---- Chapter 8 The end of the divorce cooling-off period drew closer. Louie Dubois, our lawyer, sent me a professional-sounding message. [My client is bothered by your continuous harassment of her, and she has chosen to block your number. Even so, she has asked me to remind you not to forget about getting the divorce certificate.] Feeling stubborn, I replied, [If I refuse to get a divorce during the cooling-off period, we can't get a divorce certificate. ] Louie then texted back, [That's fine. We can choose another method. My client is fine with bringing this to court or living separately for two years. She also hopes that you will consider whether you can handle the consequences. [When she chose you seven years ago, she never expected this to happen, but she does not regret ---- her choice. She does not blame the Henry Jones from seven years ago for making the mistakes that the current Henry Jones has made. [She is willing to shoulder the responsibility of her choice seven years ago, and she hopes that you can also shoulder the responsibility of your choice. ] Thad brought this all on myself. I attempted to rationalize all that I had done with Kiara. But no matter how much I tried to lie to myself, I knew that these were just excuses. I enjoyed the flirting and allowed it to affect my life with Miranda, which was gradually turning dull. Even though I thought that only Kiara and I were in the know, all three of us were aware of it. However, Miranda was just too soft-hearted. She endured it in silence at first. Later on, she started telling me outright about the things I was doing. She was giving me a chance to repent. ---- The points were not a sign of her dwindling love for me; they were for her to harden her resolve to give up on me. In the end, I got a chance to talk to her after I gave up more of our joint assets. While I was on the way to meet Miranda, I thought about how I could ask for a chance to be with her again. Yet, when I knocked on the door and saw her again, I felt tongue-tied and started acting shamelessly. "Miranda, deducting one hundred points from me isn't enough for you to give up on me. I received a lot more points in the past.] Miranda leaned against the door and laughed, as though she had heard a funny joke. "Sorry, the judge has the final say. If I say it's over, it's over." "You can't do that!" I raised my voice. "Miranda, let's talk about this. Tell me what I can do to calm you down." "ve stopped being angry with you for a long