Chapter 4

I'd seen that divorce agreement before.

Two years ago it was tucked among the files in Scott's study.

I only saw the first page before he pulled it out of my hands and closed the folder.

I asked him if he wanted a divorce.

He didn't deny it. He only said,

"Signing now would be better for you."

I slipped the ring off and threw it on the desk.

"Then let's sign."

He looked at the ring, and his face grew worse and worse.

In the end he put the agreement away, and all he said was,

"Don't sign yet."

"We'll talk once the risk has passed."

Later the agreement disappeared, and the company went back to normal.

Neither of us ever brought it up again.

I just assumed he'd weighed his interests and decided to keep the marriage for now.

But the log said:

【Day 305: She saw the agreement. She said, then let's sign. So she really does want to leave.】

【Day 306: The asset separation is done. If the company doesn't make it, I can't let her be saddled with the debt.】

【Day 319: The funds came through. The agreement can be destroyed now. She never asked, and I didn't dare explain.】

There was a photo attached.

The divorce agreement fed into a shredder, only the two broken characters of my name, Miriam, still left.

I reached out and touched the screen, brushing his name.

Then I touched my own ring finger.

That day I'd taken the ring off so readily, like I'd finally caught the proof that he didn't love me.

The proof was real. The conclusion was wrong.

There were one thousand and ninety logs in all.

I read from daybreak to dark.

【Day 856: After she fell asleep she leaned in a little. I didn't move, afraid I'd wake her. My shoulder was numb for three hours. Worth it.】

【Day 990: She said the house was too quiet. Ordered a speaker, then returned it. What she wants probably isn't sound.】

【Day 1036: The necklace is finished. Changed the engraving three times and it's still too blunt.】

The last entry was dated the day of the accident.

【Day 1090: Seven years since we met, three years married. Tonight I want to ask her whether she'd start over with me. She said she was in a meeting.】

Below it was one more line, added later in gray:

【Did I make her angry again today?】

I lay slumped over the desk and my heart clenched hard.

For those three years, I'd kept waiting for Scott to admit he loved me.

Waiting for him to explain that agreement, waiting for him to reach out and care first, but I never really opened the door either.

Everything he did, I translated into the opposite meaning.

The 20% on the screen wasn't that he only loved me 20%.

It was the 20% he'd gathered over three years from the glances and greetings I gave without thinking.

He'd treated those tiny responses like rewards and saved them into the game, so carefully.

And I never once asked him what he was waiting for.

After the last log vanished, a prompt appeared in the center of the screen.

【You have read all memories.】

【Do you choose to start over?】

【Note: This action will reset the timeline to seven years ago. You will keep all memories. The original timeline cannot be restored.】

Those words, the original timeline cannot be restored, glowed red.

I looked toward the entryway.

Scott's shoes weren't there.

There was only one set of dishes on the table, and in my phone that missed call stayed frozen at 17:38 forever.

I had nothing left to lose.

I pressed "Yes."

White light burst from the center of the screen, and the sound of a coffee machine came to my ears.

The bitterness of an iced Americano spread across my tongue.

I lifted my head and saw the Scott of seven years ago sitting across from me, his white shirt clean and pressed, the sugar packet in his hand torn in two out of nerves.

His ears were red, and he called to me hesitantly.

"Miss Jenner?"