“I can’t afford to gamble anymore…”
Daniel’s words were so quiet they barely made it past his throat. Amelia didn’t quite catch them. “What did you say?”
He said nothing. The hospital room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.
A draft slipped through the window that had never been properly closed, stirring Daniel’s hair across his forehead. His voice came out hoarse: “If we get divorced, would you ever marry me again?”
“…”
Amelia looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Do you even hear yourself right now?”
Daniel let out a slow, weary breath. “If you promise you’ll marry me again someday, then I’ll agree to the divorce.”
For a split second, Amelia wanted to call a doctor—not for herself, but to check Daniel’s head.
“What is it you really want, Daniel? I don’t have time or energy for your little divorce-and-remarry games. My life is my own, and I make the decisions.”
Daniel’s lips twisted into a tired, bitter smile. “You just want the divorce over with so you can run off with Rubin, give Ruby a real family, isn’t that it?”
So he’d heard what she said that day. Amelia couldn’t quite untangle her feelings—anger, guilt, exhaustion. She stared out the window. “That’s none of your business.”
Daniel stood up, walked to the door, and turned back. “Promise me you’ll marry me again, and I’ll sign the papers. Otherwise, forget it.”
He opened the door and left.
Amelia snatched up her pillow and hurled it at the door. It thudded uselessly against the wood. “You’re insane!”
…
After leaving the hospital, Daniel drove straight to the police station.
The officer in charge of the case greeted him, but Daniel only nodded in passing, his pace brisk and purposeful.
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