Hailey Tang froze in place, blinking as if she'd misheard.
What did he just say?
Ethan Yu. Apologizing.
And giving her… a diamond ring?
Not just any ring either, but one that screamed "lifetime commitment," not "amicable divorce."
Had he hit his head?
She opened her mouth to speak, but Grandpa Hai beat her to it with a hearty laugh.
"So this is what all the fuss was about? A silly fight and now you two are talking divorce?" He chuckled as he turned to her. "Come on, Hailey. Ethan's apologized. He even gave you a ring. Don't be petty. Forget the divorce."
"No, Grandpa, that's not what this is about!" Hailey snapped the box shut and pushed it back toward Ethan like it was a cursed object. "I don't want this. You know this isn't what I want!"
Ethan furrowed his brows slightly. "Then what do you want? If you don't like this one, we can go pick a different ring. Any store, any size. You choose."
Hailey stared at him in disbelief. "Ethan Yu, are you seriously pretending not to understand what's going on here? We agreed. You said—once you got back—we'd sign the papers!"
A slow, enigmatic smile curved on Ethan's lips. His voice dropped into that calm, maddeningly self-assured tone of his. "And when exactly did I agree to that?"
Hailey blinked. "What?"
"I don't recall ever saying I wanted a divorce," he said plainly, like they were discussing the weather.
She was so stunned she couldn't even speak.
Sure, maybe he hadn't said the words out loud, but—
"You had the divorce papers drafted!" she yelled. "You told me you agreed to the terms. You said once you left, we'd go our separate ways, never speak again! We both agreed to this, Ethan. You can't just back out now!"
Ethan gave a small, almost lazy nod. "I remember saying those things. But I also remember being angry when I said them. People say stupid stuff when they're mad. Don't tell me you've never done the same."
"I haven't! I was serious!" Hailey protested, arms crossed like a barricade.
"You seriously think I've hated you all this time?" Ethan asked, eyes narrowing. "I don't get it, Hailey. Why are you so eager to get rid of me?"
"Because I don't love you anymore!" The words burst out of her like a reflex.
The silence that followed was thunderous.
For a second, something flickered in Ethan's gaze—something dark and unreadable—but it vanished as fast as it came. He smiled, slow and unbothered, as if she'd just said it might rain tomorrow.
"That's fine," he said simply. "Love can come later. We're already married. Falling in love after is pretty common these days."
Hailey gawked at him. "What the hell are you even talking about?!"
Was this the same Ethan Yu she knew? The one who used to scowl if she stood too close, who once went a week without speaking to her over a misplaced coffee mug?
Grandpa Hai chuckled again, sipping his tea like this was his favorite soap opera. "He's right, Hailey. Feelings change. You used to love Ethan so much. You cried for three days when he went overseas, remember?"
"I was eighteen!" Hailey practically shouted. "Grandpa, this isn't some teenage crush. I don't want to be with him anymore. I'm not playing around—I really want a divorce."
Grandpa Hai raised a wise old eyebrow and sipped his tea again before calmly replying, "Funny. I remember when you said the exact opposite. Said you were deeply in love, that he was the one, and you'd never let him go. That you were serious about marrying him."
Hailey sputtered. "That was different!"
"Was it?" Grandpa Hai stood up, brushing imaginary dust off his sleeves like a mafia boss wrapping up a negotiation. "To be honest, I can't tell anymore when you're being serious and when you're just throwing a tantrum. So let's keep the marriage for now. Who knows? You might want to marry him again next week."
"Grandpa, I swear—I won't! This time, I mean it. I don't want to marry him again. I won't change my mind!"
"Perfect," he said with a smile. "Then let's revisit this a year from now."
"A year?!" Hailey jumped to her feet like she'd been electrocuted. "You're giving me a one-year probation period for my own divorce?! That's insane!"
"Exactly," Grandpa Hai said calmly, already heading toward the stairs. "Insane enough to work. We'll talk again in 365 days. Until then, consider it a trial marriage. And no more talk of lawyers."
Hailey stood there, dumbfounded, as the echo of his footsteps faded.
She looked back at Ethan, still lounging there like he hadn't just detonated every plan she had for the rest of her life.
He gave her a lazy smile.
"Looks like we've got a whole year together, Mrs. Yu."
Hailey's eye twitched. "Don't call me that."
"Okay," he said with a shrug. "Hailey. Darling. Babe. Pick one."
She made a strangled sound and stormed upstairs, mentally drafting a hit list titled People Who Ruined My Life, with Ethan Yu's name carved at the top in bold red ink.