Rewriting Our Tragedy: The 100th Divorce Paper

My husband hacks the head off my killer. He dryswallows a fistful of sleeping pills and climbs into my casket. He drops his terminal cancer diagnosis onto my chest. ......

My eyes snap open. I suck in a sharp breath and lock my gaze on our living room sofa. Vaughn shoves a stack of divorce papers against my collarbone. "Sign them.

Ruby wants a real title." I rip the pages to shreds and slam his terminal cancer diagnosis right onto his lap. Chapter 1 I always thought Vaughn despised me.

So when Jaxon and his crew dragged me into that deadend alley, breaking me down until there was nothing left, I didn't even try to punch in his number for one last lifeline.

They rushed my shattered body to the hospital. Dr.

Gallagher stood by my hospital bed, looking at me with sympathy, and asked if I had any final words for my family. “Tell Vaughn I’m dying,” I rasped. “Tell him I won’t ever bother him again.” Three years of marriage.

Ninetynine divorce demands. He had even drugged my drink once, dumping me in another man’s bed just to force an end to us. With me dead, he was finally off the hook.

But I was entirely wrong. At my funeral, Vaughn showed up with bloodshot, feral eyes.

He had slaughtered Jaxon and the rest of those bastards, dragging their blood onto his hands just to pave my way to hell. His hands dripped scarlet as he stood over my casket.

He trembled, tossing his terminal cancer diagnosis aside.

Then, he dryswallowed a fistful of sleeping pills and climbed in beside my cold body. “I’m coming with you, Blair.” My eyes snapped open.

I sucked in a sharp breath, oxygen burning my lungs. I was back. Back to the exact day Vaughn handed me those divorce papers for the ninetyninth time.

He looked down and tossed the divorce papers to me. “Ruby is pregnant,” he stated, his voice stripped of any warmth. “She’s throwing a fit about wanting a real title.

Stop clinging to a dead marriage and just sign the damn papers.” I didn't hesitate to tear the divorce papers to pieces.

I lunged at him, my arms locking around his torso as my vision blurred with hot, stinging tears. “Bullshit!” I screamed into his chest. “You didn't tell me you were sick!

Did you think dying alone in secret made you a fucking hero?” Vaughn went rigid. His breath hitched against my ear.

He tilted his head down, his beautiful eyes reflecting a hint of light before it quickly dimmed. He shoved me back, peeling my fingers off his shirt.

He pulled out a cigarette, struck a match, and sank into the leather sofa with a cruel smirk. “You’ve been watching too much trash TV, Blair.” A cold, careless smirk touched his lips as he blew a smoke ring right into my face. “I got sick of you a long time ago.

We’re toxic. Let’s just cut our losses so I can clear the way for my new girl.” The sharp, chemical burn of nicotine invaded my lungs.

I bit the inside of my cheek to fight back a coughing fit. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew I despised the smell of smoke, weaponizing it just to push me away.

I pulled out the printed copy of his cancer diagnosis.

I slammed the paper directly onto his chest. “Then tell me, Vaughn,” I choked out, my chest heaving. “What the hell is this?” His gaze dragged down to the crumpled sheet.

His jaw ticked, a microscopic spasm beneath his skin, but his face remained a mask of stone. A beat of silence stretched between us. Then, he let out a harsh, barking laugh.

He snatched the paper and shredded it. “A fake diagnosis? Terminal cancer?” He scoffed. “If you don’t want a divorce, just say so.

Why are you cursing me?” He flicked his wrist, and the torn white pieces fluttered to the hardwood floor like ash.

He looked thoroughly exhausted by my existence. “I have plenty of copies. Print one out and sign it when you finally snap out of this delusion.

Ruby is blowing up my phone for our date. I don’t have time to deal with your spiraling.” He grabbed his car keys, brushed past me, and headed for the door.

I froze for exactly two seconds. Then, my legs moved on their own. I sprinted after him. “You’re not getting rid of me, Vaughn!” I shouted to his back. “You want a divorce so bad?

Too bad. I’m not signing shit. Let’s see what you do about it.” He paused with his hand on the doorknob.

The muscles in his broad back tensed. “Suit yourself,” he muttered, his voice cold and flat. So I glued myself to him. I became his shadow.

When he had a board meeting, I camped out on the curb in front of his highrise.

When he drove off to meet his precious new girl, I flagged down a cab. “Glenn, step on it,” I told the cab driver, pointing desperately through the windshield. “Don't lose that SUV.” Chapter 2 Glenn caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “Quite the show up ahead, sweetheart.

Why the tail?” I gritted my teeth. “That guy is my husband.” Glenn sat up a little straighter, shooting me a sympathetic look in the rearview mirror.

He tapped the steering wheel. “Say no more. I won't lose 'em.” We pulled up to a highend outdoor plaza. Vaughn stepped out of his SUV.

He rounded the hood and opened the passenger door. A young girl practically launched herself into his arms.

They clung to each other, a tangle of laughter and intertwined fingers, walking toward the entrance. I bit my lip.

Even knowing this was all an act, I still felt a sharp sting in my heart. I remembered how Vaughn had done the same thing in my past life to provoke me.

He had brought her right into our bedroom. Naked. Tangled in our sheets just to let me watch them play house. That was the exact moment something inside me shattered.

I had signed the papers. I packed my bags to hunt for a cheap apartment. Then, those bastards dragged me into that pitchblack alley. They tossed me around like a broken ragdoll.

A brutal yank on my scalp. Clumps of my hair tearing free from the roots. It felt like my teeth were knocked out too when they grabbed a brick and smashed it hard against my skull.

Dizzy and in pain, I thought back to his voice. From our purest year.

He had held me so gently, programming his number into my phone's emergency speed dial. “Call me the second you're in danger, Blair.

I will always be there.” My bloodslicked fingers fumbled for my phone in the dirt. But the second my thumb hovered over his name, my muscles froze.

I pictured the utter disgust in his eyes. I pictured him tangled up in her sheets, silencing his phone so my screaming wouldn't ruin their mood.

I was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries, but I never made the call. A block away, Vaughn wrapped his arm tightly around Ruby's waist.

He leaned down, whispering something against her ear that made her giggle. But his eyes flicked toward my cab. Over and over. My chest tightened.

I shoved the car door open and marched straight toward them. They froze.

Ruby blinked, catching the sheer intensity burning in my eyes. “Vaughn,” she whined, tugging his sleeve. “Didn't you say you were divorcing your pathetic wife?

Why is she stalking us?” Vaughn’s gaze locked onto mine. A heavy frown carved a line between his brows, but he kept his mouth shut. He just stood there.

Waiting for me to explain myself. I flashed them a bright, empty smile and shrugged. “Don't mind me. Keep doing your thing.” I recognized her instantly. Ruby.

She played the sweet, innocent angel flawlessly—the polar opposite of the unhinged wife I was supposed to be.

For the past six months, she was the excuse he used every time he demanded a divorce. The reason he never came home. My relentless staring made her squirm.

She twisted her fingers into Vaughn's shirt, burying her face against his bicep. “Is she a psycho, Vaughn?” she whimpered. “Why won't she leave us alone?” Vaughn’s jaw tightened.

He shot me a glare that could freeze boiling water. “Blair. You're scaring her.” He shielded her behind him, afraid that I would hurt her. A phantom ache flared in my chest.

Because six years ago… He used to shield me exactly like that. Chapter 3 He used to map the constellations with me.

He trekked with me across the dunes and offered me his last drop of water when we were dying of thirst in the desert.

Even though I kept getting tangled up with Cole and betrayed him multiple times, he still loved me. I couldn't fathom it in my past life.

How could a man anchored by that kind of devotion just flip a switch? Jealousy is a sickness. It made me manic. It completely blinded me to what Vaughn was really trying to do.

But now, I had the script. I crossed my arms, caught his stare, and let out a soft laugh. “Your acting needs work, Vaughn.

Gaslighting me isn't going to be that easy.” Vaughn didn't say a word. He dipped his head and kissed Ruby. The girl’s cheeks burned crimson.

She peered up at him through her lashes, absolutely buzzing with adoration. [I froze in place, my face turning completely bloodless.] Vaughn pulled back.

His dark eyes pinned me down as his arm clamped tightly around Ruby's waist. “Still think I'm acting?” He whipped out his phone, shoving a confirmed hotel reservation an inch from my nose. “Read the screen.

I genuinely fell for someone else. I’m done with you. Stop spinning this into some grand performance for your benefit, Blair.

It just makes you look desperate.” I stayed dead silent. His lips curved into a wicked, taunting smirk. “We’re getting a room tonight.

If you're so obsessed, why don't you pull up a chair and watch?” A hot prickle of tears burned my eyes. I spun on my heel and bolted.

I threw myself into the cab, letting Glenn speed off until my silhouette completely vanished from the block. The second I was out of sight, Vaughn's mask shattered.

He unpeeled Ruby from his body with terrifying indifference. “My driver will take you home.” Ruby’s flushed skin instantly lost all its color.

She gnawed on her bottom lip, nervously snagging his cuff. “But… you promised we’d go shopping.

And tonight, we were supposed to—” Vaughn’s glacial stare silenced her instantly. “Ruby. She's gone. The scene is over. I’ll wire the agreed fee to your account.

Go shop by yourself.” I pressed my spine against the brick wall just around the corner, a slow smirk spreading across my face. He really thought I was that gullible.

He didn't expect me to tell Glenn to circle the block the second we turned the corner. I wanted to watch the director yell cut.

I honestly thought he might follow through, book the suite, and send me a tape just to break me. But this was the extent of his playbook. Then, Vaughn turned away.

A sickly pallor overtook his features. His hand clutched his abdomen. My stomach dropped. No wonder his posture was so rigidly perfect. Was the cancer tearing through him right now?

Oblivious to his agony, Ruby turned toward the mall entrance alone, still wallowing in her rejected act. “Ruby,” I called out. She whipped around, her eyes widening. “You again?

How do you know my name?” I squared my shoulders, walked right up to her, and shoved the private investigation file against her chest. “I know the whole script.

Vaughn has terminal cancer. He hired you to play the homewrecker so I’d sign those divorce papers.” Guilt flashed across her face.

Chapter 4 Ruby stammered, panic leaking into her voice. “You're delusional! Vaughn and I are real.

Why else would I be carrying his baby?” She rested a protective, trembling hand over the slight swell of her stomach. There was actually a little life growing in there.

My smile only sharpened into something lethal. “That baby belongs to your actual boyfriend, Ruby. Not Vaughn.

Because he hasn't laid a single finger on you.” She went completely pale, a sickening dread washing over her features. “How… how could you possibly know that?” In my past life, she had tracked me down.

She was sobbing, begging me to see him, crying that Vaughn was throwing up blood. She swore I was the only woman he ever loved.

But I had been drowning in the toxic acid of his betrayal. I thought she was just twisting the knife to humiliate me.

I had glared at her pregnant belly, my words dripping with venom. “If he loved me, he wouldn't have knocked you up. He despises me. I'll sign the damn papers.

You two trainwrecks can lock yourselves together and rot.” I only found out later that it was his worst hemorrhage.

He had painted the white porcelain of his bathtub entirely crimson. Miles, his assistant, had rushed him to the ER.

Miles was practically hyperventilating, tears in his eyes, desperately pulling out his phone to call me.

But Vaughn had weakly forced his shaking hand up, stopping him. “Don't—don't bother her. She needs to forget me.

She needs a new life.” It took me dying to finally realize Vaughn never betrayed me. He had buried his devotion so deep, forcing himself to play the ruthless villain.

Even forcing me to divorce him before he died was just him doing everything he could to pave the way for my future. He was that selfless. How could I ever fail him again?

I pulled a preloaded platinum card from my bag and pressed it hard into Ruby’s hand. “I'm guessing you took this gig because you're desperate for cash.

Whatever Vaughn is paying you, I'm doubling it. But I have one absolute condition—the next time he calls you for a performance, you reject it.” Nobody walks away from easy money.

Ruby hesitated for a fraction of a second before her fingers curled tightly around the plastic. She called out to me just as I turned away. “Blair. He really does love you.

You're incredibly lucky. Even if he only has a few months left… you guys should be together.

You need to make every single second count.” I gave her a soft, genuine smile and walked away. I hailed a cab straight back to our estate.

I needed to strip away the lies and lay everything out right now. I didn't care about the collateral damage. I loved him.

Even if he only had twentyfour hours left, I was spending them anchored to his side. But I tore through every room in the massive house. Nothing. Empty.

I dialed Miles, my hands violently shaking. Miles was clueless. Vaughn hadn't even taken his driver with him. He just vanished on his own.

My pulse hammered a chaotic rhythm against my ribs. Raw, unfiltered panic gripped my throat. I was terrified he had collapsed somewhere alone.

I drove like a maniac, tearing through the city. I scoured every single spot he frequented, but they were all ghost towns.

Until I slammed on the brakes at the exact spot where we first met. And there he was.

He leaned heavily against the massive oak by the river, staring blankly into the distance with a cigarette burning between his fingers.

He looked pale, his free hand pressing hard against his abdomen as a spasm of pain crossed his face. The cancer was tearing him apart. “Get up.

We're going to the hospital.” I swallowed down a jagged sob, reaching out to haul him to his feet. Chapter 5 Finding me there was the last thing Vaughn expected.

He stopped dead in his tracks.

But a second later, a cold sneer twisted his lips, and he ripped his arm from my grip. “Are you ever going to quit, Blair?” he snapped. “I told you I can't stand the sight of you.

Have some dignity and stop suffocating me.” I watched his mouth move, but I couldn't process a single word he said.

All I could focus on was the terrifying, ashwhite color of his lips. Every drop of blood had completely abandoned his skin. My chest caved in.

A raw, ragged sob tore its way up my throat.

I threw my entire body against his, burying my face into his chest. “You promised me, Vaughn!” I screamed, the sound splintering the air. “In sickness and in health!

You promised we would stay together! Why are you shutting me out?” My fingers dug brutally into his shirt, my lungs burning for air. “You forgave me for everything!

I dragged you through hell for Cole, I betrayed you, and you still cleaned up my messes. You still loved me! You fought tooth and nail to make me your wife.

I finally love you, Vaughn! You don't get to push me away now!” All the composure I had painstakingly built since my rebirth completely shattered.

I was practically screaming as the words tore out of my throat. Vaughn turned to stone. Absolute, unfiltered panic flooded his eyes.

He reached out with trembling hands, gently wiping the tears from my cheeks. “Don't cry…” he choked out, his voice cracking. “Blair, I'm sorry. I took it too far.

Please, stop crying.” I didn't give him the chance to push me away again, taking the opportunity to throw myself into his arms. “If you make me sign those papers, Vaughn… I will die.” “Impossible!” The words ripped out of him on pure instinct.

His face turned pale. “Don't you ever curse yourself like that, Blair. Never.” I burst into laughter, wiping my tears and snot on his sleeve. It wasn't a curse.

It was a cold, hard fact.

If I hadn't signed those papers in my past life, those monsters would never have dragged me into that alley. “I mean it, Vaughn,” I whispered against his collarbone. “If we divorce, I die.

Maybe this is just destiny. Heaven might take me from you, but it will never let you leave me.” Maybe my sheer desperation finally wore him down. He stopped mentioning the lawyers.

He stopped trying to physically shove me away. Instead, in a surreal twist, he bought me a scoop of ice cream and tickets for a movie.

We looked exactly like a normal, boring couple. It felt like someone had violently rewound the clock to six months ago. Halfway through the film, exhaustion dragged me under.

My head slumped onto his broad shoulder. “Please don't send me away, Vaughn,” I mumbled, halfdrowning in sleep. He didn't say a word.

He simply leaned down and pressed his warm, trembling lips against my forehead. Night swallowed the city. He drove us back to the estate in suffocating silence.

I threw out every random conversation starter I could think of, desperately trying to breathe life into the car.

He just gave me hollow, onesyllable responses. “Yeah.” “Oh.” “Got it.” Midnight crept in.

While Vaughn was trapped under the showerhead, I slipped silently into his bedroom and crawled beneath his covers. We had been sleeping in separate rooms for six agonizing months.

Back then, I was convinced he was cheating—that he was tainted by other women. And he never once bothered to defend himself. He just banished himself to the guest room or the study.

But tonight, I slid my silk slip right into the center of his mattress. The bathroom door clicked open.

Vaughn stepped out, a towel slung low on his hips, his damp skin radiating heat. He yanked the duvet back. He froze.

Every muscle in his abdomen instantly locked. “What the hell is wrong with you, Blair?” His dark eyes dragged down my body, catching the sheer lace of my nightgown.

A heavy, jagged breath punched out of his lungs.

He stumbled a halfstep back, immediately ripping his gaze away to stare at the floorboards. “Get out.” Chapter 6 I was incredibly frustrated.

I had specifically slipped into the sheer silk slip—the exact cut Vaughn used to obsess over.

Back when we were on fire, the second this lace touched my skin, he would turn absolutely feral. Now, he was a statue. Untouchable.

Refusing to even let his eyes drift my way. “Do you really despise me that much, Vaughn?” “No.” “Then why won't you even look at me?” I closed the distance.

I pressed my heat against his rigid torso, dragging my lips across his sharp jawline, deliberately provoking him. Vaughn’s chest hitched.

A harsh, fractured breath scraped out of his throat. He caught my hand, stopping me. “Blair. I told you I'm done with you.

Stop humiliating yourself.” He looked me up and down with contempt. “I've seen every inch of you. It bores me. I don't want to touch you.” My jaw locked. His words were pure venom.

But I didn't care. I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed him hard.

He instantly wrenched his head back, his muscles rigid—until I leaned in and breathed against his ear. “If we really sign those papers, Vaughn… this is it. Our last time.

Don't you want to make the most of it? Once it's over, we might be dead to each other.

We might never see each other again.” In my past life, those divorce papers were my death sentence.

But for Vaughn, the clock was violently ticking down on his terminal stomach cancer. A suffocating, utterly devastating gravity crashed down on us. Vaughn stopped fighting.

His large hand forcefully gripped the back of my neck, his fingers tangling roughly in my hair. He dragged my mouth back to his in a desperate, punishing kiss. “Fine.

One last time.” Morning light filtered through the blinds. Every single muscle in my body throbbed with a dull, heavy ache.

Vaughn was absolutely relentless; God knows how long he had been starving for this. I woke up to cold, empty sheets.

The sound of running water drifted from the master bathroom, so I pushed the door open. A stark pool of blood stained the pristine white porcelain of the sink.

Ice flooded my veins. “Vaughn…” I lunged forward, pure dread turning my skin to ice. But Vaughn instantly cranked the faucet, washing the scarlet evidence down the drain.

He flashed a forced, hollow smirk. “What? It's just a nosebleed. Are you going to mock me for that too?” A physical ache clawed at my chest.

I swallowed the thick lump in my throat, playing along. “You're probably just working yourself to the bone. I'll get you some ice and you need to rest.” I forced a bright smile.

But there would be no “later.” A few days later, Vaughn laced my orange juice with sedatives. He was shipping me off to Cole’s bed. He didn't realize I was living my second life.

I knew exactly what was in that glass. I faked the swallow, bolted to the bathroom, shoved my fingers down my throat, and heaved it all into the toilet.

I was completely conscious as Vaughn picked me up and carried me into the hotel room.

I heard every single word. “Treat her right, Cole.” Vaughn's voice was hoarser than ever before. “If you ever fail her again, I will hunt you down from the grave.” I lay perfectly still on the mattress, my back to them.

The air thinned in the room. A suffocating pressure crushed my sternum, stealing all my oxygen. Cole was my ex.

In my past life, Vaughn had forced Cole to sign an agreement, stating that if he ever changed his mind and betrayed me, he would have to pay me ten million.

I genuinely thought he understood my devotion this time. But his ruthless, selfsacrificing script hadn't changed at all. My throat burned with swallowed bile.

I was a living, breathing human being. Not some piece of property to be traded away. Who gave you the right to hand me off, Vaughn? Did you ever even bother to ask me?

Chapter 7 Even Cole, despite their years of being at each other's throats, was too stunned to speak for a moment.

He grabbed Vaughn’s arm, unable to stomach it. “Are you out of your fucking mind, Vaughn? Did you even ask Blair if she wanted this? You've been married for three years.

She isn't made of glass. If you just tell her the truth, she can handle it. She wouldn't abandon you just because you're sick… And more importantly—we are ancient history.

The only person Blair loves right now is you!” Vaughn looked down and smiled, his gaze resting gently on my sleeping figure. “I know she loves me. But I refuse to be her tragedy.

I can survive the agony. I can rot in hell.

But I can't…” His voice fractured. “I can't watch her cry for me.” But Vaughn, if you had just come over to look at me, you would realize that I was crying too.

Vaughn took one final, lingering look at my back. He shoved a strawberryflavored condom into Cole's hand and walked out the door. Vaughn didn't drive home.

He sat in his parked SUV in dead silence for a long time. Then, he reached into his tailored breast pocket and pulled out a walletsized photo of me.

His thumb brushed gently across my printed face. A quiet, broken smile ghosted across his lips. “You loved Cole so much back then, Blair. You'll find your way back to him.

Forget me. Go live a beautiful life.” Dusk bled across the sky. He drove alone to the suspension bridge over the river and killed the engine. No Miles. No driver.

He opened the notes app on his phone and typed a single line. His final farewell to the world. "I refuse to exist in agony.

For my final days, I choose freedom." He locked the screen. He stepped out into the biting wind and walked steadily toward the black, churning water. His phone rang.

Vaughn hit decline, but it immediately rang again. He sighed and glanced at the screen. It was Cole.

His expression changed, and he answered right away. “Hello?” Cole sounded panicked on the other end of the line. “Vaughn! You need to get here! Blair figured out what you did!

She completely lost it—she ran out trying to end her own life, but some street thugs targeted her and dragged her into a deadend alley—” Vaughn's face changed drastically.

He didn't even care about jumping into the river anymore and sprinted back to his car. “Send the pin.

Now!” He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned bonewhite, slamming his foot on the gas. He fired back a voice memo as the tires shrieked against the asphalt.

He tore through the city like a man possessed. “Please, Blair. Please,” he choked out, pleading to the empty air. He blew through five red lights.

He slammed on the brakes at the mouth of the dark alley. Cole and a few bystanders were already locked in a brutal brawl with the thugs. Then, Vaughn saw me covered in blood.

He went completely pale, looking like he was about to lose his mind. “Blair! Blair! Wake up. God, please don't do this to me…” He dropped to his knees, ripping me into his chest.

His trembling hands tried to wipe the blood off my body. But there was too much. It just kept flowing