When Fate Intervenes

Chapter 1

"Hi, I'd like to get a divorce, please."

In the third year of her marriage, Giselle Lockhart finally decided to get a divorce. However, she did so by going behind her husband's back.

After hearing Giselle's request, the lawyer, Ian Lawson, answered robotically, "If you want to get a divorce, both husband and wife need to be present to sign the divorce agreement. You will both also need to go through the divorce cooling-off period for a month before the divorce is effective.

"Is your husband not here with you today?"

Giselle went silent for a few seconds. "I'll get him to sign the papers."

"That's fine. I'll draft up a divorce agreement for you then."

A short while later, Giselle received the documents from him. She thought about all the things that had happened during her marriage while she descended the stairs with her head low.

She'd just reached the receptionist's desk when a familiar voice called out to her.

"Giselle? What are you doing here at the law firm?"

Giselle lifted her eyes and met Anthony Grayson's piercing eyes. They felt as though they could see through everything. Giselle felt her heart skip a beat.

Who would have thought that she'd end up finding a divorce lawyer who worked in the same office as her husband did?

However, he wouldn't find out about it anyway. After all, he'd never cared about her in the slightest.

Giselle inhaled deeply as she thought about this. Then, trying to mask the nervousness in her voice, she said, "I came here to inquire about something. Oh, by the way, the deed to the house Mom and Dad said they're giving us has been drafted out, and I'm going to need your signature on it."

Then, she took the divorce papers, flipped it to the final page, and set it down on the desk before handing Anthony a pen.

The last page of the agreement only had the signature lines on it. As a lawyer himself, Anthony couldn't help but frown.

He thought of taking the document from her so that he could read it properly. However, a sudden figure appeared at the door, and Anthony's hesitation only lasted a second before he scrawled his signature in the spot Giselle pointed at.

"Alright. Go back if you're done here. I still have work."

Giselle felt relieved. But, she also found it ironic.

Had Anthony bothered to pay a little more attention to the document he signed, he would have known immediately that he wasn't signing some deed to a house but a divorce agreement.

Unfortunately for him, Anthony's eyes had been immediately drawn to the newcomer now at the door, Melanie Eastwood.

Giselle looked at Melanie's beautiful face and felt a flurry of conflicted emotions within her.

She tightened her hold on her bag and turned to leave the office. After the glass doors closed behind her, Giselle could still make out both of their voices as they spoke to each other.

"Tony, who was that?"

"A new client. She was here to inquire about a divorce," Anthony said, his cold voice laced with a hint of fondness and gentleness. "You're early today. Wait for me for a few minutes, okay? I'll bring you out for dinner."

Giselle let out a bitter smile as she listened to Anthony's gentle voice and looked at the divorce papers in her hand.

It was true. She had indeed been here to inquire about a divorce.

Soon, just a month later, Anthony would be able to fulfill his wish.

Anthony and Giselle's marriage had been kept a secret. Other than both of their parents, no one else knew that they were married to each other. Even Melanie didn't know about it.

They'd gotten married in secret because it was Anthony's idea to do so.

Giselle and Anthony used to be collegemates. On the first day of college, Giselle had fallen in love with Anthony at first sight. She'd then spent the rest of her four years in college pursuing him, but to no avail. Anthony did not return her feelings at all.

Still, Giselle hadn't felt too dejected back then. The reason was that Anthony didn't only reject her but also everyone else's. In fact, he didn't seem to be interested in women.

After graduation, Giselle found herself a job and Anthony continued with his studies. They went their separate ways since then, but Giselle never forgot him. Nonetheless, despite the chances of them meeting again being close to zero, they suddenly crossed paths with each other on a blind date, three years later.

On the first date, Anthony went straight to the point and asked Giselle if she was thinking of marriage.

Although Giselle had no idea why Anthony was in such a hurry to get married, this was like a dream come true for her, so she agreed immediately. She thought that he was only rushing to get married because his family was nagging at him.

It wasn't until after the wedding that Giselle found out about Anthony's secret.

The reason Anthony didn't seem to show any interest in women during college was that he was in love with someone he could never be with. Her name was Melanie Eastwood, and she was his best friend's younger sister.

Anthony was a whole five years older than Melanie, so Melanie often treated him like her elder brother. He was in love with her, but yet, she had no clue about his feelings whatsoever.

And, with that, Melanie then married her boyfriend of three years after her graduation.

Anthony had been deeply affected. To recover from his pain as quickly as possible, and to escape his parents' non-stop nagging, Anthony decided on a shotgun marriage with Giselle.

After learning the truth, Giselle couldn't recover from her shock for a very long time. However, she ultimately still did. She thought that they still had a long way ahead to go in their relationship, and that Anthony would eventually notice her and shower her with affection too.

However, three years had passed, and Anthony's attitude toward her was still distant.

Just as Giselle's faith in him dwindled down to the very last bit, she then found his photo album. The photo album was full of photos of a little girl from when she was six years old until she turned into a fine young woman at age 24.

Giselle shouldn't have paid any heed to it. But, this was an album of photos of the woman her husband had been in love with for many years. And, the photos were still being regularly updated even after he and Giselle were married.

Giselle realized that she couldn't continue playing a saint any longer.

Also, the very next night, Anthony, who'd always avoided drinking, came home that night as drunk as a lord. His usual cold eyes were filled with joy and light.

Giselle then heard that Melanie was now divorced.

At that moment, Giselle couldn't help laughing at herself in mockery. She decided that she should end this meaningless marriage to Anthony, once and for all.

After getting Anthony to sign the papers, Giselle went back to the place she'd called home for the past three years. Something felt off about it. She looked at the cozy home she'd made for herself and Anthony, and memories started flooding her mind.

Her eyes wandered around her home as she recalled the past. Finally, she fixed her gaze on the wedding photo she used to treasure, which was now hanging on the living room wall.

She then looked at Anthony, who was sporting a forced smile on his face in the photo. Suddenly, Giselle thought that the photo was an eyesore. She couldn't stand it any longer and went to remove it from the wall before throwing it in the trash downstairs.

For the rest of the night, Giselle spent her time clearing out her marriage assets.

Anthony realized that the wedding photo was missing as soon as he got home. He looked at his wife, who was busy writing something down, and asked with a frown on his face, "Where did the wedding photo go?"

It was rare for him to even talk to her like that.

"The nail came loose, so I took it down worried that it might fall and hurt someone."

Anthony didn't pursue the issue any further. He just placed some supper next to her and went back into his study.

Giselle stopped writing when the pungent smell of peppers invaded her nose.

She opened up the takeaway packaging to reveal a spicy, pepper-laden chili within. The smell was too much to bear for her.

She'd been married to him for three years, and she'd always avoided spicy foods because of her gut issues.

But, Anthony had no idea about it.

Back in the past, Giselle would finish up all the spicy food despite her discomfort just so Anthony wouldn't get upset. But now, she just took the whole pack of food and threw it away in the trash downstairs as well.

From today onward, she was going to get rid of everything in her marriage that would cause her to feel sad or aggrieved.

And that would also include Anthony, of course.

Chapter 2

It was getting close to midnight, yet, Giselle couldn't fall asleep.

She buried her head into the pillow as her mind ran wild. Suddenly, an arm appeared next to her waist and started touching her all over. Feeling the hot breath on her neck, Giselle instinctively ducked, trying to escape Anthony's kisses.

Giselle's resistance surprised Anthony.

After all, for the past three years, Giselle had always been the one to initiate intimate moments between them. This was the first time he was making the first move, yet, he only faced her rejection.

Curious, he couldn't help but ask, "Not in the mood?"

"I'm on my period," Giselle answered, making up a random excuse.

Anthony didn't think much about it. He just replied with a hum and covered her with the blankets properly.

Before falling asleep, Anthony thought about the day's incidents and suddenly remembered the house deed she had him sign just now. He began asking about it.

"Where's the house deed? I want to see if there are any flaws or loopholes in it."

Giselle's heart started thumping. She stared at him and asked, "Are you sure you want to look at it?"

Anthony looked at her anxious expression and frowned before nodding lightly.

A brief pause later, Giselle finally got up from bed and headed to the study to get the agreement. But just as she was about to pass him the documents, someone's phone started to ring loudly.

Anthony answered the phone.

"Tony! James is drunk and getting himself into trouble again! Please hurry over, I'm scared!"

Recalling that Melanie's ex-husband loved getting into fights, Anthony's expression changed. He hurriedly grabbed a coat, put it on, and headed out.

Giselle called out to him when she saw that he was leaving in a rush.

"Has something happened to that friend of yours who's getting a divorce?"

Anthony was about to answer simply, but he suddenly got worried that Giselle would start suspecting him. So, he decided to make it sound as serious as possible.

"Yes. Her ex-husband got drunk and is now at her door with a knife. I need to go over and have a look. Her life might be in danger."

Giselle didn't hold him back anymore after that. She just told him to be careful.

After Anthony left, Giselle remained awake all throughout the night until daybreak. She wanted to look at the time on her phone but realized that Melanie had posted a new story on her Instagram ever since she'd secretly followed her.

It was a short clip of the sun rising from beyond the mountains before setting again, bathing the earth with its golden glow.

The next story suddenly cut to a different clip that played some screams and exclamations before the camera suddenly switched to the front, showing Anthony's blurry figure suddenly passing by.

Finally, the last story showed the caption, "The darkness of yesterday has passed. Here's to a new beginning."

Giselle stared at the caption on the final story, suddenly feeling her chest tightening. Then, a gradual pain started spreading from the middle of her chest.

It seemed as if Melanie's divorce had been finalized.

It wasn't surprising, though. Anthony was one of the best lawyers in town. And, since he'd been in love with Melanie for such a long time, he would have done anything in his power to help her win her divorce case.

Since Melanie was now single again, Giselle figured that Anthony would soon want to divorce her so that he could be with Melanie. Giselle didn't even need to ask Anthony about it. She could already imagine it happening to her.

A self-deprecating smile appeared on her lips. Her heart felt empty.

The divorce was bound to happen. She was simply speeding up the process. Instead of waiting around to be kicked out in the end, at least she would be able to preserve some of her dignity if she left on her own accord.

Wasn't that so?

Giselle set her phone down. Then, she dug out all of the couple items she'd bought for them, threw them into a cardboard box, and moved the box downstairs.

Anthony happened to come home just then and saw her struggling with the weight of the box. He hurriedly went up to help her.

"Why are you getting rid of so many things?"

Giselle looked down and replied, "We don't use them anyway, so it's best to throw them away. They're taking up a lot of space."

Anthony nodded and picked the box up for her.

Giselle watched as Anthony's back gradually left her. There was an unusual calmness in her eyes.

Had Anthony even bothered opening the box, he would have realized that the things she was getting rid of were the exact things she'd loved and treasured for the longest time ever.

And with how smart he was, he would definitely have deduced from her abnormal actions and behavior that she was planning to leave him very soon.

There would still have been a chance to change the ending of the story.

But, Anthony didn't do anything of the sort. He directly threw the box of items into the trash and turned back around without any further action.

Chapter 3

The next afternoon, Giselle's laptop suddenly wouldn't turn on, so she borrowed Anthony's laptop to finalize all the documents she had on hand.

While waiting for her files to transfer, a new WhatsApp message notification popped up on the screen. Giselle instinctively clicked on the notification and opened the message screen. It was a message from the law firm's group chat.

"Anthony, we're all meeting up for a dinner gathering tonight. Wanna bring your girlfriend along?"

Giselle's hand trembled unconsciously when she read the message.

While married to Anthony for three years, he had never once told anyone else that he was married. So, everyone thought he was still single and available.

This was precisely the reason why nobody at the firm had recognized her as his wife when she went there yesterday.

Was Anthony going to agree to it this time?

Giselle didn't know. She also didn't dare to place her hopes too high.

Anthony saw the message on his phone next to her. He immediately lifted his head to look at her as if observing her facial expressions.

Realizing Anthony's eyes on her, Giselle just smiled faintly and asked, "Are you going to bring me there?"

She was asking him between the lines whether he was finally going to reveal her identity after three years of marriage.

Anthony didn't know how to answer her. He opened his mouth but said nothing.

The sudden silence felt like a knife slicing Giselle's heart right open. She could feel it throbbing in pain. Still, she did her best to suppress the feeling and let out a nonchalant expression, pretending to be relaxed.

"I've got something on tonight, though. I probably wouldn't be able to make it even if you wanted to bring me along."

Anthony's anxious look immediately eased up. His expression returned to normal as he replied, "Then I'll bring you along the next time if there's a chance."

Giselle said nothing.

She just covered her eyes with her hand, answering him silently in her heart that there wouldn't ever be a next time anymore.

…

That night, Anthony went to the gathering alone. As soon as he entered the place, however, a few tipsy colleagues immediately cornered him.

"It's been three years, and we haven't even met your girlfriend yet. Anthony, you're no fun!"

"Why won't you introduce her to us? How long are you going to keep her hidden from the world?"

With his colleagues all egging him on, Anthony finally grabbed his phone and opened up his messaging app.

He had two choices—either Melanie or Giselle.

After contemplating for a long time, he finally tapped on the former's chat window and sent her a message.

A short while later, Melanie found her way to the restaurant they were at.

As soon as she pushed the door open and walked in, everyone there immediately perked up and praised Anthony for having such a good eye for women.

A few shots of alcohol later, Ian suddenly needed to use the toilet. So, he handed a document folder to Anthony and asked him to pass it to one of his clients waiting outside the restaurant.

Anthony didn't think much of it since it was just a simple favor. So, he got the phone number from Ian and went downstairs with the client's folder. He decided to take a peek at the documents in it while on the way down.

When Anthony didn't see anyone waiting outside, he typed out the client's number into his phone to call them but realized that the number he'd just typed in was already saved in his contacts.

Giselle's name popped up on his phone screen. Anthony was so stunned that he was rooted in place.

He took out the documents in the folder. Just as he was thinking of looking through them a little closer, the headlamps of a car suddenly appeared, blinding him momentarily.

Anthony raised his head and got suspicious when he saw Giselle's figure. He lifted the stack of documents in his hand and asked her, "A divorce property division agreement? Giselle, what's the meaning of this?"

Giselle didn't expect that Anthony would suddenly find out about this either. However, she lied calmly, "Zoey wants to get a divorce, so I helped her get in touch with Mr. Lawson."

Anthony's instincts told him that there was something more to this. He frowned, wanting to flip the documents open to read them properly. However, a pair of hands suddenly slinked around his arm.

"Tony, weren't you meeting up with a client? Why haven't you gone back yet?"

Anthony panicked internally when he saw that it was Melanie. She was holding on to his arms quite intimately, and he didn't dare to look at his wife's expression. He wouldn't know how to explain himself.

However, he was even more reluctant to push Melanie away than to explain himself to Giselle.

Surprisingly, Giselle was a lot calmer than he expected.

She took a few steps forward and took the documents from his hand. Then, with a nod, she said in a distant voice, "Thank you, Mr. Grayson. Since my friend and I are still busy with her divorce, we won't be disturbing you any further."

Chapter 4

The cold night air blew in through the car windows, sending strands of Giselle's hair flying in all directions.

All the way back, the scene where Melanie appeared right next to Anthony kept replaying in Giselle's head like a broken record.

Perhaps due to the fact that she'd been hurt too many times, she no longer felt the pain in her heart. Rather, she just felt an endless exhaustion.

30 days of the divorce cooling-off period was just way too long.

Giselle rubbed at her reddening eyes. While she was a little unfocused, she didn't see that the car ahead of her was making an illegal turn and rammed right into it.

There was a loud bang. Giselle then realized that her leg was caught in the wedge of her now-deformed door, and blood was streaming steadily from the cut.

Right at that moment, Giselle's face drained of all its color as she broke out in a cold sweat. However, she still managed to stay focused despite the excruciating pain and dialed 911.

After being wheeled into the emergency room, the doctor checked her vitals and told her that her injury wasn't a life-threatening one. However, she would need to undergo a small surgery to treat her wounds, so the doctor asked her to contact her family members.

Since Giselle's parents were in another city, she called Anthony instead. But he never picked up although she called him dozens of times.

Thinking about it, Giselle realized that he was most probably occupied since he was now at a gathering with his colleagues and had his long-time crush right next to him. How would he even find the time to pick up her phone calls anyway?

The nurse next to Giselle saw that she wasn't able to get a hold of anyone. So, the nurse asked, "Is your husband really not coming?"

Giselle shook her head and said calmly, "We're in the midst of a divorce. There are just a few more weeks before it's finalized."

The nurse didn't expect an answer like this. A Look of pity immediately came over her face. "But since the divorce isn't finalized, he should still be able to sign off for your surgery."

Giselle recalled the past three years of her married life and felt awash with a wave of emotions.

She'd wait all night long for him just so that she could have dinner with him, but he would just tell her he was working overtime and wouldn't be coming home that night.

She'd put in the effort to learn about law so that they would be able to have a common topic to talk about, but he would just call her an outsider and make her lose confidence in herself.

She'd even purposely prepared a special birthday celebration for him so that he would cheer up, but he would just tell her that he was tired and wasn't in the mood to celebrate.

Throughout their marriage, Giselle had been the only one putting any effort into their relationship. Everything he did only further proved to her that he never loved her.

There was no way Anthony would ever show up. Giselle didn't want to continue being delusional anymore.

"What's the point of having the husband come over when he couldn't even be reached when his wife got into a car accident?"

The nurse sighed at this with an empathetic look in her eyes.

"Then, you can call a friend over instead."

Zoey Jenner, Giselle's best friend, was the one who took care of her at the hospital for the rest of the week.

Anthony only learned about Giselle's hospitalization a few days later. He hurried to the hospital and entered Giselle's ward, noticing the wound on her ankle immediately. A look of confusion came over his face at once.

"Why didn't you tell me you were involved in an accident?"

Giselle wanted to explain things, but when she looked up and saw his face, she was suddenly reminded of the dozens of calls she made to him back then.

Her words got caught in her throat. Swallowing them down, she just smiled faintly and said, "You're busy. I didn't want to trouble you with such a small matter."

When Anthony heard this, a guilty look appeared on his face. He decided to try explaining himself.

"Giselle, it was just a coincidence that I bumped into Melanie that day. Don't think too much about it."

"How's her divorce case going? Has it been finalized yet?"

Giselle's sudden question surprised Anthony. Still, he answered honestly and said, "It's been finalized. She's officially divorced now."

The smile on Giselle's lips only grew wider. She said in a low voice, "Congratulations.

"I hope it goes smoothly for me too."

Anthony didn't understand what she meant. Just as he was about to ask her about it, his phone started to ring.

When he looked at the caller ID, he hesitated for a moment before excusing himself to the corridor to answer the call.

Half an hour later when he returned, Anthony saw that the door to Giselle's ward had been left slightly ajar. He heard Giselle's voice, saying, "That's right. There are only 15 days left in the cooling-off period for freedom…"

Anthony was suddenly reminded of the divorce property division agreement from that night.

Recalling the sentence Giselle said earlier, Anthony felt his heart thumping. He pushed the door open and asked, "Cooling-off period? Who's getting divorced?"

Chapter 5

Giselle hadn't thought that Anthony would come back after he was done.

Luckily, Zoey was still there. Giselle forced herself to look calm and pointed at Zoey, saying, "Zoey. She wants to get divorced."

Zoey glanced first at Giselle and then at Anthony before nodding, playing along.

"Um, that's right. I'm already in the process of getting it now."

Anthony and Giselle weren't exactly close, so he seldom talked to her friends. Although he'd seen Zoey a few times, he didn't know anything about her background. However, he still frowned when he heard what Giselle said.

"If you wanted to get a divorce, why didn't you just come looking for me?"

Zoey couldn't answer him. She kept stammering as she racked her brains for an excuse.

"Weren't you busy with your friend's case back then? I was worried that you'd be too busy with work, which was why I told her not to bother you."

Anthony panicked when he heard Giselle bring Melanie up again. So, he didn't pursue the topic any further.

"Then, if you have any other questions next time, you can always ask me for help."

Even though Giselle managed to gloss this over with a few excuses, she still couldn't feel at ease.

With how sharp Anthony usually was, and his work habits, he should have realized that something fishy was up. But, whenever Melanie was involved, all of his rationale would fly out the window, leaving him with a weak sense of judgment. He would then just sweep everything under the rug and pretend nothing happened.

People always said that love made them blind, and Giselle finally understood what they meant now.

She watched as Anthony's fingers danced swiftly across the keyboard on his phone, fidgeting uncomfortably, and started counting down the seconds to when he would leave.

As expected, Giselle counted down to one, and suddenly, Anthony got up and excused himself, ready to leave.

"Giselle, I need to get back to the firm for work. When are you getting discharged? I'll be here to bring you back."

Giselle knew that he was lying, but she didn't care anymore.

"Five days later."

…

On the day of her discharge, Giselle waited all day, but Anthony never appeared.

She opened her Instagram and saw that Melanie had posted a few photos of her in a swimsuit at the seaside. Realization suddenly dawned on her. So, she dialed Anthony's number and waited.

Before Anthony even said anything, the sound of the waves in the background gave everything away.

However, Anthony didn't seem to have realized and still tried feeding Giselle with excuses.

"Giselle? I'm out on a business trip now. Is anything the matter?"

As expected, he'd forgotten about his promise to get her from the hospital today.

This wasn't the first time he thought Melanie was more important than anything else in the world. Of course, that meant Giselle was never his first priority. She would always be his second choice.

Luckily, she had finally come to her senses. She didn't want to wait for him like a fool anymore.

Giselle didn't remind him about her hospital discharge. She also didn't expose him either. Instead, she just casually asked him about the trip and showed some concern about him.

"When did you go for the trip? How long will you be there?"

"I came here two days ago. I'll most probably be back tomorrow."

Giselle answered with a nod. After telling him to take care of himself, she then hung up.

After calling a cab for herself, she stood by the roadside and checked the calendar on her app, counting down the days to her divorce finalization.

Ten days.

She just had to wait ten more days until she was finally free.

By then, she would regain her freedom and be able to go wherever she wanted to go.

So what if nobody was there to bring her home from the hospital? There was no point holding any grievances about it anyway.