Our Anniversary, You Chose Her – I Chose Divorce

The memory felt distant. Chloe Reed froze for a moment before it all came back to her.

Back in freshman year, she had wanted to get closer to Walker Grant and confess her feelings, so she wrote him a letter. After finding out which dorm he lived in, she waited for him by the entrance to the building.

That was when Miles Hawthorne saw her. He walked right over with a smile and asked, ”Who are you looking for?”

Chloe Reed had been terribly shy back then, but her eyes were sparkling. ”I’m looking for Walker Grant.”

”He’s my roommate. What do you need him for?” Miles Hawthorne asked.

Hearing this, Chloe Reed’s eyes instantly lit up. She handed him the envelope in her hand. ”In that case, can you give this to him for me?”

Miles Hawthorne glanced at the envelope and raised an eyebrow. ”A love letter, huh.”

”It’s not...” Flustered at being found out, Chloe Reed was extremely shy. ”Anyway, thank you for your trouble! Thanks!”

With that, she turned and ran off.

As the memory flooded back, a smile appeared on Chloe Reed’s face. ”It’s you. I haven’t seen you in so many years. What have you been up to?”

Miles Hawthorne sighed. ”My family shipped me off abroad before I even graduated. Once my time was up, I came back. Simple as that.”

He looked at her pale face and red-rimmed eyes, asking in confusion, ”What are you doing on the street by yourself? You don’t look well. Are you feeling sick?”

Chloe Reed shook her head. ”I’m fine.”

Miles Hawthorne said, ”Where are you headed? I can give you a ride. It’s not safe for you to be wandering the streets like this.”

Chloe Reed forced a slight smile. ”Thank you, but it’s okay. I’ll just get a cab home.”

Something was clearly wrong with her.

Miles Hawthorne’s brow furrowed. He took her by the arm. ”You’re in no state to be by yourself; I can’t just let you go off alone. Let me give you a ride. I’m Walker’s friend, and since you and he are married, that makes us friends too. Come on, I’ll take you.”

Chloe Reed was indeed in a very unstable state. She smiled at Miles Hawthorne. ”Thank you.”

”Don’t be so formal.” Miles Hawthorne helped her into the car, then got in and sat beside her. ”You know,” he began, ”it’s still a bit of a shame I couldn’t make it back for your wedding. I even played a part in you two getting together.”

Chloe Reed lowered her gaze, tightly clutching the hem of her clothes.

Miles Hawthorne looked at her suspiciously. ”Did you two... have a fight?”

Chloe Reed looked at him and said, ”You didn’t make it for the wedding, but you’re here for the divorce.”

”What?!” Miles Hawthorne was stunned. ”You’re getting a divorce? But you two were so good together, and you’ve been married for years. Why the sudden divorce?”

Chloe Reed said, ”He’s fallen in love with his sister-in-law.”

”Impossible.”

Miles Hawthorne immediately refuted it. ”I may not have seen him in years, but I know how much he loves you. He could never fall for someone else, let alone his sister-in-law.”

Chloe Reed’s lips curled into a scornful smile. ”Stop the car. I’ll get home on my own.”

But Miles Hawthorne’s brow was knitted. ”Isn’t there some kind of misunderstanding? Why don’t I ask him for you?”

”That won’t be necessary.” Chloe Reed’s tone turned cold. ”Stop the car.”

Her expression was just as cold. Seeing this, Miles Hawthorne didn’t press the issue. ”No, don’t worry, we’re almost there. I won’t ask again.”

The atmosphere in the car turned heavy. When they arrived, Chloe Reed got out and walked away without a single look back.

”Not even a thank you?”

Watching her retreating back, Miles Hawthorne murmured, then pulled his gaze away. ”Go straight to the hospital,” he said.