That night, Karl did something rare. He posted a story on social media.
“It's a shame that now, our places have already shifted.”
No photo. No context.
He deleted it almost immediately.
But I'd already seen every word.
My stomach lurched so violently I had to grip the edge of the counter to stay upright.
My lawyer texted at almost the same moment. The divorce agreement had been reviewed. All it needed was Karl's signature.
I took a long breath, walked into Karl's study, and set the printed agreement on his desk.
Then I started packing.
Most of the things in this house were mine.
But what I could actually take with me was pathetically little.
All those small trinkets I'd once treasured were coated in dust now.
The matching couple items, too. From the day I'd brought them home, Karl had never spared them a glance. He thought they were childish.
I dropped them into a trash bag, one by one.
Last of all, I took down the wedding photo hanging in the center of the living room.
In the picture, I was beaming.
Karl stood beside me, his expression still a little stiff, but the way he looked at me was gentle.
Back then, I believed he truly loved me.
I stared at that photo for a long time.
Then threw it away with everything else.
In the end, all I could take was one small suitcase.
My mind drifted back, years and years ago.
In college, the first time I saw Karl was at the department honors ceremony.
He was ranked first in our year, wearing a plain white dress shirt, standing at the podium. Cool and brilliant.
After that, I chased him for an entire year.
Karl was cold at first.
I asked him to dinner. He said he was busy.
I gave him gifts. He returned every single one with a straight face.
But eventually, bit by bit, I wore him down.
The first time we held hands, the tips of his ears turned bright red.
I laughed and asked him：
“Karl Delgado, have you seriously never dated anyone before?”
He looked at me, completely earnest：
“I don't really know how any of this works. But I'll do my best to give you a good life.”
He was sincere and clumsy back then.
Like love was the only problem in the world he couldn't solve.
So I always told myself he just didn't understand romance.
Now I finally got it.
It wasn't that he didn't understand. It was that my love had made too many excuses for him.
Karl Delgado excelled at everything he set his mind to.
Research. Academics.
Love was no different.
He wasn't incapable of loving someone.
He just never wanted to love me.
So let it end.
I wheeled my suitcase out the front door and called Karl.
He picked up fast.
I was about to tell him to deal with the divorce papers on his desk when he got home.
But in the next second, sounds bled through the phone. Wet, intimate, unmistakable. Heavy breathing and stifled gasps.
I had been married to Karl Delgado for five years.
I knew exactly what that meant.
Every drop of blood in my body went cold.
Even though I'd already decided on the divorce, hearing it with my own ears sent a pain so sharp through me that my fingertips went numb.
I hung up on instinct.
It wasn't long before a message from Crystal came through.
“A loveless marriage must be miserable, right?”
“The person Karl has always truly loved is me.”
“He's just too burdened by responsibility. He doesn't know how to bring up divorce with you.”
“So let me say it for him.”
“Susannah, if you have any self-respect left, walk away on your own.”
“Don't turn into some pathetic, haggard woman still clinging to a man who doesn't love her.”
I stared at the messages, then typed back slowly：
“I'm guessing you don't want Karl to find out why your ex-husband actually divorced you.”
“There's no point in trying to provoke me.”
“I was already planning to file for divorce.”
The moment I hit send, I blocked Crystal.
Then I dragged my suitcase to the airport.
I'd barely sat down in the departure lounge when Karl's number lit up my screen.
The second the call connected, his voice came through laced with fury：
“Susannah, what the hell did you say to Crystal?”
“She's having a complete breakdown. She keeps saying she wants to kill herself!”
In the background, I could hear Crystal sobbing.
“I'm sorry……”
“It's all my fault……”
“I shouldn't have gotten so attached to you. Someone like me doesn't deserve to be alive……”
Karl's voice dropped even colder.
“I admit I should have told you about the trip. That was my oversight. But she'd just gone through a divorce. I was only trying to help her clear her head.”
“There's nothing between Crystal and me. Did you really have to go after her like that?”
“You're going to call her right now and apologize. Calm her down.”
“Consider it making amends.”
I held the phone and almost laughed at how absurd it all was.
Whatever Crystal told him, he swallowed whole.
A dog would've been harder to fool.
My voice came out ice-cold：
“Karl, I want a divorce.”
“The agreement is on your desk.”
“Sign it when you get home and send me the digital copy.”
I hung up and powered off my phone.
Then I walked straight to the gate without looking back.
From this moment on.
Karl Delgado and I were nothing to each other.
When the plane landed, I went directly to my new company to complete onboarding.
Only after everything was done did I turn my phone back on.
Notifications flooded the screen. Missed calls and messages piled on top of each other in an endless cascade.
Karl's missed calls alone totaled ninety-nine plus.
