Chapter 4: Divorce Is Forever

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Owen’s brows knit tightly.

He said, "If you want to separate, you’ll have to come to the family meeting and explain your reasons to Grandpa Owen."

In other words, separation wasn’t up to me alone.

Just then, Maddie started crying for her mom. Owen changed into his suit and left for work. The matter of separation was left unresolved.

But now that the thought had taken root, my heart grew more restless by the day.

Fortunately, someone soon helped me get my wish—

Deep in the backyard, I saw Lila tugging at Owen’s sleeve, asking, "What are we now?"

Her voice was soft, but her nails dug into his arm. I watched from behind a screen of magnolia trees, heart in my throat. "When I first came back a few days ago, my parents favored my younger sister. It was you who supported me. Why are you avoiding me now?"

Owen said nothing. Lila’s eyes reddened. "Was I just being sentimental?"

The leaves rustled in the breeze. Their gazes met.

Owen finally spoke, "How could you not know how I feel about you? Even if I get divorced, it would be a second marriage for you, and that wouldn’t be fair. Now that you’ve done so much for the community, you could marry into a good family."

So, he wouldn’t agree to divorce—not because he couldn’t let me go, but because he wanted to protect Lila.

Lila bit her lip stubbornly. "I only want you. You know, if you don’t marry me now, you may never see me again..."

I returned to the Owen house. Owen came back the next morning, his eyes flashing with guilt. He seemed at a loss for words.

"Aubrey, you’ve been through a lot these years."

I looked at him calmly. He took a deep breath and said slowly:

"I have an old friend. She’s on the list for a White House internship. The President, grateful for her charity work, wants to select her for a high-profile role. But with her personality, how could she do that?"

I understood.

I smiled bitterly, about to ask for a separation agreement, when I heard him say:

"Time is short. I can only give you divorce papers."

My ears rang. Divorce. Not separation. The word felt like a sentence.

I was stunned.

Divorce and mutual separation are not the same. I don’t believe Owen doesn’t know how much more damaging a divorce is to a woman.

If a woman is divorced, it means she’s been judged and labeled. She’ll be looked down upon for life.

In Silver Hollow, a divorce stuck to you like a stain—one everyone could see.

"Don’t worry. Though it’s divorce papers, it’s no different from a separation. You can take all your things. If it’s not enough, I’ll give you more."

I, an orphan girl, came to the Owen family only because I saved Owen when he fell from a hiking trail—what did I ever have?

Until today, I had even hoped to take Maddie with me. But she can’t follow a mother who’s been divorced; her whole life would be ruined.

A divorce paper—

As light as a feather, it fell, severing all ties of three years.

Owen said, "You were never a native of the city. You must not have adapted to life here. I’ll send you back south, to avoid the gossip for a while."

He arranged everything. He never gave me a choice.

Just like that, I took a meager box of things and the ten thousand dollars the Owen family gave me, and was sent to Savannah. No set date of return.

The day I left, the Greyhound bus rattled down the road. On the curb, there was a wedding parade, music blaring. My three years—like a cruel joke.

Through the foggy bus window, I watched the parade pass—bridesmaids laughing, a flower girl tossing petals, the faint echo of "Here Comes the Bride" blending with the rumble of the Greyhound engine. I pressed my hand to my belly, numb. I left Silver Hollow behind, but it never truly left me.