Bye, My Irresistible Love

Chapter 36: Christine Fainted 

Scarlett's POV:

"Then sign it."

The lawyer sighed and pushed the divorce agreement to me.

I picked up the fountain pen, turned to the last page, and signed my name.Then, I pushed the divorce agreement to Charles, looked into his bloodshot eyes, and said, "It's your turn."

"You seem pretty eager to get rid of me, don't you?" Charles asked through gritted teeth.

"I don't see why we should delay it any longer." I put the pen in his hand.

Charles clicked his teeth and slammed the pen on the table.

"But I don't like to be dominated by others!" I stared at him with wide eyes.

What did he mean? Was he insane? He was the one who proposed the divorce.

How was he the dominated one in this scenario? Was I wrong to go along with his delaying tactics all this time?

"Charles, we don't have all day, and we're not the only ones with business here.Other people are waiting outside.Just sign the damn papers."

Next thing I knew, Rita was walking over to us and handing Charles the pen.

Judging from the anxious expression on her face, I could tell that among the three of us, she was the one suffering the most at the moment.

Charles clenched his fists and refused to take the pen.

He did not even raise his head to look at Rita.

He just fixed his cold eyes on me.

The lawyer swept his gaze on the three of us and then smiled meaningfully as if he understood what was happening.

"Charles, please..." Rita begged in a broken voice.

I bet she would give anything right now to be able to sign the papers for Charles.

Then, my phone rang and broke the silence.

It was Alice calling. Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

At the same time, Charles's phone rang.

Michael was calling him.

What was going on? Why were Alice and Michael calling us? As a million bad things raced through my head, my heart burst into a full gallop.

I picked up.

"Hello, mom? What's up? What? Grandma was rushed to the hospital?"

"I'll be right there."

Charles and I hung up almost at the same time.

Then, he grabbed my hand and towed me out of the law office.

"Charles!"

Rita ran after us.

Charles stopped, turned around, and walked to Rita with a long face.

He pulled her out of the office without saying a word.

If she had not screamed his name, I doubt that he would have remembered her presence.

Before leaving the law office, he turned to me and said, "Meet me outside.We'll go to the hospital together."

Outside the law office, I saw Charles push Rita into his car and slam the door.

"Gol"

Charles's snappiness scared Rita to tears.

The engine hummed to life, and as the driver pulled into traffic, Rita rolled down her window and watched Charles rush toward me.

Once again, rage and grief twisted her weary face.

The flickering muscle in her jaw told me that she was not happy about what happened in the law office.

For a patient with cancer in the advanced stages, Rita seemed way too energetic to me.

She must really have godly endurance to be able to go around pushing Charles's divorce.

"Let's go." Charles took me to the roadside to hail a taxi.

He grabbed my hand.

I tried to shake off his grip, but I found that the harder I struggled, the tighter he held on.

Eventually, I just gave up and let him nervously hold my hand.

To be honest, I needed the comfort, too.

After all, the life of a woman that mattered to us both might be in danger.

It was not the time to be squabbling.

Soon, we arrived at the hospital.

We raced to Christine's ward.

As soon as we arrived at the door, we heard Christine's lively voice.

Through the door's glass window, I saw Michael feeding her some watermelon.

There was a big smile on her face.

She did not look like someone who had just lost consciousness spontaneously.

"The watermelon tastes good."

She chewed and beamed like it was the first time that she ever tasted a fruit.

Slowly but surely, all the pieces started falling into place.

Were Alice, Michael, and Christine in on this? Did they stage this little show to prevent us from going through with the divorce formalities? If that were the case, then I supposed I was out of luck.

I flashed Charles an annoyed look.

Charles smiled faintly as if saying, "Hey, I don't have anything to do with this."

Then, he pushed the door open and walked in.

"Grandma?"

I greeted Christine with a smile.

"Oh! My dear Scarlett is here!"

When she saw me, she got so excited that she opened her arms and beckoned me to give her a hug.

I could not decide whether to laugh or cry.

Christine did not seem to be sick at all.

In fact, she was her usual happy self.

Seeing my reaction, Michael quickly tugged the hem of Christine's hospital gown and gave her a look.

It took a few moments before Christine registered what Michael was trying to tell her.

Finally, she groaned and held her head with both hands.

It took all my might not to cross my arms over my chest.

"Ouch! My head is aching again.I have to lie down for a while."

"Are you okay?"

Christine acted so hard that it made me want to pretend that I was really clueless.

Michael helped Christine lie down, and I tucked her in.

"Scarlett, your grandma has been so worried about you and Charles lately that it made her sick."

Michael looked at Christine with concern and glanced at me and Charles.

If he wanted to make me feel guilty, he succeeded.

"What can we do?" Charles asked with a smile, leaning against the door.

"Of course the one causing the problems has the nerve to ask.I've had it with the both of you.Enough with the foolishness.Scarlett, hand over your marriage certificate.It's the only way to stop your grandma from worrying," Michael declared.

"Good gracious! How miserable my life is! I'm getting old.I just want to have a great grandchild before I die, but with my grandson and granddaughter-in-law getting a divorce, I have no hope."

Christine pushed her performance.

Compared to Rita's acting, Christine's was even more exaggerated, but somehow, I did not hate it.I was even afraid to show any holes in my pretend gullibility.

I wanted her to feel a sense of achievement even if it was at the expense of my long-overdue divorce.

However, I did not want to hand over our marriage certificate.

"Grandma, I...What are you doing? Hey!"

When I was about to refuse, Charles suddenly strode over and grabbed my purse.

He took out our marriage certificate and handed it to Christine.

The moment Christine saw the marriage certificate, she practically sprung out of bed.

She sat up and snapped the certified, holding it to her chest.

She heaved a deep, steadying sigh, and her eyes glinted with the kind of glee that spelled triumph.

"I thought you're having a splitting headache, Grandma.” Christine was so happy that she ignored my comment and just held on to our marriage certificate like it was some sort of a long-lost legendary treasure map.

"Well, I'm cured, thanks to this."

I could only shake my head.I had been working so hard to get Charles to sign the divorce papers.I came so close today, but Christine swooped in and took the opportunity away.

With our marriage certificate in her hands, I was back to square one.I had no idea what move to make next.

At this point, I was wondering whether or not Charles and I could ever get divorced.I did not want to be in this situation, but mentioning the divorce in front of Christine and Michael would not do anything for me at the moment.So I decided to give it up for the time being.

Christine might not really be sick right now, but if I started going on and on again about how much I wanted my marriage to Charles to be over, she might take it very badly.

Next thing I knew, someone was walking into the ward.

At first I thought it was a nurse, but then I looked up and saw Rita.

"I heard that you were rushed here, Christine, so I came to see you."

Rita approached Christine with a fruit basket in her hand.

"What are you doing here? I don't want to see you! Get out!"

Christine snapped the moment she saw Rita.

"Please don't be angry.I know you don't want me to be with Charles because of my illness.If it were up to me, I wouldn't want to be sick.I want to live a long, happy, and healthy life with Charles."

Tears streamed down Rita's face as she spoke.

The pitiful look on her face was so convincing at the moment that it almost made me feel sorry for her.

Sadly, nobody in the room bought it.

Rita set the fruit basket on the cabinet beside the bed.

Christine angrily tossed it to the ground and pointed to the door.

"Take your basket and leave, woman! Do you really think that I'm attending this little pity party of yours? I know what you're doing.You're just using your poor health to manipulate my grandson into marrying you and staying by your side.Well, I don't buy it! You can fool everybody else with your act but not me! Get out of my sight, you scheming witch!"