Chapter 4

I was rushed into the operating room once again.

Perhaps he was too busy preparing for his fake marriage with Wendy, David never showed up.

I leaned on my own trembling frame to handle the cremation and arrange a small, quiet funeral service for our baby.

The service fell on the exact day we were scheduled to file our divorce paperwork.

I spent the morning at the cemetery, carefully picking out a quiet plot.

It had good shade, plenty of sunlight, and a gentle breeze.

My phone buzzed. It was David.

"Nora, where are you? I’ll come pick you up."

His voice sounded strangely light, almost cheerful.

He rarely offered to drive me anywhere.

Not since our wedding day.

There was always an excuse.

He was either too busy, or my destination wasn't on his way.

Five years in our marriage, the only reason I was getting a ride from him was to dissolve it.

When he pulled up, he frowned at the surroundings.

"Why are you out here? It's completely deserted. There’s nothing around except a cemetery."

I didn't answer. I just stared out the passenger window at the passing trees.

---

At the courthouse, the paperwork took less than twenty minutes.

The moment our divorce decree was signed, David didn't waste a second.

He turned toward the adjacent clerk's desk, where Wendy was already waiting with their marriage license application.

For a man who always claimed to despise silly superstitions, David went out of his way for this fake wedding.

He wore a silver charm in his pocket for good luck.

He carefully stepped into the registry room with his right foot first.

He fretted over finding the best lighting for their photograph.

I stood near the glass doors, watching him meticulously follow every wedding superstition from an online guide.

A sharp, familiar ache bloomed in my chest.

---

That evening, I stumbled across Wendy’s burner social media account.

She had posted a picture of their marriage certificate alongside a photo of them in wedding attire.

“Even if it is only temporary, being your wife is enough for me,” she captioned it

She had blurred out their legal names, but I recognized the ring on his finger instantly.

A single like appeared on the post seconds later.

I tapped the username. It was David.

After years together, I knew his habits inside and out, including the small, specific symbol he always added to the end of his handles.

They had forgotten that we used to share alt accounts when playing online games together.

I knew all of his handles.

Or maybe they hadn't forgotten at all. Maybe part of them wanted me to see.

I didn't know, and I no longer cared to figure it out.

---

Later that night, David updated his own account.

He posted a long, poetic entry.

He wrote about the very first day they met.

How Wendy’s bright, dazzling smile had stolen his heart on the spot.

He confessed that he had been too cowardly back then to understand his own feelings, too terrified to speak up.

He wrote, “Even if my life returns to its dull silence after this, having you as my wife just for the moment will be the comfort that carries me through the rest of my days.”

Wendy commented right below it, “Me too.”

They poured their hearts out to each other in the comments, sounding like star-crossed lovers who had finally overcome the world to be together.

I stared at the screen, surprised that my heart could still hurt this badly.

Why did he do this to me?

We were together for eight years.

Married for five.

I gave him the purest, most devoted version of myself.

He married me, promised me a future, and tried to build a family with me.

And now, he was telling the world that he had regretted choosing me from the very beginning.

I let out a long, shuddering sigh.

The night had never felt so endless.

---

David cherished every second of that temporary marriage.

In fact, he kept finding reasons to prolong it.

The quick, temporary arrangement he had promised kept stretching on.

Weeks turned into months.

He couldn't bring himself to sign the annulment papers.

Eventually, Wendy pushed him.

"We’ve already wronged Nora enough," she told him softly, her voice full of tragic restraint. "Having you for this short time was more than I deserved.

“Don't drag this out. It’s hurting her."

A full year passed before David finally agreed to end it.

Sitting in his office, he pulled out his phone and typed a message to Nora.

“Nora, everything with Wendy’s legal matter is settled now. Let's re-register our marriage.”

He hit send.

A red exclamation mark flashed on the screen.

“User account deactivated.”

Nora was gone.