---- Chapter 19 Jeremy Glass POV: | watched her walk away, her hand in his. The sight was a physical blow, knocking the air from my lungs. She didn' t even hesitate. She didn' t look back. It was as if | didn't exist "Jeremy, let' s just go," Joselin whined, tugging on my sleeve. "This is humiliating." | shook her off, my eyes still fixed on the courthouse doors that had swallowed Haylie whole. "No," | said, my voice a low growl. | walked past her, up the steps, and into the building. The scene inside the registrar' s office was my own personal nightmare. Haylie and Elliot were sitting side-by-side at a small table, filling out paperwork. They were leaning toward each other, their heads close together. Haylie laughed at something he said, a light, carefree sound that | hadn' t heard in years. He looked at her with an expression of such open, unguarded adoration that it made me physically sick with jealousy. "Sign it," | snarled at Joselin, shoving our divorce papers and a pen into her hands. "No!" she cried, her voice rising hysterically. "| won' t! | love you, Jeremy! Don' t do this!" ---- | grabbed her wrist, forcing the pen into her hand. "Sign. The. Papers. Now." Her sobs turned to shrieks as | forced her hand across the signature line, her name a frantic, messy scrawl. | snatched the papers back, stormed to the counter, and slammed them down. "We need this processed. Immediately," | told the stunned clerk. While the paperwork was being stamped, | turned back to the room. Joselin had collapsed into a chair, her face buried in her hands, her body shaking with sobs. But | didn't care. My attention was fixed on the one person in the world who mattered. | walked over to their table. Haylie looked up, her smile fading, her eyes turning cool and distant. "Haylie," | said, my voice cracking. And then, | did the only thing | could think to do. The thing my pride, my arrogance, my entire upbringing had taught me was unthinkable. | fell to my knees The entire office went silent. Every head turned to stare. | didn 't care. | looked up at her, my heart, my pride, my entire soul laid bare at her feet. ---- "Please," | begged, my voice a raw whisper. "Forgive me. | was a fool. | was a monster. | know. But | love you. | have always loved you. Don' t do this. Don't marry him. Come back tome." Elliot stood up, his body a solid, protective wall between me and Haylie. His face was cold with a quiet, controlled anger. "You have some nerve," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "After everything you put her through, you think you can just show up here and do this?" The onlookers started whispering, their words a low, condemnatory buzz. "Can you believe that guy?" "She's so much better off without him." "What a jerk." "Shut up!" | roared, the humiliation a hot flush on my face. My gaze returned to Haylie, my desperation making me reckless. "Please, Haylie. One more chance. That' s all | ask." She looked down at me, her expression unreadable. For a heart-stopping moment, | thought | saw a flicker of something in her eyes. Pity? Indecision? Hope surged through me. Then she spoke, her voice quiet but clear, each word a perfectly aimed dagger to my heart. "You' re dreaming, Jeremy." She stood up, took Elliot' s hand, and turned her back on me for the last time.