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The Seven-Day Agreement

The Seven-Day Agreement

Cerita Pendek · Romance
Oleh:  Bye ChubsTamat
Bahasa: English
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11Bab
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Sinopsis

Feel-Good Story

Tragic Love

Homewrecker

Bias

Cheating

Winning Back the Husband

On our seventh wedding anniversary, my wife handed me a divorce agreement that was valid for seven days. She had fallen for a male intern at her company who was seven years younger than her. She wanted to experience what she called a proper romance with him, one that would last exactly seven days. On the first day, they booked an entire private cinema and made love to each other from the entrance to their seats. On the second day, they went to the seaside to set off fireworks, and the light spread across half the skyline of Veyron. On the fifth day, the intern burst into an art exhibition I hosted and cried in front of the entire press. He accused me of coming between them. That same evening, the story of a rising painter becoming a homewrecker for love reached the top of the trending searches, and the hate comments poured in. On the sixth day, my wife apologized to me on the intern’s behalf, and his punishment was a three‑day ban from shopping. On the seventh day, my wife finally sensed something was wrong. She called me ninety‑nine times and reminded me that we were supposed to reconcile the next day. I replied with a single “okay” and quietly told my assistant to arrange for my luggage to be shipped out. What she did not know was that seven days earlier, I had already made plans to go abroad to continue my studies. This time, I was done playing her game.

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Bab 1

Chapter 1

Vera Lloyd held the divorce agreement when she found me. I hid in my home studio and worked on the final details of a surprise I had prepared for our seventh anniversary.

It was a 220 by 140 oil painting that had taken me an entire month to complete. I was two brushstrokes away from finishing it.

“I left the divorce agreement on the table. If everything looks fine, go ahead and sign it. Austin is waiting for me outside.”

My hand froze around the paintbrush. I was sure I had misheard her.

“What?”

Vera frowned. “I want a divorce. Do not worry, it is only for seven days. After that, you will still be my one and only husband.”

The absurdity of it hit me all at once. I opened my mouth to speak, and Vera cut me off.

“You promised me on our wedding day that you would give me one chance to make a mistake. You are not going back on that now, are you?”

I had said that. I had also made it clear that it did not include affairs or falling for someone else.

The pain felt almost unbearable, and I forced myself to stay steady.

“Does it have to be today?”

Rain poured outside, and it was our wedding anniversary.

Eight years earlier, on a day just like this one, Vera had walked into my life under a deep navy umbrella. I still remembered the smell of rain on the pavement, and I remembered her umbrella too, how the sixth rib had a faint patch of rust along the middle.

Vera clicked her tongue and shut the window with an irritated snap.

“Sean, was I not clear enough? I am not actually trying to divorce you. I am doing this to keep a young guy happy. Once his birthday passes next week, I will remarry you right away.”

A knock sounded at the door, and a young man in a white shirt peeked inside. “Vera, are you almost ready? Our movie is about to start.”

He pouted, and even that looked boyishly charming on him.

“Alright, alright, give me a second, you little prince.” Vera ruffled his hair with easy affection, then turned back to me. The warmth left her face at once.

“You see this, Sean? I have somewhere to be. Sign the papers.”

I dipped my brush into the paint and spoke quietly. “Does it have to be today?”

Vera paused, then let out a short laugh. “Obviously. Since when do you need a special day for a divorce?”

I did not argue this time. I picked up a pen and signed.

The moment Vera walked out the door, I placed the final brushstroke on the canvas.

“Vera,” I called after her.

“Do you know what today is? It is our seventh wedding anniversary.”

Vera stopped, and her voice sounded flat and calm.

“I know. Austin kept pushing, and I did not want to make him sad.”

The door shut behind her with a sharp click, and their voices drifted back through the wall.

One of them said, “Stupid rainy day. It got my sneakers all dirty.”
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11 Bab
Chapter 1
Vera Lloyd held the divorce agreement when she found me. I hid in my home studio and worked on the final details of a surprise I had prepared for our seventh anniversary.It was a 220 by 140 oil painting that had taken me an entire month to complete. I was two brushstrokes away from finishing it.“I left the divorce agreement on the table. If everything looks fine, go ahead and sign it. Austin is waiting for me outside.”My hand froze around the paintbrush. I was sure I had misheard her.“What?”Vera frowned. “I want a divorce. Do not worry, it is only for seven days. After that, you will still be my one and only husband.”The absurdity of it hit me all at once. I opened my mouth to speak, and Vera cut me off.“You promised me on our wedding day that you would give me one chance to make a mistake. You are not going back on that now, are you?”I had said that. I had also made it clear that it did not include affairs or falling for someone else.The pain felt almost unbearable,
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Chapter 2
The other one said, “Yeah, stupid rainy day.”My knuckles turned white around the paintbrush. I reached to dip the brush out of habit, then realized I had nothing left to paint.If Vera had walked only two steps farther into the room, she would have seen what I had spent a month creating. It was the day we first met.I stood in silence for a moment. Then I reached for the black paint in the corner and poured the entire can over the canvas. I grabbed another, then another, until every trace of the image disappeared beneath the dark surface.When nothing remained, I pressed the divorce agreement flat against the wet paint and wrote in small white letters along the bottom.“Vera, I will not be remarrying you.”…That night, Vera did not come home. She sent me a single message.“I’ll be staying at Austin’s for the next seven days. Get some rest. Seven days from now, nine in the morning, we’ll meet at the city hall.”I had not replied yet when Austin Bennett posted on his social me
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Chapter 3
I paused for a moment.“Then cut it off.”“No!”Vera’s voice rang out before anyone else could speak. She came running down the stairs so fast that she almost tripped on the last step.“Sean, I am not letting you cut it.”The outburst caught everyone off guard, Sophie most of all. In all the time she had worked for me, she had never seen Vera lose her composure like that.“Ms. Lloyd?”Vera seemed to catch herself. She cleared her throat.“I do not want you hurting your hand. The last thing I need is you coming to me crying about not being able to paint anymore. It would drive me crazy.”She paused, then raised an eyebrow as if she remembered something. “Where is the painting you made for me? I have time to look at it now.”“I burned it.” I kept my eyes down and my voice flat.Vera stared at me. “What? How could you burn it?”She stepped toward me, ready to argue, when her phone went off. It was her group chat with her friends.“Vera, we heard you got divorced? Something th
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Chapter 4
Vera was not finished. She grabbed the microphone and hurled it at the painting on display behind me.It was the last piece my mother had ever painted, the only thing she left me before she died.The room erupted. I did not stop to think. I pushed forward, trying to reach the painting, but before I took two steps the press closed in around me from every direction. They shoved microphones toward my face and made it impossible to move.“Mr. Spencer, can you explain what happened here? Did you really take something that belonged to someone else?”“Mr. Spencer, you have always presented yourself as an independent artist. Why would you bully an innocent person?”“Mr. Spencer, are you not ashamed of what you have done?”“Mr. Spencer…”The questions came one after another until I could barely breathe. I tried to steady myself and stand, but the reporters pressed in closer, climbing over each other as if they wanted to swallow me whole.With no other choice, I called out to Vera and to
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Chapter 5
I stood there looking at her and laughed until tears came.“Vera, you were not always like this.”There had been a time when she sat and watched me paint for hours, losing herself in it and telling me I was the greatest artist in the world. When I forgot to wipe the paint from my hands and felt embarrassed, she was the one who pushed back and said that was exactly how an artist was supposed to look.And that rainy day I carried with me for so many years, the reason I never forgot it, was because of her. She had been passing by with her umbrella when she stopped, turned to me, and smiled.“Hey, do you know Sylvia Stone? I am a huge fan of her work. I love her paintings.”All this time, I believed that day meant something to both of us. It turned out I was the only one who never walked away from it.Something in my chest finally let go.I pulled back from her hands and turned to go to my room. The moment I reached for the door, Vera shot her hand out and held it open.“There is o
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Chapter 6
“Why did you block me?“We agreed we were getting remarried today. I have been waiting outside city hall for an hour.“Where are you right now? I will come and get you.”The cabin announcement came over the speakers at that exact moment. The line went silent.Through the phone, I heard Vera breathing hard. “Sean, are you leaving? Where are you going?”I waited two seconds, then switched off my phone.Once a decision was made, there was no going back. She had made hers, and I had made mine.Vera stood outside city hall staring at the dead call. Something flared in her chest. She tried again, and the automated voice answered instead.“We are sorry. The number you have dialed is currently switched off.”She stood there listening to it, and for the first time, it became real to her. I was not coming. I had no intention of remarrying her, and no intention of taking her back.It was only when Sophie quietly took the phone from her hand that Vera seemed to return to herself. She gra
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Chapter 7
Third Person's Point-of-ViewEvery box was labeled with the date it had been given, starting from the mountain of gifts in their first year of marriage to the divorce agreement fixed to the canvas in their seventh.Vera went through them one by one. When she reached three identical Cartier bracelets, she stopped. She had not noticed, not even once. No wonder Sean refused to forgive her.She stood in the middle of the wreckage of opened boxes when she noticed one that was empty. The watch engraved with “Love of My Life” was missing.A slow smile spread across her face, and her voice held certainty when she murmured to herself.“You still cannot let me go, can you? Fine. After everything that happened, I suppose I can be the one to make it right.”Her phone cut her off before she could say anything else. She picked it up, saw Austin’s name on the screen, and the smile vanished.The phone kept ringing. She let it go on for a while before she finally answered with no patience left.
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Chapter 8
The realization that her gift had meant nothing to Sean left Vera’s thoughts in disarray.“This watch does not suit you. Do not wear it again.“And we are done. Stop reaching out, and stay away from Sean.”She grabbed the watch and walked out, not bothering to look back at whatever expression crossed Austin’s face.In the car, after her thirtieth failed attempt to reach Sean, Vera called her personal assistant.“I will give you three days. Find out where Sean is.”…Around that same time, Sean touched down in Aethon.He stood on the steps of Kallisti Square and watched the angular shadow cast by the Citadel spread across the old city below. A quiet sense of belonging washed over him.This was the place he had chosen for himself, where he would continue his studies and start fresh with his work.He stood in a gallery in front of a reproduction of Bacchanalian Revel when he heard it.The ultramarine paint on the linen canvas was still wet, and from somewhere behind him came a
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Chapter 9
“A nobody painter. Everything he makes is just paint slapped on canvas and called art.”Sophie’s patience snapped.“At least Sean’s work is collected and admired. Unlike some people who get used up and thrown out like yesterday’s trash.”Austin took a moment to register the insult, then signaled his bodyguards and backed Sophie into a corner. His hand came down hard across her face.“You mouthy little nobody. You and Sean deserve each other. You think you are untouchable? I could wipe you out without breaking a sweat.”Sophie lifted her chin and spat back.“You are only a pretty boy who rides on other people’s coattails. Do not flatter yourself.”Austin grabbed her by the jaw, his nails breaking the skin and drawing blood.“I brought Sean down in this city, and I can do the same to you. All it took was a few tabloid reporters and a bit of noise, and he could not do a thing about it.“The one who is not loved is always the odd one out. I could ruin him completely, and Vera neve
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Chapter 10
“Now he is out here calling himself an educated man. He is only a serial homewrecker.”“He had the nerve to twist the story and go after the wife. People like him deserve everything coming to them.”“Exactly.”Austin’s home address was posted online, and a steady stream of people showed up to make their feelings known. Paint was thrown at the walls, while eggs and garbage piled at the door.Austin called Vera dozens of times and received nothing. Eventually he had no choice but to steel himself and head out.He made it one step outside before an egg hit him square in the face, followed by a chorus of jeers from the small crowd that had gathered. He finally managed to flag down a cab, but the driver took one look at him, put two and two together, and delivered his verdict before pulling away.“A homewrecker? Not in my cab.”Austin somehow made it to the office, only to be stopped at the entrance by security.“Sir, you do not have clearance to enter. Ms. Lloyd has revoked your ac
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