whole project. She thought she was slick, but my partner noticed. The soul of gossip burned in his eyes. "Hey, is Ms. Claude your fling or something?"I smiled. "As if."My partner's lips curled. "She stole a lot of glances at you. She thought she was slick, but I noticed the guilt in her gaze. The same kind guilty women have for their exes."That stopped me in my tracks, and I dug deeply into my memory. I did notice her looks, though I could never ascertain her emotions. Not once.

I turned the ticket over and showed it to her. It was a city nearly 1900 miles away. That made her forehead crease."That's a faraway place. Why so sudden? You didn't even tell me. What if you run into any trouble?"I shrugged nonchalantly. "Nah, I don't think I had to. It's just a work reassignment."She grabbed my wrist. Of course she did not buy that story. "But that's sudden. We just got into a partnership. You're just going to throw it away?"I pulled her fingers off me and stepped away. "It's in its final phase. My partner can handle the rest. I have another project to handle."My stepping away hurt her heart. She stared at me, dazed. Lauren extended her trembling hand, and it hung in midair.Her instincts told her I was not coming back, but she asked, "When are you coming home?"I shook my head and put on a smile. "Never."Sorrow crept onto her face. She stared at me in disbelief. She kept trying to grab me, but I kept moving back, so she stopped. Like an abandoned pup

I landed in the coastal city, my heart light. First, I got a new SIM card and contacted my partner. Then, I blocked every single person on social media who had ties with Lauren.They sent me videos of Lauren crying at the airport. I did not watch a single one. They were blocked, their numbers were deleted, and my phone was clean. Good, no more disgusting stuff to go through.I got busy working on a new company and moving the main projects here. I was so occupied, women were the last thing on my mind. God, I had no idea life could be so fun when I did not have to think about them.My partner called me and started an online meeting. Excited, they told me the project ended perfectly on their side.The path had been hard. Fortunately, the end was perfect. It did not get in the way of us making money. I had to ask, though. I wanted to know what happened after I dropped out of the project.My partner thought I was just being curious. "Nothing much. Claude Group's representative got fire

"Fuck off."That was it. Any more, and it would be a waste of good words.My partner and his stupid idea. Crush her, he said. Yuck, all it did was disgust me more.Lauren couldn't believe how heartless I was. She got up and tried to grab my hand, but the gorgeous owner stopped her. "Stop embarrassing yourself. You heard the gentleman. Fuck. Off."Lauren was timid around me, but not around anyone else. "This is none of your business." She sized the owner up and asked me loudly, "You're going to marry a cake girl instead of me? She can't even pay her shop's rent! She can't make enough money selling cakes!"That got on my nerves. I swiveled and was going to go into a tirade, but the owner wagged a finger at Lauren. "Non, non, mademoiselle. I don't need to pay rent for my shop. The whole building is mine. I am a humble woman who loves to bake cakes."Oh, wow, the hot lady was my landlady. I went through the names on the contract, but they weren't hers. "Oh, that's my mom."The lady'