Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I didn't sleep again that night, but somehow I felt much more energetic.

After we got back from the amusement park, William had sent me the new divorce agreement.

I looked it over. It was actually pretty good—everything I was entitled to was there, and he had been quite generous.

In the end, I signed my name and asked him to transfer the money to me as soon as we got our divorce certificates.

I needed the money now.

William seemed a little surprised and called me to ask if something was wrong.

I hung up on him.

I didn't want his dirty hands touching my funeral arrangements.

He sent me a message: "Even if we can't be husband and wife anymore, we can still be friends."

That made me laugh even harder.

I replied: "I don't have the habit of being friends with scumbags."

William didn't reply after that.

I knew his patience only went this far. If he had tried to say anything nice to me after that, he wouldn't have been William Green.

I stayed up all night, waiting for dawn.

As soon as the sky started to get light, I had already gotten myself ready and was waiting outside the civil affairs bureau.

The sun was shining brightly today, and it felt warm on my skin.

Days like this were getting fewer and fewer.

William looked like he hadn't slept well.

He stared at me, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

I frowned. That wouldn't do.

"We..." he started to say.

I turned around and walked away, not wanting to listen to his nonsense.

But William still followed me.

When we walked out again, each of us was holding a little red book—the divorce certificate.

Almost as soon as we stepped out of the civil affairs bureau, my phone notified me that the money had been transferred into my account.

I waved at William and headed off to look at the cemetery I had picked out.

"Annie Brown," William called out to me and went to get an umbrella for me.

"The weather forecast says there will be a mix of rain and snow today."

I froze for a moment, then took the umbrella from him.

William let out a sigh of relief: "What I said yesterday was true. Can we still..."

I showed him what I had typed in my notes.

"William Green, if possible, let's pretend we never met."

William looked sad: "Do you really have to be this cruel?"

I smiled and nodded. Some things, once done, you can't take back.

Being brave enough to love and brave enough to hate—that had always been my style.

I waved at him and turned to leave.

The cemetery I had my eye on was in the north of the city, in the exact opposite direction from William Green.

The salesperson was a young man. When he saw me coming alone, he looked a little surprised.

But I paid quickly and told him that a woman named Emily Wilson would come to handle the rest of the procedures with the documents and contract.

The way he looked at me was full of sympathy.

After taking care of the formalities, I picked up the umbrella and got ready to leave.

It had started to rain outside, with a few snowflakes mixed in.

The salesperson said: "Why don't you wait until the rain stops before leaving?"

"No, I still have somewhere to go," I replied.

Somewhere I hadn't been in a very long time.