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“What divorce papers are you talking about?”
I froze at the sound of Pa Greg‘ s voice. Keith and I both turned to look at him, and the shock on his face was like a punch to my gut. His hand clutched his chest as if what he had heard was too much to bear.
“Grandpa!” Keith shouted, rushing to his side before he could collapse.
Panic gripped me. “Is he alright?” I asked, my voice trembling. I couldn’t breathe, my heart racing as I watched Keith try to steady him.
“I think he’s having a heart attack,” Keith said urgently. Without wasting a second, he scooped Pa Greg into his arms and carried him out. Sally, Pa Greg’s personal maid, followed closely behind, helping where she could.
I felt frozen, useless. But I managed to pull
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myself together and hurried to grab another car to the hospital. The entire ride. there, I couldn’t stop replaying the moment over and over in my head. My words, his face, the way his hand gripped his chest–it haunted me.
When I got to the hospital, I was stunned to see Georgia already there. How did she always manage to show up so quickly? Before I could even process anything, she stormed up to me, her face twisted with anger. Without warning, she slapped me hard across the face.
“How dare you do this to Pa Greg?” she hissed, her voice sharp and accusing. “After everything he’s done for our family, this is how you pay him back?”
I stared at her, holding my stinging cheek. I knew her too well. Her words were dripping with fake concern, but I could see the truth in her eyes. She was happy.
Happy that Pa Greg was hurt. After all, he never liked her, and she knew it. She was
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acting, playing the part of the perfect in- law, but deep down, she was enjoying every second of this.
My anger boiled over, and before I knew it, I slapped her back. The sound echoed in the hospital corridor, and Georgia’s face.
contorted in shock.
“You…” she started, but before she could. say another word, Keith appeared. He walked straight up to me, his expression. livid.
“What is wrong with you?” he shouted. “You‘ re unbelievable, Eden. I don’t even know why Grandpa loves you so much. You don‘ t deserve it. You don‘ t
deserve any of it.”
His words cut deep, but I didn’t let him see it. Instead, I took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye.
“Keith, if you don‘ t love me, you don’t have to worry anymore,” I said calmly, though my voice wavered slightly.
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“Because I will bring the divorce papers tomorrow. You‘ re going to sign them, and that will be the end of it. We’ll finally go our separate ways, and you’ll have your chance to be with Georgia again.”
For a moment, everything fell silent. I watched Keith‘ s face, trying to read his reaction, but it was blank. I shifted my gaze to Georgia, and what I saw nearly made me laugh. Her face was a mix of shock and something else–a twisted kind of happiness. She was happy I had said the word “divorce.” Happy that I was giving up. After all, it’s what she’s always wanted.
And there it was–written all over her face.
The look on Georgia‘ s face when I said it was filled with shock… like she was happily shocked that I had finally talked about divorce. After all, she wanted Keith so badly.
But she could have him. I was done.
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“Keith, you didn’t tell me that Eden wants a divorce,” Georgia said happily, her voice practically dripping with excitement. “That should be great news for both of us, because now we can finally be together again.”
Keith didn’t respond. He just sat there, silent, his expression unreadable. He was acting indifferent, as though her words didn’t matter to him at all.
Before anyone could say another word, the doctor walked in. “Mr. Greg is stable now,” he said, looking at Keith. “He suffered a shock that triggered his heart attack, but he’s doing fine. He just needs. some rest and minimal stress.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was
holding. That was all I needed to hear. Pa Greg was okay. I didn’t even wait for the
doctor to finish. I turned and walked out of
the hospital. There was no point sticking around.
When I got home, I went straight to take a
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long, hot bath. The water helped calm my nerves, but it couldn’t wash away the heaviness in my chest.
I had just stepped out of the bathroom, wrapping myself in a towel, when I froze. Keith was in my room. Standing there like he had every right to be. I blinked, shocked to see him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, but he didn’t answer the question.
Instead, he looked at me calmly. “Sally‘ s with Grandpa. That’s why I left the hospital,” he said, as though that explained everything.
I didn’t bother replying. I walked to my side of the bed, ignoring him entirely. I climbed under the covers, turning my back
to him.
“Can we talk?” I heard him say softly.
I didn’t respond. I kept my eyes closed, pretending I was already asleep.
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His voice broke the silence again. “We cannot divorce each other, Eden.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from snapping at him. That was his business,
not mine.
“You saw what happened to my grandfather,” he continued. “He wants
us to stay married. He really wants us to be husband and wife. If we don’t, it could hurt him again. And I can’t let that happen. We have to stay like this… for him.”
I stayed quiet, breathing steadily. I could feel his eyes on me, waiting for a reaction, but I gave him nothing. Eventually, he must have thought I was asleep because he stopped talking.
I woke up early the next morning, determined to settle this once and for all. I dressed quickly and left the house to get the divorce papers drawn up. I didn’t care what Keith or anyone else thought. This marriage was over.
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When I returned home, I found Keith sitting at the dining table with Georgia. They were having breakfast together, laughing about something as though everything was perfectly fine. Georgia‘ s smile stretched wide as she saw me, like she was enjoying the little show.
I didn’t care. I walked straight to the table and slammed the divorce papers down in front of Keith.
“Sign it,” I said coldly, my voice firm.
Keith’s fork froze mid–air. He turned to
look at me, shock clearly written all over his face. Georgia‘ s smug expression faltered, but I ignored her completely.
“Eden, I thought we talked about this last night,” Keith said, his voice low and measured, as if trying to stay calm.
He pushed the papers to one side, like they meant nothing. “I’m not signing any
papers.
