The Divorce That Brought Us Back novel Chapter 9

Nora's mind went entirely blank for a split second.

A divorce agreement?

Was it the one she had drafted?

It had to be.

It wasn't exactly normal for other people's divorce papers to randomly end up on the floor of Maloney's car.

But why was it ripped in half?

Had Maloney torn it up?

She had no idea.

Nora slowly lifted her head, casting a bewildered glance at Maloney, who was focused entirely on driving.

The interior of the car was perfectly quiet, filled only with the faint, smooth hum of the engine.

Did he rip it up because he was unhappy with her terms?

But he hadn't said a single word about it to her.

Nora chewed on her lip, debating how to broach the subject.

Before she could figure it out, Maloney broke the silence himself. "What time are you finishing up tonight?"

Nora snapped back to reality. "What?"

Maloney repeated his question with endless patience. "What time are you finishing tonight? I'll come pick you up."

"Oh, you don't need to go out of your way," Nora said quickly. "I can just catch a ride home myself."

"Nora," Maloney's voice dropped into a commanding octave. "If I drop you off, it is my responsibility to bring you back home."

Faced with that undeniable logic, Nora had no idea how to argue. "I honestly don't know what time we'll be done," she murmured.

"Then call me the second you're finished."

"...Okay."

The location for afternoon tea was an upscale lifestyle cafe in the heart of the city.

Because Nora had woken up so late, dawdled while getting dressed, and hit a patch of midday traffic, she arrived a full fifteen minutes past their agreed-upon time.

Thankfully, every single one of her friends was running even later than she was.

The Koenigsegg pulled up smoothly to the cafe's entrance. Nora stepped out of the passenger seat, keeping one hand on the open door as she leaned down to say goodbye. "I'm heading in."

Maloney gave a curt nod. "Go ahead."

The second they sat down, Cassidy let out an exhausted sigh. "Nora, the divorce is off."

Nora vividly remembered Cassidy screaming into the phone yesterday afternoon, swearing she was getting divorced no matter what.

It hadn't even been twenty-four hours, and she had already done a total 180.

"Why?" Nora asked, casually picking up the digital menu tablet from the table.

Sticking to their usual orders, she tapped to add a flat white for herself and an iced Americano for Cassidy.

Just as she was about to hit confirm, Cassidy dropped the bomb. "I'm pregnant."

Nora froze.

She silently hit the backspace button, deleted the iced Americano, and ordered a pot of caffeine-free rosehip tea instead.

"Parker and I were supposed to sign the divorce papers last night, but instead, he stormed out, got trashed, and didn't stumble back home until two in the morning," Cassidy began, her tone surprisingly flat as she leaned back against the plush booth.

"I sat up in the living room waiting for him. I just wanted to see exactly how pathetic he was willing to get."

"He walked in reeking of alcohol, and the first thing he did was pick a fight. He had the nerve to tell me that all his friends agreed he did absolutely nothing wrong, and that I was the one being hysterical."

"I was too exhausted to even argue. I just shoved the papers at him and told him to sign. He refused. He actually grabbed me and said he was going to teach me a lesson."