Chapter 8
“Autumn, how do you want to handle this?” James asked.
“I want a divorce.”
James paused for a moment. “Alright. I’ll have the firm’s lawyers contact him.”
I stared at my drink with reddened eyes, nodding silently.
A text message popped up:
*Baby, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have been with Emma. I made a mistake!*
*Hit me, yell at me, do whatever you want – just please give me one more chance?*
*I promise it won’t happen again, baby…”
Suddenly, I felt violently ill.
It was 2 AM when we left the bar.
The familiar Mercedes was parked next to James’s car.
Ryan leaned against his car door, a cigarette between his long fingers.
The ember glowed intermittently in the dark night.
The moment his eyes found me, panic flashed across his face.
His hand quickly crushed out the cigarette.
Then he strode toward me.
“You weren’t answering my calls, I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“I was worried sick, so I tracked your location-”
I cut him off:
Time 1 Loved Hi
“Let’s get divorced.”
“The lawyers will contact you tomorrow. Just sign the papers.”
His face went white, unable to contain his fear: “No, I won’t divaren you
“Baby, please, can we not divorce?”
“Let’s go home, okay? Everything will be fine after we sleep on it. Autumn, come home with he, let’s go home together!”
As he spoke, Ryan reached for my hand, trying to pull me toward the car.
James easily caught Ryan’s hand and shoved him back.
“Mr. Carter, Autumn said she doesn’t want to go home with you. Please respect that.”
Then he wiped his hand on his clothes, as if disgusted by touching Ryan.
“Autumn… I was wrong, but I do love you, I truly love you!”
I pulled away from Ryan’s grasp, standing beside James, and said coldly:
“Enough, Ryan. You don’t need to say these things anymore.”
“From the moment you cheated, these words lost all meaning.”
My expression remained distant, like I was looking at a stranger.
Ryan was devastated, his face cycling through several expressions.
Finally, he forced a smile that looked worse than crying.
“Baby…”
Seeing Ryan about to push it further, James landed several punches on him.
Ryan didn’t dodge, gritting his teeth through the blows.
Suddenly the Mercedes‘ passenger door flew open, and Emma ran over in her dress.
15:36
Chapter
Without hesitation, she planted herself in front of Ryan.
“Don’t hit him!”
James saw her and grew even angrier, confronting Ryan coldly:
“Ryan, is this your idea of apologizing, bringing your mistress to face Autumn? You’ve really outdone yourself!”
Ayha
What,
you think Autumn has no family to stand up for her? Did you forget she has the Sullivan family behind her? How dare you humiliate her like this!”
“The girl I cherished and protected like precious glass, and this is how you treat her!”
James’s eyes were bloodshot, his fists clenched as he swung at Ryan’s face.
Afraid it would cause serious injury, I moved to stop him.
At that critical moment, Emma suddenly lashed out, slapping me hard across the face.
I tried to dodge instinctively, my body tilting backward.
In that split second, a strong arm caught me.
It was James, who’d pulled back his punch just in time.
He steadied me, checking me over, speaking softly to calm me.
I patted his hand to show I was fine, then walked straight up to Emma and slapped her back without hesitation.
The next instant, Ryan pushed me aside and gathered Emma in his arms.
Everyone froze.
Including Ryan himself.
