Divorced for the 9th Time

Hannah muttered, "I saw Jake and Carla traveling together on Instagram."

I stayed silent, suddenly realizing that after every previous divorce, I had compulsively refreshed Jake and Carla's posts, torturing myself. Except this time.

Seeing my quiet, Hannah's tone softened with sympathy.

"Did you two… divorce again?"

In our circle, she was the only one who knew about my repeated marriages and divorces with Jake.

"Yeah… divorced."

Hannah sighed, offering a steady stream of comforting words.

I smiled and was about to tell her that I was leaving the country.

But before I could, I unexpectedly ran into Jake at the jewelry store.

"Alison," he called out instinctively.

Carla, linking her arm with his, greeted me warmly. "Alison! You're looking at jewelry too?"

She was undeniably beautiful—it was no wonder she had been Jake's first love.

In the past, every encounter like this had me staring at Carla as though she were my enemy.

Jake shot me a long, penetrating look and positioned half his body in front of her, shielding her behind him.

I stopped my impulsive friend, smiled, and replied calmly, "I've got some good news recently, so I'm buying a little gift for myself."

Hannah added, with perfect timing, "Yes! Dumped the scumbag, and someone else conveniently steps in—wouldn't you call that good news?"

I pinched her hand playfully, but couldn't help giving her comment an internal thumbs-up.

Jake opened his mouth but, seeing us laughing together, ultimately stayed silent.

The sales assistant, perceptive, noticed the tension and called a colleague to attend to us separately.

Hannah whispered that Jake, while wandering the store, had occasionally spaced out, glancing in our direction.

I simply nodded, assuming he felt a twinge of guilt.

"Sorry, ma'am, this style is sold out."

Hannah had been eyeing a clover-shaped necklace in the display, but now she looked disappointed.

Something clicked in my mind—the design was familiar. It was exactly the necklace Jake had given me three days before our divorce.

In the past, every small gesture from him had been my treasure. This time, though, I took the necklace from my bag and handed it to her.

"Here, you can have this."

At that moment, Jake and Carla were walking past us. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but I thought I saw him glance several times at the necklace in Hannah's hand.

Hannah tried to refuse, but I pressed it into her palm. After all, it was only a gift meant to soothe me—a trivial thing. The one who gave it… was already my ex-husband.

…

I had thought that meeting him there would be our last encounter.

But ten days before my departure, I told my boss I would be resigning, then wandered the neighborhood feeling a little melancholic.

A tall figure emerging from the shadows among the trees startled me.

I was about to scream when someone covered my mouth.

"Alison. It's me."

Jake's face appeared.

I broke free from his hand, taking a few hurried steps back.

He looked down at my hand, which I had wrenched away, his expression unreadable.

"Why are you here? You didn't even say a word." My impatience was plain.

"Passing by." His eyes shifted, thoughtful. "I wanted to surprise you."

I was momentarily speechless—but of course. If this were the old days, a Jake who came looking for me voluntarily would have been a gift I'd prayed for.

Under the moonlight, his gaze held a hint of confusion as he looked at me.

I sighed, tempted to tell him the truth, but held back—not wanting any extra complications.

"Don't leave Carla wondering. She might misunderstand." I spoke carefully, trying to reason.

"Misunderstand what? There's nothing going on between me and her."

Jake lied.

I tilted my head, didn't correct him, and said simply, "Whether there's something or not, I'm just an ex-wife."