Chain Effect

Abscise

📍 Two months later, YuChi

Your Marriage Certificate was successfully filled.

Like a skipping rock thrown into a river eventually does, my stomach sank and I let out a deep sigh as I reread on the computer screen the six words that had been sapping my strength for the past few weeks.

"How did I end up here?" I asked as I rubbed my face, once again feeling the strain and stress that comes with this topic.

With another deep sigh, I got up and walked over to the sofa in the corner of my office to get some rest before my next appointment.

Unfortunately for me, as soon as I lay down, the memories of the first time I read the e-mail began to flow like water in a river.

FLASHBACK

Two weeks had passed since Izana and Derick's wedding. I sat in the living room of my soon-to-be old apartment in Germany, listening to music while I tidied up my remaining suitcase and did some cleanup before I left for the US tomorrow night.

"Okay, I think that's a wrap." I said after I had finally managed to close my carry-on.

I'm really going to miss this place. I thought and looked sadly at the apartment, which would be all but bare if it weren't for the four seat dining table - where my phone was - and a few pieces of art.

I've lived here most of my adult life and never felt particularly attached to the apartment. But now that I'm getting ready to say goodbye to this familiar layout and neighborhood, I'm finding it harder to let it go than I thought it would be, which is strange given my moving history.

I don't know, it just feels like... like I'm partly going through some kind of traumatic experience or grieving process of sorts.

Does that even make any sense? I wondered, suddenly felling the need to quench a thirst I didn't even realize I was feeling.

As I made my way to the kitchenette, I noticed that my phone screen lit up with an incoming email. So I stopped on my tracks and decided to sit down on the carpeted floor to read it, curious to know what would a County Clerk want from me.

As soon as I read the words "Marriage Certificate" in the title, my eyes popped out of their sockets and I skipped the body of the text altogether, just to open the attachment and disbelieve my own eyes.

Married, Calvin and I are officially married?! I thought as I was overcome with weakness and dropped my phone on the floor like a hot potato.

This shouldn't be a big surprise given the chaotic morning with the rings and the video, but it wasn't proof of marriage... for all intents and purposes, the rings could have been promise rings and the video could have been an unsuccessful blackmail attempt or a sick joke by a madman.

Well, now I have the proof I need! My inner voice proclaimed as I lay on the floor with my eyes fixed on the ceiling.

After another notification snapped me out of the spiral my mind was caught in, I picked up my phone to check it for any damage.

As I nonchalantly removed the phone case, a golden envelope with a lottery ticket fell out.

That's odd, who does this ticket belong to?

On a whim, I decided to check the numbers on the official lottery website and there it was, the winning numbers matched those on the ticket.

"No way!" I whispered quietly as an email notification arrived directly from the lottery company informing of the win.