He Put His Ex First So I Found My True Mate Chapter 27
After that, Graham was quiet for a long time.
He didn’t come near my house, and he didn’t slip into any more gatherings.
The protective order had finally become a boundary he could no longer pretend not to see.
A month later, my attorney received a package.
Inside were the hard drive I had once mailed back to Graham and the creased Harvest Dinner photo.
My attorney called to ask what I wanted to do with them.
“Was there a letter?”
“There was, but it isn’t case material. You can refuse it unopened.”
I paused.
“Does this violate the protective order?”
“The package came through his attorney and doesn’t ask for a response. Strictly speaking, no, it doesn’t count as direct contact. But you are under no obligation to open it.”
I looked out into the backyard.
Daniel was fixing the string lights we had never taken down after the engagement party.
A breeze moved through the grass, and several warm yellow bulbs swayed gently.
Once, I would have opened that letter.
I would have read every word, searching to see if Graham had finally understood, and maybe I would have cried over his late regret.
Now, I only asked, “Is the hard drive still the old ceremony video?”
“It appears to be.”
“Destroy it. The photo, too.”
My attorney sounded faintly surprised.
“And the letter?”
“Return it.”
I ended the call and walked into the yard.
Daniel stood on a ladder and looked down at me.
“Is this height okay?”
The lights were strung between the eaves and the old maple tree, lower than they had been on the night of our engagement party.
I walked to the middle of the lawn to check the angle.
“A little higher on the right.”
“Whatever you say.”
He laughed and adjusted them again.
I smiled, too.
That hard drive held all the beauty I had edited together for the wrong ceremony.
Editing can hide the ugly parts, but it can’t turn love that never really existed into something true.
By the time Graham began to regret anything, I no longer needed to hear it.