Paper Bride ✔️ (Book 4 - DP Series - COMPLETE)

1. He Wants A Divorce

I've loved before. And I've lost...

Which is why I had promised myself that I'd never love again.

But who was I kidding? I'm Mercy freakin' Vans! When have I ever passed up a challenge? And when it came to Seth, I knew he'd be my biggest challenge yet. He was like that juicy, flavor-oozing burger, tempting me from an interstate billboard. I wanted him with everything in my body, and yet, I couldn't have him.

Though in real life I'd have no hesitations in taking the exit leading to the restaurant that could feed my burger-craving needs, Seth wasn't going to be quite as easy. I couldn't enjoy him and then exercise the negative side effects away. If I indulged in the perfect combination of his sweet essence, addicting quirks, and delicious allure, then there'd be no going back. If I crossed that line, I'd ruin everything. See, this story is not about my weakness for triple-stacked Angus burgers. It's about my weakness towards my husband.

Man, vocalizing that truth scares me, because he honestly makes me feel possessed with passion. I want what I absolutely can't have.

We met in college and it took a massive act of courage to get him to even notice me. Not until I gained the part of his co-star in a movie he was making for his film class did things start to sparkle between us. I'm not talking 'vampire in the sun' kind of sparkle either. I'm talking firecrackers and lightning bolts combined with electrical currents. That's the sparkle that eventually took over our relationship. It was beautiful.

He had been the completely oblivious, unattainable guy, with too many tattoos, an indifferent attitude, and a sickeningly beautiful face. Yet, I could see something fragile pumping beneath his chest. Some might call it a heart... I call it passion.

His first love was movie production and he couldn't see past it. He had surrounded himself in such a way that nothing outside of his movie-making world was visible... until I came along and popped that bubble. It was a bit messy at first. I'm sure I drove him crazy. And then one day, something changed. I found him looking at me with that same passion he'd once had for his dream. Somehow I'd managed to weasel my way into his heart and given him something else to live for.

But, unfortunately, this isn't a happy story. See, I had loved once before. That love had been for my high school boyfriend, James Rodriguez. We were happy for two years, then he cheated. Don't worry, payback wasn't kind to him. I managed to forgive him with a unicorn-wrapped glitter bomb that I got to watch him open inside of his car. Almost made his disloyalty worth it.

I'm over it now, but that doesn't make my present circumstances sting any less. There's something doubly painful about losing love repeatedly. James was love-lost number one, Seth was number two. Seth had been a tough one to crack, but I'd eventually won him over. I won him so well that he eventually proposed and we got married.

But now I'm hit with another challenge... because I don't believe in divorce unless someone's unfaithful or the man is a total nut job that uses his hands to force obedience. Seth is neither of those things.

Maybe we married too soon, but something happened. He just stopped caring. And now I have to love on my own. The worst part isn't the fact that he doesn't love me anymore; the worst part is seeing how much he doesn't love me anymore. I think he feels like I stole something from him. Maybe his youth? His freedom? His career?

I'm not sure. But, somewhere along the way, he started to regret me.

I've regretted things before: like forgetting to brush my teeth, or accidentally wearing my fuzzy duck slippers to class, or using the vacant men's bathroom when the women's was full. But never have I regretted a person. I can see it in his eyes too: I was a mistake. There's no warmth in his gaze. The only time we eat together is in front of the tv, we only talk when necessary, and the left side of our bed is usually cold.