Ninety-Nine Pardons

Connor grabbed her hand. His eyes sparkled in delight.

“Got it, Ms. Lawson. You’re so good to me!”

She was indeed very good to him.

At that moment, the alcohol caught in my throat. The burn stung my eyes.

I told myself it was fine.

After all, only two cards were left.

…

After the celebration, I walked over to the passenger seat as usual and reached for the door.

Just as my hand touched it, I heard the click of the lock.

Yvette rolled down the window and looked at me with cold indifference.

“Take a cab. I just had the car washed. You smell like alcohol. It’s disgusting!”

She seemed to have forgotten where that smell came from. Her eyes were full of disgust.

If it had been any other time, I would have rushed to rinse my mouth as I tried to explain, “It’s just a little alcohol. It doesn’t smell that bad.”

I might even have broken down and demanded with teary eyes, “Why did you make me apologize for Connor earlier?”

This time, I only smiled and nodded.

“Okay. Drive safe.”

Yvette loosened her grip on the steering wheel and instinctively turned to me.

“Yoel, you…”

She had just started when Connor smiled and pushed me aside.

“Ms. Lawson, I’m ready. Let’s go.”

His suit reeked of alcohol.

It must have been from when he knocked over the champagne tower earlier.

Yvette did not mind at all. She opened the car door for him.

“It’s cold outside! Don’t catch a cold.”

Only then did she remember me. Guilt shone in her eyes.

“Don’t misunderstand, okay? Connor just graduated and doesn’t know much yet, so I take extra care of him.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

To make sure she believed me, I added, “You already used a make-up card, didn’t you? I won’t be angry.”

Yvette paused. She seemed to want to say something, but Connor sneezed. Her attention immediately shifted back to him.

“Get home safe.”

After saying that, they drove away.

I watched the car fade into the distance and could not stop myself from shivering.

When I got home, I took the jar that held the make-up cards out of the closet.

The slips of paper used to be easy to grab, but this time, I felt around for a long while before I finally pulled one out.

After tearing up the ninety-seventh make-up card, I turned on my computer and began drafting a divorce agreement with Yvette.

To keep things fair, I called my mentor, Ethan Cole.

“Mr. Cole, if I divorce Yvette, how should we divide the assets?”

Ethan was taken aback.

“Divorce? Why?

“Everyone at the college knows that Yvette proposed to you ninety-nine times back then. People still talk about it as a great love story. How did things end up like this?”

How did it come to this?

It might have started with the men’s cologne on her that grew stronger every day, with how often she stopped coming home, and with the make-up cards in the jar disappearing one by one because of Connor.

I knew then that there was no going back.

When I stayed silent, Ethan did not try to talk me out of it anymore. He only asked, “I’ll help you draft the divorce agreement. When do you need it?”

I turned to look at the jar and said in a flat voice, “When Yvette uses her last two chances.”

As soon as I finished speaking, someone pushed the door open.

“What chances?”

Yvette stepped inside with a paper bag in her hand. She sounded very confused.