All Chapters of Captain, Check Your Divorce Papers: Chapter 11 - Chapter 13

"Then what is it?" I stood, bag in hand. "If this is all you have to say, we're done.""Wait!" He rose too, fumbled in his jacket, and yanked out a small velvet box.Inside wasn't the Tears.It was an emerald ring—rich, clear, glowing."You mentioned wanting something like this on our anniversary. So I thought—"I cut him off. "What is this, Lucas? A consolation prize? A handout? Or just another way to humiliate me?""I can buy my own things. I don't need your pity. And I sure as hell don't need fake kindness from a man who threw me away.""I didn't mean—""If you have nothing else," I said, "don't come near me again."I walked. He called after me:"Lillian! I was wrong!"His voice echoed in the quiet café.I stopped. For a second.Then I straightened my back and pushed through the door.Outside, I walked aimlessly through the city, trying to shake his words."Wrong." What did he know about wrong?His "wrong" was just another name for Clara.I just wanted to go back to my hotel and lea

A few days later, at the airport, I found two boxes in my bag.The Tears of Diamond.And the emerald ring.How had he even put them there?I stared at them a long moment—then shoved them back into my bag.And boarded my flight.Months passed.Lucas survived. Barely.Multiple surgeries. Long rehab.But the spinal damage was permanent. He'd never walk again.The former hockey star was in a wheelchair for life.Clara stayed at first—then left. Within half a year, she'd found someone new.The tabloids showed her beaming with a tech CEO, a huge diamond on her finger.Meanwhile, on the other side of the world—Norway.Morning light poured through floor-to-ceiling windows, across a calm lake and snow-dusted mountains.I came in from my run, cheeks flushed, poured a glass of water, and checked my phone.My assistant's email: final confirmation on the international jewelry exhibition.My name, front and center. Chief Curator.I set the phone down and looked out at the white peaks.Then the door