Chapter 2

Ryan frowned as he took the stack of papers and flipped through them. "What the hell is this? A package delivery consent form? A family meal agreement? Signing this useless junk is a waste of time."

"Doesn't matter if you think they're pointless. Signing a name won't kill you, right?" Sadie said, her voice flat.

Ryan pulled a pen from his pocket and started signing the papers one by one.

The whole scene felt both familiar and surreal to me.

Sadie was totally on edge, like those dramatic moments from those grovel-for-your-girl novels she'd recommended to me.

I was about to ask her what the hell she was doing when Ryan scoffed, "So after all this, you just want me to sign the divorce papers?"

With that, Ryan fished the divorce agreement out of the pile with pinpoint accuracy.

Sadie froze, her face draining of color in shock.

I made up my mind. If Ryan refused to sign, I'd beat him until he did.

But after Ryan finished reading the divorce agreement, he burst out laughing in surprise.

"Sadie," he said, "you're way too generous. I never said I wouldn't agree to divorce. Why are you walking away with nothing? This is what you asked for, so don't come crying to me about it later."

He signed the papers without hesitation. "I have no idea why you suddenly got so sensible, but I'm not complaining about this divorce deal."

He dropped the signed papers on the coffee table, wrapped his arm around Mandy, and walked out, grinning from ear to ear.

Sadie stared at his back and said in the softest voice possible, "Ryan, today is the thirtieth day of the countdown."

Ryan turned around, confused. "What?"

"Don't worry about it. Go have fun," Sadie said.

"Weirdo," Ryan muttered, heading out with his arm around Mandy.

I picked up the divorce papers and read through them carefully, only to find many clauses against Sadie.

I frowned, "Sadie, what are you doing? He's the one who cheated. If anyone should leave with nothing, it's him, not you."

"It's alright. If I'm leaving, I want it to be clean," Sadie said softly. "Honestly, I was worried he wouldn't sign. I guess he hasn't realized that after this, he'll be out of my life for good in thirty days."

My head started pounding.

"Don't do anything foolish. That bastard Ryan didn't even blink when he signed the papers. Don't hold your breath waiting for him to regret it.

"You need to write up a new divorce agreement and make him sign that instead. This one is way too unfair to you," I said.

Sadie shook her head. "Chloe, you don't understand. Ryan hasn't realized his true feelings yet. For the next thirty days, I'll be the perfect wife. Once he loses me for real in thirty days, he'll regret it."

Right then, I swear I saw a spark of excitement in her eyes.

"Divorce isn't a game, Sadie. You haven't had an income for these years, and now you're leaving with nothing. How are you going to get by after this?" I pressed, worried sick.

Sadie just shrugged. "Don't worry. Once Ryan really loses me, he'll regret it and hand over all his money. And I'll meet a super sweet, rich second lead by then."

She got more and more hyped, even pulling out her phone and scrolling away.

I was totally floored by her nonsense. I couldn't believe this was the same top student I used to know. How'd she get these crazy ideas?

Seeing her scrolling through doctor profiles, I leaned over, confused. "You're looking at doctors? Are you sick?"

"Nope. I might be pregnant," she said.

Watching her rub her flat belly, I was absolutely stunned. This felt straight out of one of those dramas Sadie always talked about.

I swallowed nervously and asked, "Your period's late?"

She paused to think. "If my cycle's right, it should be next week."

"Did you take a test?"