Chapter 4
Alexander stared at the divorce papers without moving, his eyes fixed on Emma’s neat signature as though looking at it long enough would somehow make it disappear.
He leaned back in his chair and let out a slow breath before shaking his head because there was no way the woman who loved him more than herself would really throw away their marriage.
Ethan remained standing quietly until he finally asked. “Sir… should I have Legal review the papers first?”
Alexander closed the file with one hand and gave a dismissive shrug.
“They’re standard divorce papers.”
“So… this is real?”
Alexander let out a dry laugh that carried more confidence than certainty.
“No.”
Ethan frowned. “No?”
Alexander rested his elbows on the desk and looked toward the city skyline outside his office.
“Emma is emotional, that’s all,” he said calmly while convincing himself with every word, “she’s angry because of the gala, and once she cools down, she’ll realize she’s overreacting.”
Ethan hesitated before speaking again.
“Mrs. Hayes doesn’t usually do things halfway.”
Alexander smiled faintly.
“You don’t know her like I do.”
He picked up the papers once more.
“She’ll disappear for a few days.” His confidence grew stronger as he spoke. “Then she’ll miss home.”
He turned another page.
“She’ll miss this life.” His thumb reached the signature page. “And she’ll come back.”
Without another thought,he uncapped his fountain pen.
The expensive black ink flowed smoothly across the paper.
Alexander Hayes.
His signature looked clean,decisive,permanent.
He capped the pen and pushed the papers toward Ethan.
“There.”
Ethan looked at the signed document for several seconds.
“You really don’t want to think about it?”
Alexander stood up and buttoned his suit jacket.
“I just did.”
He picked up his car keys.
“When she comes back…” A faint smile crossed his face. “…she’ll understand why I signed.”
Across the city…
Emma stepped out of a taxi and looked up at the courthouse.
The building wasn’t beautiful,it wasn’t memorable.
Yet somehow it felt like the doorway between two different lives.
Her lawyer walked toward her carrying a folder beneath one arm.
“Good morning, Emma.”
She smiled politely.
“Morning.”
“You don’t have to do this today.”
Emma looked at him.
“I should have done it much sooner.”
The lawyer nodded quietly before leading her inside.
Everything happened surprisingly fast.
Identity verification,documents,signatures,formalities.
Three years of marriage reduced to paperwork and polite smiles.
Emma watched another clerk carry the documents away.
“Once Mr. Hayes’ signed copy is processed,” the woman explained kindly, “the filing will be complete.”
Emma thanked her.
She didn’t ask how long it would take.
It no longer mattered.
Outside the courthouse reporters had already gathered.
The moment Emma stepped through the doors, microphones surrounded her.
“Mrs. Hayes!”
“Is the divorce because of Sophia Bennett?”
“Did Mr. Hayes cheat?”
“Will you ask for half his fortune?”
Flashes burst one after another.
Emma stopped walking.
Not because she wanted attention but because she was tired of running away.
One reporter stretched his microphone closer.
“Mrs. Hayes, everyone says you’ll regret divorcing Alexander Hayes.”
Emma looked directly into the camera.
“They’re free to believe that.”
“So you deny it?”
She smiled softly.
“I don’t need to.”
Another reporter quickly asked. “Do you still love your husband?”
Emma remained silent for a moment,then she answered honestly.
“I loved him enough to leave.”
The crowd fell completely quiet.
No one expected that answer.
Emma adjusted the strap of her handbag.
“Excuse me.”
She calmly walked through the reporters without another word.
Nobody tried stopping her,even the cameras lowered.
Almost an hour later…
A black luxury sedan pulled into the courthouse parking lot.
Alexander stepped out wearing a perfectly tailored charcoal suit.
He looked exactly like the powerful CEO every business magazine admired,cold,untouchable.
His lawyer met him halfway.
“The documents have already been filed.”
Alexander nodded once.
“Let’s finish it.”
As they walked inside,his eyes suddenly landed on Emma standing near the courthouse garden.
She was watching a group of children chasing pigeons across the stone pavement.
She looked peaceful.
Alexander frowned.
That wasn’t the expression he expected.
She should have been crying,second-guessing herself,waiting for him.
Instead,she looked lighter. As though she had finally put down something heavy.
He walked toward her.
“Emma.”
She turned around calmly.
“Alexander.”
No anger,no bitterness.
Only distance.
“You’ve made your point.”
Emma tilted her head slightly.
“My point?”
“This divorce.” He slipped both hands into his pockets. “You’ve gotten everyone’s attention.”
Emma stared at him for several seconds,then she smiled.
It wasn’t sarcastic,it wasn’t cruel.
It simply looked tired.
“You still don’t understand.”
His brows tightened.
“Understand what?”
“I didn’t leave to get your attention.” She held his gaze. “I left because I finally realized I didn’t have it.”
For a brief second,Alexander couldn’t think of a response.
His lawyer interrupted politely.
“Mr. Hayes, the clerk is waiting.”
Alexander nodded.
“I’ll be there.”
He looked back at Emma.
“You’ll regret this.”
Emma laughed quietly.
The sound surprised even her.
“I’ve spent three years regretting staying.”
She took one step backward.
“I’d like to see what life feels like without that regret.”
Then she turned around.
The courthouse doors opened behind Alexander.
He walked inside without looking back.
Several minutes later,the clerk stamped the final documents.
“It’s done.”
Alexander barely reacted.
He believed nothing had truly ended.
Emma loved him too much.
She would call,she always did.
Emma walked down the courthouse steps as warm sunlight settled across her face.
She stopped halfway down the courthouse steps, closed her eyes for a brief moment, and then smiled.
A small, quiet, genuine smile that felt freer than anything she had experienced in years.
One photographer lowered his camera in confusion.
“I thought she’d be crying.”
Another whispered.
“I’ve never seen someone look so relieved after a divorce.”
Emma heard neither of them.
She simply kept walking.
Halfway across the street,she took out her phone.
Alexander’s name still sat at the top of her contacts.
She looked at it for a long moment.
Three years.
Thousands of calls,thousands of messages.
Countless nights waiting for his replies.
Her thumb gently pressed the screen.
Block Contact.
The confirmation window appeared.
She didn’t hesitate.
Confirm.
She slipped the phone back into her handbag and disappeared into the crowd exactly as she had promised.
That evening,Alexander sat alone inside his office after everyone else had gone home.
The silence suddenly felt strange,almost irritating.
He unlocked his phone and opened Emma’s contact.
His thumb hovered over the call button.
He smirked to himself.
“Enough is enough.”
He pressed the screen.
The phone rang once,then stopped.
A notification appeared.
Call Failed.
Alexander frowned.
He tried again,the same result.
His expression slowly hardened.
He opened their message thread.
The words he typed refused to send.
Instead,a gray notification quietly appeared beneath the empty text box.
You can no longer send messages to this contact.
For the first time since Emma handed him the divorce papers,Alexander realized she hadn’t just left him.
She had erased every road leading back to her.