Chapter 16
With a deatening crack in the sky, rain poured down like a watertall, splashing in all directions.
A black Maybach sped through the storm, like a lone boat in a raging sea.
Inside the car, Samuel was frowning at his phone. He couldn’t get through Catherine.
Today was the last day of their cooling–off period. Originally, he planned to cancel their divorce at the courthouse, but the staff told him that she didn’t show up. And she hadn’t answered his calls either.
He would’ve let her off if she didn’t pick up his calls before, but today was the day of their divorce. No matter how furious she was, she’d definitely show up. Now that she refused to show up at all, did that mean she didn’t want to separate with him?
Samuel’s eyes lit up. That must be it!
Catherine was completely besotted with him. How could she possibly divorce him?
In that case, he’d go to the courthouse alone to cancel the divorce. He could even give her a surprise. With this thought, he urged the driver to go faster. “Noted, Mr. Lynch.”
Soon, the Maybach came to a halt in front of the courthouse. Without even using an umbrella, Samuel strode right inside.
“Hi. I’m here to withdraw my divorce petition against Ms. Catherine Jackanan,” he said hastily.
If he’d shown up any later, the divorce would’ve been finalized.
“Alright. Please give us a moment,” said the staff member as he navigated the system on the computer.
But shortly after, he glanced up at Samuel.
“Sorry, Mr. Lynch. You can’t withdraw your divorce petition.”
Samuel froze. “What did you say?”
He glanced at his watch. “But there’s still time left. Why can’t I withdraw it?”
“Because in the system, it says that you’ve already divorced Ms. Jackman. To put it simply, your divorce has been finalized.”
Samuel’s mind went blank.
“When did we ever go through with the divorce?”
He distinctly remembered there was a mandatory one–month cooling–off period after signing the divorce agreement. As long as either party had second thoughts, the process could be canceled immediately.
Also, he’d pulled some strings after submitting the divorce agreement to ensure that, even after the cooling–off period, Catherine couldn’t proceed without his explicit permission.
And yet, the courthouse staff was now telling him that the divorce had already been approved.
Samuel shot up from his chair and barked, “Didn’t I tell you not to finalize anything without my permission? What on earth have you been doing?”
The staff member looked flustered. “Mr. Lynch, we had no idea what happened either-”
“Enough!” Samuel snapped. “Get your manager here now!”
Soon, a senior officer at the courthouse hurried over. After learning what had happened, he quickly explained, “Mr. Lynch, shortly after you submitted the divorce agreement, Ms. Jackman also came by and pulled some strings to have the divorce approved right away.”
After that, the officer pulled up the security footage from that day on his computer.
The video showed Catherine, dressed in a long dress, walking into the courthouse with a composed expression. She spoke briefly to the staff, and moments later, they brought out the divorce agreement and stamped it.
In just a matter of minutes, the divorce was finalized.
Then, Catherine disappeared from the surveillance feed.
The video lasted just over a minute, but Samuel watched it again and again. No matter how many times he replayed it, the woman in the footage was unmistakably Catherine.
So… she had known all along that he’d lied to her. Was that why she rushed to get the divorce approved?
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