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Chapter 6
I called Ryan immediately after seeing the comments. “Have you lost your mind?”
“I told you, I won’t divorce you,” he said stubbornly. “Emma, isn’t this what you wanted? Being publicly known as an award–winning actor’s wife? It’s yours now.”
I laughed bitterly. “Ryan, stop pretending you know me.”
“Then what do you want?”
I smiled coldly. “Say whatever you want.”
After hanging up, I photographed the divorce papers and court summons, then quote–tweeted Ryan’s post: [Sign the papers or see you in court. Choose.] Then I turned off my phone.
I drew the blinds, counting days until our court date.
But Ryan showed up that night with a locksmith, playing the “husband card” to get in.
He walked in carrying pink roses and a designer dress. “Emma, happy fifth anniversary.”
If Ryan hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have remembered. Before, I used to plan his surprises months in advance.
To avoid being materialistic, I’d made his gifts by hand each year. A belt the first year, a wallet the second, a tie the third, a shirt the fourth.
Except for briefly using the belt and wallet, he’d trashed everything else without a glance.
What were his words back then?
I threw the dress in the trash./”What an ugly piece of trash. Ryan, stop showing me this
garbage.”
He stared at the lavender fabric in the bin, stunned. “Emma, you used to love my gifts.”
I remembered the time Ryan randomly gave me a necklace. I wore it to a premiere, glowing with pride, until I overheard Olivia’s snide comment: “Emma, that necklace looks familiar.
11:31
Too Late to Say Sorry
76.3%
Oh right, it’s the one from my donation pile.
No one knew how small I felt in that moment.
Ryan had sided with her: “Emma, know your place. Even in Cartier, you’d look like a knockoff.”
Gashi
Knockoff that word had burned like acid.
But I’d loved Ryan so much that even knowing it was Olivia’s castoff, I treasured it because he’d put it on me. I nearly framed it. Now his words only reminded me what I was worth.
“Ryan, like you said that was then. I was blind, but now I see.” The words were barely out when Olivia’s ringtone cut through the air.
Ryan rejected the call.
His phone immediately flooded with her messages:
[Ryan, everyone’s calling me a homewrecker. You can’t ghost me!]
[Ryan, I got death threats in the mail. I’m having panic attacks!]
[Ryan, don’t abandon me. Dad made you promise to look after me before he died!]
[Ryan, please answer me!]
[Ryan! Emma aborted your baby. She doesn’t love you. Why stay with that old hag?]
Ryan’s phone clattered to the floor. He stared at me, stricken. “A baby? Emma, we… we had
a baby?”
He ignored Olivia’s texts, gripping my shoulders, laughing through tears. “Emma, when?”
I pulled away from his touch,/looking at the face millions adored. “It’s gone.‘
11
Ryan froze. “Gone? What do you mean gone?” His voice cracked.
The same Ryan who hadn’t shed a tear over broken ribs from stunts now sobbed openly. His eyes were red. “Emma, Olivia’s lying, right? Tell me she’s lying. I’ll believe anything you.
11:31
Too Late to Say Sorry
Chapter &
say.‘
Crying, he reached for my stomach. I stepped back, looking at the man who no longer moved me. “A baby isn’t a reason to stay married. We’ve been over for a long time.”
I turned away, throwing back one last line: “Divorce papers are on the table. Sign them or see you in court in three days.”
I walked out of the house we’d shared for three years, past the camera flashes. If I couldn’t cleanse this place, I had to leave it.
The house was Ryan’s first big purchase, paid in full in my name. I listed it for sale and bought a new apartment.
Ryan had been wrong from the start. Growing up alone, I’d always feared empty homes.
So the day I moved in, I adopted a British Shorthair cat named Toby. Somehow Ryan found out. He showed up with premium cat food. “Emma, this is all my fault. I handled things with Olivia badly. I failed you. I know words mean nothing now. But please don’t divorce me. Emma, I can’t live without you.”
