“Calm down, Madison. We still have plenty of time before they close,” said a man beside her.
A couple hurried toward the counter, looking cheerful.
I stood in front of them, smiling warmly.
“Long time no see, Logan. And nice to meet you, Madison,” I said politely.
Madison, meeting me for the first time, looked at me suspiciously.
“Uh, who are you? How do you know my name? Are you some kind of stalker?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
Logan, on the other hand, froze. His face turned pale as he stared at me in shock.
“Christine? What are you doing here? And why are you standing?” he stammered, his voice trembling with disbelief.
His reaction made sense. The last time we spoke, I had told him I was paralyzed on one side of my body. Now I was standing firmly on both feet, with no crutches or support.
It had only been about a week since we separated, so his confusion was completely understandable.
“So surprised to see me standing?” I asked calmly.
“Of course I’m surprised. You said you were paralyzed, and that’s why you wanted a divorce. I held back my tears and agreed because I didn’t want to make things harder for you,” Logan replied, sounding hurt.
I looked at him steadily and said, “Held back your tears, Logan? When I asked for a divorce, you agreed without hesitation. And now, just days later, you’re here with Madison and a marriage certificate. Is that what someone heartbroken would do?”
Logan’s face turned red as he tried to hide the marriage certificate behind his back. But it was too late. I had already seen it.
Madison, still confused, asked, “Hey, who is this woman? And why is she talking to you like she knows you so well?”
She sounded annoyed, clearly unaware of the situation. The awkward tension hung in the air as I waited for Logan to respond.
I decided it was time to explain everything.
I turned to Madison and said, “Nice to meet you. I’m Christine, Logan’s ex-wife.”
Madison’s face immediately changed, and she snapped, “What? You’re that ex-wife? The one who ignored and looked down on Logan? He’s told me so much about you, how you treated him terribly and just dumped him out of nowhere. I can’t forgive someone like you.”
It was clear that Logan had been telling her all sorts of things about me while we were still married. Her outburst caught him off guard, and he quickly looked flustered.
“Madison, don’t say things like that,” he stammered before turning to me. “Christine, you need to explain. Why did you say you were paralyzed, and now you’re standing here perfectly fine?”
I took a deep breath and calmly replied, “Actually, I wasn’t in a major accident. There was a big accident near me, and it scared me so much that I fell and sprained my ankle. It was such a minor injury that I felt embarrassed about even being in the hospital.”
Both of them stared at me in shock. Logan’s expression quickly changed to anger.
“What? So you lied about being paralyzed just to get a divorce? Did you want to leave me that badly? Were you having an affair?”
I looked at him directly and said, “Isn’t that rich coming from you, Logan? You’re here with Madison, getting married just days after our divorce. That’s all the proof I need.”
Logan hurriedly defended himself.
“No, that’s not it. I just met Madison a few days ago. It was a fateful encounter, and we felt so connected that we decided to get married without even dating first.”
His excuse sounded ridiculous, and Madison wasn’t about to stay quiet.
She glared at him and argued, “How can you say that, Logan? We’ve been a loving couple for over a year. Even when Christine was causing you so much pain, I was there for you, supporting you. Don’t act like what we have is something to hide.”
Her words left Logan visibly shaken. He put his head in his hands, realizing his excuses weren’t holding up.