Divorce—This Time for Good

I, Xavier Locke, had married the same woman, Melanie Slater, seven times.

But for the sake of her first love, Leonard Blueman, she divorced me seven times.

The first time we got married, she told me, "I'll only love you for the rest of my life."

But every time Leonard came back to the country, she sang a different tune. "Can't you be more sensible? How can you bear to stand by and let Lenny be called a homewrecker who snatches a married woman from her husband?"

The first time we divorced, I cut my wrists to make her stay. I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, but she never showed up even once to see me.

The third time we divorced, I humbled myself and applied to be her assistant at her company. I did that just so I could see her a little more.

By the sixth divorce, I had learned to quietly pack my things and move out of the home we shared.

My hysteria, my repeated backing down, and my tolerant compromises brought me nothing—just Melanie repeatedly divorcing and remarrying me. Time and time again, she pulled the same trick.

With history repeating itself, I decided enough was enough. After hearing that Leonard was coming back again, this time, I handed her the divorce papers myself.

As always, she set a date for our next remarriage. But what she didn't know… was that I was leaving for good this time.

"Leonard is back in the country again. Let's get divorced."

I, Xavier Locke, handed the signed divorce papers to my wife, Melanie Slater, with a numb expression.

For a brief moment, Melanie looked startled, but she quickly regained her composure. With practiced ease, she signed her name on the agreement.

Just like the previous six times, she casually made the same promise. "Lenny will leave in a month. I'll remarry you by then."

Even in the past, those words had never given me any sense of security. I'd force her to swear on it or sign a written promise. But this time, I felt nothing at all. I couldn't even muster up the desire to respond to her.

"Xavier, are you even listening to me?" Melanie frowned, clearly dissatisfied with my silence.

I nodded slightly and replied, "Yeah."

My hands didn't stop moving as I folded my clothes one by one and packed them neatly into the suitcase.

Whenever Melanie said we would remarry, she always kept her word. In the business circle, it was widely known that she was a woman of her word. There was no doubt about that.

It was just that our relationship didn't feel like a marriage in the traditional sense. We were more like business partners, signing and renewing agreements at a scheduled time. For marriage. Or... for divorce.

Each year, I would sign those two "agreements". Up until now, I had signed them 13 times.

I remembered what she said to me at our first wedding. She promised that she would never betray me during our marriage. Indeed, she never did.

After all, once the divorce was finalized, she was free to be with whoever she wanted to be with. The only price was that I became known to everyone as a convenient boy toy whom she could summon and dismiss as she pleased.

But my calmness that day seemed to throw Melanie off balance. After all, she vividly remembered how hysterical I had gotten, to the extent of harming myself, during our previous divorces.

Now, as she watched me pack faster and more efficiently than before, she sounded somewhat uneasy when she spoke. She suggested, "Maybe this time, I should move out instead…"

With a loud click, I closed the large suitcase, cutting off her unfinished sentence.

"I already told a friend I'd stay at his place for a few days," I said in a deadpan voice.

Melanie's expression soured, as if something suddenly occurred to her.

She sneered, "Don't tell me you're playing hard to get now, but you'll show up as my assistant again to secretly keep tabs on me? Can't you find something of your own to do? Is it really that hard living without a woman?"

I instantly understood the implicit meaning behind her words. She didn't want me hanging around her office, lest I interfere with Leonard and her canoodling.

After all, Leonard rarely came back to the country. So, of course, Melanie wanted him to stay by her side at all times as her main assistant.