My 33 Humiliations

Benedict sounded worried, as if he feared I would take these words seriously.

“Mm, I know,” I said calmly, which seemed to surprise him.

The silence stretched on before he continued, “Eighteenth of next month is a good date.

“Let’s have our wedding ceremony then.”

I gripped the phone, my fingers tightening unconsciously.

After a pause, I decided I should tell Benedict about the divorce.

“Do you have time tomorrow? The divorce agreement…”

Before I could finish, Anna’s voice suddenly came through the line.

“Are you going to pack or not, Benedict? Hurry up and come over here.”

Benedict dropped his voice but still sounded flustered.

“What did you say, Maya? I didn’t catch that.

“Look, I have to accompany Anna abroad tomorrow for an exhibition. Let’s talk about it when I get back.”

Then the call ended.

I smiled.

I had wanted to speak to him in person, but in the end, he had not given me the chance.

In the following days, I successfully resigned from the company, packed all my belongings, and moved to a new home.

Occasionally, Benedict sent me pictures of wedding decorations.

[So many styles for the wedding…Which do you like?

[The seaside would make a nice venue. What do you think?]

I looked at the exquisite designs without emotion.

Three years of registering our marriage had brought countless expectations and disappointments.

Now that I was leaving, he finally seemed to care about the wedding.

Meanwhile, Anna’s social feed was updated daily.

Either a sweet photo of the two of them or a carefully prepared surprise video from Benedict.

On the day before the scheduled wedding and the last day of the divorce cooling-off period, Anna’s feed featured a proposal video.

In the video, Anna wore a pure white wedding gown, standing in a blooming flower garden.

Benedict knelt on one knee, holding a sparkling diamond ring.

The people around them cheered, “Kiss her!”

The final frame froze on Benedict smiling as he tightly held Anna in his arms.

I watched quietly, and commented [Congratulations], and then promptly blocked Anna.

Soon after, I received a call from Benedict.

He sounded happy.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, Maya.

“The wedding planner has everything arranged. Once I return, we can hold the wedding immediately.”

The next morning, I did not go to the seaside wedding.

By noon, I had not received any calls from Benedict asking why I had skipped it.

It wasn’t until evening that he returned, looking exhausted.

He gazed at me on the sofa, his eyes flickering with guilt and unease.

“Anna wasn’t feeling well, so we had to delay our flight.

“But don’t worry. I promise I’ll make it work next time.”

I was unmoved.

As expected, at the thirty-third wedding ceremony, he had failed to show up once again.

I watched him quietly and pushed the divorce agreement I had prepared onto the table.

“No need for that. It’s over now. Let’s get the divorce finalized.”