Chapter 290 The Divorce
Standing just outside the Civil Affairs Bureau, Amelia stared blankly at the divorce certificate in her hand. To her, the piece of paper seemed somewhat dreadful, for some reason.
When Oscar reached out to stroke her hair, Amelia lifted her head and gazed at the man with her sad eyes. At that moment, it was clear to her that Oscar had officially become her ex-husband.
“What are you thinking about?” Troubled by Amelia’s sorrowful look, Oscar wanted to cradle her cheek, but she quickly evaded his hand.
“Oscar, now that we’re officially divorced, I wish you all the best in marrying Ms. Yard. However, I don’t think it’s necessary for me to attend your wedding,” stated Amelia before forcing a smile at Oscar.
“No matter what, you’ll always be my wife!” promised Oscar with sheer determination in his eyes.
In response to that, Amelia said nothing but smiled wryly. Since their marriage had already ended, she could only assume that Oscar was kidding.
“I’ve already asked Kurt to send my things over to Tiffany’s place. I’ll be staying with her tonight, and hopefully, I can get myself a new place tomorrow.” Amelia quickly changed the subject while avoiding Oscar’s deep gaze as if it was a black hole ready to suck her in.
Still, the man continued fixing his gaze on her. “I’ve already transferred the city apartment to your name, so you can move there anytime if you don’t feel like staying at the villa. I’m sure you’ll feel right at home.”
“Sure.” Amelia was slightly stunned but still refused to look at her ex-husband. The two lived together at the apartment for five years, so naturally, every inch of the place would remind her of Oscar. Although Amelia was unsure if she would ever have the chance to return there, it would always have a special place in her heart.
“Promise that you’ll call me if you ever need anything, okay?” Seemingly in a good mood, Oscar gave his ex-wife a half-smile.
When Amelia saw Oscar’s nonchalant demeanor, she could not help but wonder if the man was even slightly troubled by their divorce. Has he been looking forward to this day? We just lost our marriage, so why doesn’t he look sad at all?
As much as Amelia wanted to question Oscar, she knew well that it was pointless to do so.
“I have to go now. Tiff is probably waiting for me.”
“I can give you a ride,” offered Oscar casually with his hands in the pockets.
“You don’t have to do that. I can get there just fine on my own.” Amelia waved her hand and refused the offer, for deep down, she knew that it was best to avoid further contact with Oscar. If she allowed the man to care for her in any way, she feared that she would fall for him once again.
“I insist. Come on, get in the car.” Oscar showed no sign of backing down, however.
After taking two steps back, Amelia looked intently at her ex-husband as if her eyes could beg him to let her go. “Oscar, we are divorced!”
In response to that, Oscar only raised a brow. The look on his face seemed like it was saying, “Yeah, I know we’re divorced, but so what?”
“Please just forget about me, Oscar! I’m begging you! We’re divorced now, so you don’t owe me anything. Do you understand that? Stop caring for me like that! You’re only making this harder for me. Please! Don’t give me hope,” pleaded Amelia half-cryingly with the certificate still in her hand.
“But I want you to have hope for us. Think of it as a short getaway. We’ll be back together in no time. You’ll see,” promised Oscar after stepping forward to hold his ex-wife tightly by the hand.
Amelia was nothing but dumbfounded when she heard the man’s seemingly ridiculous words. She could not believe how her ex-husband acted as if nothing had happened when they had both signed the papers for divorce.
Convinced that Oscar did not love her as much as she thought, Amelia shook her head in disappointment. Maybe it was all just in my head; Maybe I never really mattered to him. He would never have just let me go like that if he genuinely cared about me. I suppose that can be a good thing. It’s a relief to know that he can move on just fine without me. Now I can leave this city without any worries.
Still and all, Amelia insisted on getting her own ride. “I’m leaving.”
“Get in now, or I’ll be forced to carry you in.”
Like an arguing couple, the two then had a staring contest before Amelia finally gave in.
Seeing his ex-wife making her way into the car, Oscar smirked while he got into the driver’s seat.
As usual, Oscar fastened Amelia’s seatbelt for her before running his fingers over her cheek. “Sit tight.”
Touching her caressed cheek, Amelia could not help being stupefied by Oscar’s gentle gesture. The fact that her ex-husband treated her like always made her feel like the divorce certificate she just got was nothing but a big fat joke. Actually, they did not even have to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to sign the papers, for the attorneys could have taken care of everything. Oscar was only there because Amelia asked him to go with her.
“Since you’ve already signed the papers, two suburban villas and several apartments will be transferred to your name. The profits from the stocks will also be credited to your account regularly. Even if you decided that you don’t want to work anymore, you shouldn’t have any financial problem taking care of yourself or Tony,” reminded Oscar with his eyes on the road.
To that, Amelia opened her mouth, but not a word came out of it. She wanted to tell Oscar that he did not have to do all that because she planned on closing all her accounts before leaving the city. In order to cut all ties with the Clintons, Amelia was ready to disappear.
However, she just could not bring herself to tell Oscar that it was over for them and that they were nobody to each other.
“Oscar, if you ever marry someone else in the future, will you forget about Tony and me?” inquired Amelia softly as she leaned back in the passenger’s seat.
After glancing at the woman, Oscar smirked again before replying confidently, “Never!”
Naturally, Amelia smiled at the sound of that. That’s all I needed to hear him say.
After that, the two remained silent for the rest of the journey until they reached Tiffany’s place.
Amelia then unfastened her seatbelt and got out of the car before Tiffany hurried over to greet her. “Are you okay, Amelia?” asked Tiffany curiously after taking a look at the woman, who only smiled in response.
When Oscar, too, got out of the vehicle, Tiffany tried to lighten up the mood. “Hey, Mr. Clinton! You’re here! You have no idea what an honor it is to have someone like you visit my humble abode.”
Without a word, the man only glanced at Tiffany before shifting his attention back onto Amelia.
“Mr. Clinton, if I’m not mistaken, you and Amelia are now divorced, right? That means you two are going your separate ways now, so I’m sure someone important like you must be needed elsewhere,” reminded Tiffany as she purposely stood between the two newly divorced individuals.
Still, Oscar’s eyes remained glued onto Amelia as if he did not hear a single word Tiffany said.
With her teeth clenched, Tiffany tried to remain calm, even though Oscar’s lack of response was less than polite. “Mr. Clinton, don’t you think you ought to be more courteous with me? Seeing how you’ll have to go through me if you want to see Amelia from now on, I would suggest that you be more friendly with me.”
Then, Amelia patted Tiffany on the back and motioned for the woman to stop fooling around, for she did not intend for Oscar to find out that she had planned to leave the city.
Pouting, Tiffany decided to turn around and talk to her friend instead. “What do you say we go inside, Babe? Tony is dying to see you!”
After nodding at Tiffany, Amelia turned to her ex-husband. “Thanks for the ride, Oscar. You should go now.”
“I’ll see you and Tony tomorrow.”
“Tiff and I have something we have to do tomorrow, and we’re planning to take Tony out the day after that. And the day after that, Tiff and I will be going to her favorite art gallery. I’m afraid we won’t be available for the next three days. Maybe you can come and see Tony on the fourth day? We just got divorced, so I’m sure you understand that I don’t really want to see you again so soon, right? Please?” begged Amelia earnestly, for she needed time to arrange everything before moving out of the city. She assumed that she would never return, so she had already planned to sever all ties with everyone and everything there and turn them into nothing but memories.
Oscar decided to agree to his ex-wife’s request. “Sure. I’ll stay away for three days and be back on the fourth.”
After that, he turned to Tiffany and reminded her, “Tiffany, take good care of Amelia for me. I’ll be back soon.”
“I’m sure I don’t need you to remind me about that, Mr. Clinton. However, you probably need a reminder that you and Amelia are now divorced. She’s no longer your wife, so I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve with that caring-husband act.”
Oscar ignored Tiffany and turned back to look at Amelia instead. “Take care of yourself, okay? Call me if you need anything. Anything at all.”
To that, Amelia remained silent while she kept her head down.
The man then took one last look at his ex-wife before driving away.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Amelia?” inquired Tiffany after the vehicle zoomed out of sight.
Amelia smiled wryly once again before replying softly, “Let’s go inside, Tiff.”
Only when they were finally alone in the elevator did Amelia burst out crying. It felt like the sadness she had built up inside of her over the past few days broke out in an instant.
Unsure of what else to do, Tiffany patted Amelia on the back, trying to console her friend. “It’s okay; I’m here. Let it out. Let it all out. I’ll stay here with you until you feel better.”
Whenever the elevator reached her apartment’s floor, Tiffany would press the button for the ground floor; Whenever they reached the ground floor, she would then press the button for the top floor. For almost the entire day, Tiffany kept repeating the cycle so that Amelia could let out all the sadness buried deep inside. When Amelia was finally done, Tiffany’s shirt was already drenched in tears, not to mention her stiff shoulder.
“Sorry, Tiff,” Amelia apologized in a hoarse voice while looking embarrassedly at her friend’s soaked shirt.
“Don’t worry about it. Did you let it all out?”
“I want to get drunk, Tiff. Stupid drunk. Will you join me? I don’t know if I’ll ever get another chance if I don’t do this tonight,” stated Amelia with a half-smile.
Tiffany knew what her friend was going through, and she wasn’t about to let her friend go at it alone. “You bet! We’ll get so drunk that you won’t even remember who you are.”
“Thank you, Tiff.”
“Hey, what are friends for, right?”
After hearing that, Amelia let out a wide smile. She was finally feeling better again.
