Chapter 111: James Sees a Ray of Hope
When the car came to a complete stop, Mia unbuckled her seatbelt and got out quickly.
After getting out, she walked straight to the front of the car and stared at James through the windshield.
Her gaze was cold and stubborn!
She kept staring until he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out, then she turned and walked inside.
From when James agreed to sign the papers to when he actually finished signing them.
From leaving the company to being on the way to the marriage registration office.
Mia's mind allowed nothing but the divorce.
Whenever images that might shake her determination appeared, she would keep replaying the scene of James and Amelia covered in kiss marks, using this almost self-torturing method to keep herself firm.
His affair during their marriage was a hurdle she could never get over, something she could never forgive.
Since she couldn't forgive it, there was no point thinking about anything else.
As she said, there was no room for negotiation between them.
Knowing it was a dead end, she shouldn't leave herself any way out.
To cut off her own escape route, she could only use this method to resist the reluctance and sadness deep in her heart that even she couldn't control.
To avoid softening, she had no choice but to do this.
At this moment, looking at the entrance to the marriage registration office, the emotions surging up inside her almost made her stop.
She managed to suppress them by torturing herself again!
She didn't let her steps pause, and walked forward with determination!
James stayed half a step behind her, following her, watching Mia walk inside with firm steps, showing no reluctance at all.
Every time he slowed down and Mia noticed, she would stop, turn around, and look at him with extremely cold eyes.
Even though she didn't say anything, the words she had said automatically appeared in his mind: To get divorced, I'll do whatever it takes.
These words pushed him to keep moving forward.
All along the way, he had pushed his brain to its limit.
He tried to find something that could make Mia willing to step back, postpone the divorce, and give him another chance.
But he couldn't find it.
He could only look at Mia with pleading eyes. Even though he knew it was impossible, he still held onto a tiny bit of hope, wishing that his Mia, who used to be so easy to coax, might soften.
And give him one more chance.
But from taking a number, waiting in line, to sitting down.
Mia found a seat several people away from him, keeping her distance.
She kept a cold face the whole time, never looking at him.
Completely ignoring the pleading signals he was sending.
It was as if she had built a high wall around herself, shutting him out of her world.
The two of them.
One racking his brain trying every way not to get divorced, wishing time would just stop.
The other eager to get divorced as quickly as possible by any means necessary, wishing time would move even faster.
Until their number was called.
Mia quickly stood up, walked over briskly and sat down, pushing all the required documents including the divorce agreement across the desk. "Please, hurry."
All along the way, to keep herself from softening, she had been constantly torturing herself in a self-inflicted way, leaving her almost exhausted.
She really couldn't hold on much longer.
She wanted to cut through the mess quickly.
After handing over all the documents, only James's ID card was missing.
Seeing him slowly taking out his wallet, Mia reached over and grabbed it, pulled out his ID card, and pushed it across.
Once they got the divorce certificate and drew a clear line with James, from then on they'd go their separate ways.
No matter how hard the road ahead would be, with her child by her side, she could do it.
Everything would be fine.
All the pain would pass.
Out of sight, out of mind. She would forget James, forget the hurt his betrayal had caused her.
She would definitely be able to smile again.
As long as she left James, she would definitely become that person again who could laugh things off and stay positive and optimistic.
Mia's hands on the counter clenched tightly, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the staff member processing their divorce.
She cooperated actively throughout.
James was also forced to cooperate.
Until the other person finished verifying all the documents.
It was done.
Mia bit her lip hard, waiting for the other person to take out the divorce certificate and stamp it.
She watched as the staff member turned around, looked at both of them, and repeated with an expressionless face what they probably said many times every day.
"The registration is complete. Within thirty days, if either party doesn't want to divorce, you can come back to withdraw the divorce registration application."
"After thirty days, if you both still insist on divorcing, you can come directly to apply for the divorce certificate. If you don't apply after thirty days, it will be considered as withdrawing the divorce registration application."
From the moment the staff member said "thirty days," Mia's mind went blank.
There was a moment of confusion and helplessness in her eyes.
She still had to wait thirty days before she could divorce, before she could completely get rid of James?
She stared blankly at the staff member's lips opening and closing. Whatever else they said, she couldn't hear anymore.
Her mind was full of the divorce cooling-off period.
When this policy first came out, it had trended on social media, causing a huge stir with lots of discussion.
She had seen it at the time, but back then she was immersed in happiness every day.
She never thought about divorce.
Naturally, anything related to divorce was selectively filtered out by her.
She didn't pay much attention to it.
She thought it had nothing to do with her.
So if the staff member hadn't mentioned it, she would have completely forgotten about it.
How could she have forgotten about this?
In stark contrast to Mia, who was shocked and couldn't accept it, was James.
He had been particularly negative since entering the marriage registration office, becoming a veteran procrastinator, but the moment he heard about the cooling-off period, his eyes finally showed a glimmer of light.
He saw hope!
Thirty days!
This meant he still had thirty days to show Mia his sincere remorse!
If she didn't want to listen to him, he would show it through actions!
Just when he thought he'd reached a dead end, unexpectedly, there was light at the end of the tunnel, showing him a ray of hope.
He would definitely seize this opportunity!
"Thank you!"
This "thank you" was probably the most sincere and heartfelt one James had said in his twenty-eight years of life!
So sincere that even the staff member was visibly stunned for a moment.
This "thank you" brought Mia back from the shock of not being able to divorce immediately. She slowly turned her head to look at James.
Looking at his face showing no surprise at all.
Instead, he had the expression of a victor!
Did he already know about the cooling-off period?
Yet he said nothing, just pretended and watched her like a fool actually thinking she could divorce immediately!
Mia's chest heaved violently. At the staff member's reminder, she stood up, grabbed her documents, turned and walked out.
James, immersed in the pleasant surprise of still having a chance, also stood up.
After thanking the staff member again, he took his documents and hurried after her.