All Chapters of Tick, Tock—Marriage out of Time: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

When my wife, Ariel Sweeney returned home that day, I was in the midst of throwing out the list of items that I had to be mindful about after a gastrectomy.Ariel has just come back from a three-day "business trip" to celebrate her first love's birthday. When I saw that the gift she bought for him was a million-dollar home, I got so agitated that I fainted on the spot. And when I woke up, I was told that I had to undergo surgery.Right after coming home from the hospital, I looked at the 99 watches in my collection and decided to pay no heed to my doctor's orders by ordering a whole fried chicken and some coke.Ariel walked over to me and threw the chicken and coke into the trash can. She then chided me and said, "Your stomach is still recovering. You can't eat fried stuff or drink cold drinks yet. So, why are you still doing it?"She then took out an expensive watch from her handbag and gave it to me."Here. I got this especially for you, Dustin Cooper. It took me quite some effo

Chapter 2

After Ariel left, I placed the Patek Philippe inside my collector's box.Each collector's box could hold 20 watches, and this was the fifth box that I was now using up.Three years ago, a scandal broke out in Ariel's company, citing rumors that she was seeing male escorts on the side.Ariel had set aside all of her work for the day and immediately came home to explain things to me. She said that she had only gone along with the male escorts because of certain business requirements of some sort, and that I was the only person she would ever love for the rest of her life.And to show how sorry she was about the whole fiasco, she even bought me my first watch to cheer me up.That watch had cost her 20 thousand dollars.I had still been happy to receive the watch back then. I thought that the watch represented her attitude—that she was serious about this, and also that she paid attention to me and knew exactly what I liked.Eventually, she gave me more and more watches over the year

Chapter 3

Claude was dressed in black. He held a box of ashes in his hands and had a sad look on his face.Ariel stood next to him, instructing two of her bodyguards to dig up the empty plot on the left of my mother's grave.Both of their backs were facing me, so nobody saw me entering quietly from the back.Soon, a large, deep hole appeared in the ground.Claude then bent down and put the box of ashes into the hole. He sniffed quietly as he said, "My dear Scooby, I'm finally laying you to rest."Scooby?A box of ashes?Laying it to rest?My brain nearly exploded at the moment. I rushed up to Claude in a few strides and punched him on the cheek."Claude Henner! Who gave you permission to dig up this empty grave?""I…"Claude spat out a mouthful of blood and looked at me, both in shock and dissatisfaction. It was as if he'd never expected me to turn up.I gritted my teeth and yelled, "Take that box of ashes out of there at once! Now! Do it!"I rarely ever lost my temper outside of my

Chapter 4

I glanced at the tombstone and gnashed my teeth together."Claude fucking Henner! Stand where you are! Did you bury a fucking dog in the plot to the right of my mom's fucking grave?"A flustered look appeared in Claude's dark eyes when I hollered at him. He lowered his head and grabbed Ariel's hand."Ari, I'm scared…"However, Ariel shook off his hand and walked back toward me. She then looked to the right of Mom's grave and saw it too."Claude Henner. Did I not warn you not to touch the plot on the right side without my permission?"Claude's eyes were elusive. "It wasn't on purpose! My friend's dog died last week after eating grapes, and we didn't have a place to bury it!"The fortune teller told me that both the dogs would protect his mother in the afterlife. I only did this for Dustin's good!"Claude just refused to apologize no matter how meek and lowly he made himself. However, if anyone squinted hard enough, they would easily be able to tell that he was gloating and pokin

Chapter 5

However, Ariel was faster than Claude.She grabbed the papers first and gave them a quick scan. Then, her face immediately turned solemn and stern."You really did torture those animals. You lied to me?""I didn't!"Claude just kept shaking his head, glaring daggers at me."You! You're only stooping so low because you're trying to frame me for this crime!"I crossed my arms at my chest and looked at Ariel, saying calmly, "You can go ahead and get someone else to check out the legitimacy of this case."Your mother only forbade you from seeing him last time because he was an animal abuser! Think about it, Ariel. How could an animal abuser be so kind as to turn his dog into ashes and give him a proper burial like now?"Ariel went up to Claude and slapped him twice on the cheeks. Her eyes were bloodshot."Didn't you say that my mom only stopped us from seeing each other because she looked down on you and your family background?"After Claude was sent abroad for his studies, Ariel

Chapter 6

"Claude… Claude…" Ariel had moaned.Dad had then rushed in and smacked her on the cheek at once. She immediately sobered up after a few more smacks.She fell to her knees before Dad and explained that she was simply spewing nonsense because she was drunk out of her head."Please, Mr. Cooper, I really want to marry Dustin. Please give me a chance to prove myself. I won't ask for anything from you, not even wedding gifts or anything else. Please…"That very night, Dad had pulled me into a room and asked me if I still wanted to marry her.Mom and Dad had always been very protective of me, and I grew up in a happy little bubble of my own. Also, Ariel had never once cheated on me at that point in time, so I thought that it was still worth a bet.I answered, "I'm still going to marry her."Dad just sighed in resignation. Then, he made me promise something."Fine. You can marry her. However, if you ever think about having kids with her, you must first inform me."I nodded and made an

Chapter 7

Ariel tried to reach out to me to hug me, but I pushed her away."Honey? Why are you suddenly being so stubborn? Did you go around listening to rumors again? Is that why you misunderstood me again?"I know that I've been making you mad lately, but I can explain everything, including why I gave you all these watches."With that, she opened the watch storage box she brought and pointed at one of the watches."I gave you this Rolex because Claude told me he wanted to kill himself, and I was so worried he'd actually do it that I had to accompany him for his birthday. I couldn't possibly let him die before my eyes, could I?"I gave you this Geneva Watch on your birthday, but I'd been playing truth or dare with my friends and got dared to post a story of my ex on my social media, and that was why Claude was in my stories that day."I gave you this Piaget because…"I lost patience listening to her yap and went to the neighborhood Starbucks to get myself some coffee. Meanwhile, Ariel st

Chapter 8

I booked the next flight back to Springville that very night.At the divorce court hearing the next day, Ariel was still stubborn about not wanting the divorce.To my greatest surprise, Claude wasn't there.Meanwhile, Ariel explained every single watch she bought for me and also told the judge and jury about all the things she'd done for me, to the extent that the judge actually looked moved by her words.In the end, my divorce case ended up being rescheduled for another day.I had just walked out of the courthouse when a white sedan suddenly sped toward me. Claude was at the wheel, flooring the pedal as he mumbled under his breath, "Die! Go to hell! Die!"If you hadn't snatched Ari away, I would never have married that bitch of a woman! You forced me into marrying and divorcing her in less than a year! You made me a divorcee!"Why does Ari still refuse to marry me even though you've already left? She even pinned the blame on me! You hypnotized her! You cast a spell on her! You

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