Love Me Back (Amelia and Daniel) novel Chapter 72

This was the first time Amelia had ever looked him in the eye and, with absolute seriousness, said, “I want a divorce.”

It wasn’t like their usual bickering over the phone, or those endless stacks of divorce papers she’d printed, arguing for days over a single signature. This time, she was calm, resolute, and unmistakably clear.

“I’m not doing this to make a scene. I’ve thought it through, and this is my decision. I hope you’ll treat it with the same seriousness. After all, we were married. I don’t want things to end in some ugly mess.”

Her composure was almost unnerving—so cool, so collected, that Daniel felt a wave of panic rise in his chest, something he’d never experienced before.

For once, the famously silver-tongued Mr. Campbell found his throat clogged, as if stuffed with wet cotton, unable to utter a single word.

Amelia pressed on, “Let’s end this on good terms. You don’t want our marriage—what little there was of it—to finish as a jumble of half-formed words instead of a clean, final sentence, do you?”

Daniel drew a shaky breath, finally managing to find his voice. “I can agree to part peacefully, but I’m not letting you go. You’re my wife, Amelia. You’re the only one I’ll ever call my wife. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

His eyes were bloodshot, but Amelia was long past being moved by that. She looked away, refusing to meet his gaze.

She wanted to ask, Daniel, if the love is gone, why can’t we let each other go? But when the words reached her lips, she found she didn’t want to say them anymore.

Fighting about it had just left her exhausted.

“I’ve sent you enough copies of the divorce agreement. I assume you didn’t burn all of them. Three days—that’s all I’m giving you. Sign and send it back, or I’ll go to your grandfather.”

Even though the old man was getting on in years, the Campbell family was still his kingdom.

With that, Amelia turned and left, cold and unyielding.

…

Grandma Edith found Daniel in the smoking lounge, and from all the smoke swirling around him, she half-expected him to rise up and float away.

When Daniel saw her come in, he quickly stubbed out his cigarette and flung the window wide open. “Grandma, what are you doing in here? This place is nothing but secondhand smoke.”

“Came here to die,” the old lady replied, never one to mince words. “If you and Amelia get divorced, I might as well drop dead right now.”

Daniel led her out of the lounge. “Look, I’m not even falling apart over this divorce, and yet you’re already planning your funeral?”

She caught the edge in his tone. “So you don’t want the divorce?”

The old man’s temper was infamous—no one crossed him without fear. If anyone could get away with it, though, it was Grandma Edith.

She waved her hand dismissively. “You just focus on winning your wife back. Leave your grandfather to me.”

…

When Ethan got home from work, the housekeeper told him that Grandma Edith was refusing both her food and her medication.

He asked her to put everything on a tray and carried it upstairs himself.

Grandma Edith was gnawing on a piece of bread. The moment she heard footsteps outside her door, she quickly stuffed it under the covers and lay back, pretending to be asleep.

Ethan opened the door to find her curled up with her back to him, looking heartbreakingly small and frail.

He couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.

Gently, Ethan turned her over and saw the sadness in her eyes, the glimmer of tears at the corners. Instantly, he knew who the culprit must be. “Was it Daniel again? Did that idiot upset you?”