Chapter 3
Kirsten texted: [Caroline, I was trying to be nice and messaged you, but you're just playing dead. So rude.]
[People like you don't deserve Frederick.]
[Frederick and I belong together. We're from the same world.]
Caroline quickly typed back: [You're right.]
Kirsten replied almost instantly: [Caroline, stop pretending.]
Caroline found it amusing.
'No wonder Frederick likes Kirsten. She's just as hard to please as he is,' Caroline thought.
Caroline said: [Kirsten, how about I send you a little present?]
The next day, Kirsten arrived early at the location Caroline had sent her.
She recognized this coffee shop.
Back when she and Frederick were working together, they used to come here all the time to talk business.
She never thought Caroline would choose this place, knowing it was Frederick's favorite for Cappuccino.
Annoyance flickered in her eyes. Caroline was clearly playing games with her.
She just couldn't believe that someone who went out of her way to pick Frederick's favorite spot would really go through with divorcing him.
But since she was already here, she figured she might as well hear Caroline out.
But as her tea grew cold, Caroline was still nowhere to be seen.
She was about to leave, bag in hand, when a waiter called out and stopped her.
"Excuse me, Ms. Castillo. Ms. Adkins asked me to bring this to you," the waiter said. "She asked you to wait a bit longer."
Kirsten was about to toss the envelope aside and leave, but something slipped out and caught her attention.
On the white paper, in big, black letters, it read, "Divorce Agreement."
By the time Caroline finally strolled in, a whole hour had ticked by.
She pushed open the door and, spotting Kirsten inside, didn't even blink, like she'd expected her all along.
"Caroline, what exactly are you trying to do?" Kirsten demanded.
"If you have something to say, say it now. Frederick's waiting for me at the studio," she added.
Caroline looked at Kirsten, who looked like she'd just stepped out of a magazine, and couldn't help but feel insecure all over.
People always say time treats everyone fairly, but after ten years, Kirsten didn't have a single wrinkle around her eyes, and her curves were still on point.
Meanwhile, after having a kid, Caroline's face was now dotted with brown spots, and her once-flat stomach now had a bit of a mom-belly.
Back then, after giving birth, Caroline was plagued by postpartum depression and became deeply insecure about her appearance.
She'd hesitantly asked Frederick if he could split the cost of treatments to help her get her figure back.
The mocking look in Frederick's eyes was burned into her memory.
"Spending money on you is just a waste," he'd said.
At that thought, Caroline scoffed and knocked on the envelope sitting on the table.
Kirsten smirked, her voice laced with mockery. "People online say you're still stuck in the Stone Age, and honestly? Looks like they were right."
"Do yourself a favor and crack open a book sometime. Stop making Frederick look bad," she sneered.
Caroline took a sip of her tea, a calm smile on her lips. "Must be exhausting, keeping tabs on me all the time."
"But really, you should pay more attention to Frederick. Otherwise, how are you ever going to pull off being Mrs. James?"
Kirsten was left speechless, fuming as she glared at Caroline, her chest heaving with anger. 'Damn it, how does she always get under my skin?' she thought, unable to come up with a comeback.
Caroline ignored Kirsten's glare completely, her expression calm as she pulled the divorce agreement from the envelope and handed it over.
"Just like I promised last night, your present," she said. "Go ahead, see if it's to your taste."
Kirsten stared at the divorce papers in front of her, caught off guard for a moment.
Truth was, she'd already read and reread that agreement countless times, long before Caroline even arrived.
It just felt too good to be true, so she insisted on waiting for Caroline in person, needing to see it for herself.
But now, it finally hit her that Caroline was serious about the divorce.
Kirsten took a few deep breaths, trying to hide how much her heart was racing as she reached out, pretending she didn't care while going for the papers.
But Caroline's hand moved almost imperceptibly, and she pulled the divorce agreement back before Kirsten could even touch it.
Caroline held the papers just out of reach, her voice calm but firm. "But there's one catch."
Kirsten narrowed her eyes, giving Caroline a long, hard look.
'Something's definitely off,' Kirsten thought, unease prickling at her.
Turns out, Caroline wasn't the clueless airhead everyone online said she was. If anything, she was the most clear-headed person here.
"What's the condition?" Kirsten asked, her voice guarded.
"I don't want a soul to know about this divorce, not even Frederick," Caroline said, her voice steady.
"So you'll have to figure out a way to get him to sign it, without him realizing what he's actually signing," Caroline added.
Kirsten's instincts screamed this was a mission impossible, but when she saw Caroline Adkins' name signed at the bottom of the divorce agreement, she steeled herself, gritted her teeth, and nodded. "Alright, I'll do it."
Steam curled up from her coffee, making everything in front of Caroline look hazy.
Her thoughts slipped back to the first time she ever brought up divorce with Frederick.
Back then, Frederick had bought their daughter a traditional dress, bright pink, the one color she absolutely couldn't stand.
Wanting to make her happy, Caroline secretly returned the outfit and got her something new.
She didn't want to hurt Frederick's feelings, so she just told him there wasn't really anywhere for their daughter to wear it.