Signing the divorce settlement was a nightmare.

Garrett tried every childish delay tactic in the book.

Eventually, backed into a corner, he finally agreed to sign.

He stared at the “Uncontested Divorce” line for what felt like an eternity.

“But I don’t want this,” he whispered hoarsely. “I don’t want to lose you, Hannah.”

My voice was ice. “Garrett, sign it before the only thing I have left for you is pure hatred.”

His rims were bloodshot. “Hannah, is there really no way back?”

“I’ll quit my job tomorrow and move here to The Metro Fashion District to be with you. I can learn design, I can…”

“Save it.”

I pushed the addendum drafted by my lawyer across the table.

“As for the asset division, I am only keeping the assets protected by my family inheritance. You can have everything else.”

“Just sign the papers. Stop wasting our time.”

His pen finally hit the paper, leaving behind a jagged, trembling signature.

The moment we stepped out of the law office, he caught me in a sudden, desperate embrace from behind, his voice breaking.

“Hannah, I’ll wait for you. Whenever you’re ready to forgive me, I’ll be right here.”

I forcefully peeled his fingers off my skin and walked away without looking back.

“Garrett, don’t bother. We are ancient history.”

I thought signing the papers would give me peace, but the real harassment was just beginning.

First came the non-stop text spam.

He began sending massive walls of text, agonizingly rehashing every single detail of our seven years together.

[Remember when you spent days trying to perfect that Buttermilk Fried Chicken recipe for me? Your hands were covered in tiny blisters from the oil splatter, but you just smiled and said it didn’t hurt.]

[Or that year I was pulling all-nighters at the office for a launch? You brought me dinner every single night and waited out in the hallway until midnight just to see me.]

[You knew my back ached from sitting all day, so you secretly took massage classes just to give me a thirty-minute rubdown every night before bed.]

[You even knew how much I hated cilantro, so you banned it from our kitchen, even though I knew it was your favorite.]

…

The more detailed his memories were, the deeper my disgust grew.

I despised his desperate clinging, but most of all, I despised the ghost of who I used to be.

I loathed how I had martyred myself for a man who took it all as his birthright.

Then came the endless phone calls.

I blocked his number, so he started spoofing random ones.

One afternoon, I picked up, and his voice immediately flooded the receiver.

“Hannah, I’m right outside your studio. Please just come down.”

“I brought you that Artisanal Peach Cobbler you used to love. I literally flew it in from back home. You can’t find anything like this in the city.”

I looked down through the window. He was standing alone in the biting autumn wind.

Julian walked into my office, noticing my expression. “Want me to go down and handle it?”

“No.” I pulled the blinds shut. “Let him stand there. He’ll get tired and leave.”

But he didn’t.

For an entire week, he kept his vigil outside my studio doors.

One evening, as Julian and I walked out together, Garrett rushed us.

“Hannah, tell me the truth! Are you sleeping with him? I can change, Hannah! I swear I’ll change everything!”

Julian instantly stepped in front of me, shielding me. “Mr. Garrett, Hannah is divorced from you. Keep your distance.”

The sight of Julian snapped something in Garrett. He pointed a savage finger at his face.

“This is your fault! If you hadn’t crawled into her life, Hannah would have taken me back!”

I stepped past Julian, meeting Garrett with a cold stare.

“This has nothing to do with anyone else. I am simply done with you. If you don’t leave me alone, I am calling the police.”

His aggressive posture instantly crumbled. “I just wanted you to look at me… I’m a different man now…”

“You haven’t changed a bit,” I interrupted. “Back then, you ignored my existence.”

“Now, you’re stalking me. In both scenarios, the only person you care about is yourself.”

“Garrett, let me go. And let go of yourself.”