Chapter 8
The head nurse hadn’t finished speaking when Ralph hung up and grabbed his coat to leave. He dialed Mary countless times on his way to the station, only to get her voicemail each time.
He slammed the accelerator, speeding toward Central Station.
Mary sat in the waiting area wearing a mask, surrounded by other battlefield nurses.
Memories flashed through her mind like slides.
Because she’d lost her uterus, her husband Ralph had found another woman to bear his child!
He’d repeatedly forced her to care for the woman carrying his baby!
Worse, he’d chosen a viper-hearted creature.
While tending to Karen, that woman had seared Mary’s thighs with a curling iron until no patch of skin remained intact-yet Ralph refused to believe her, accusing her of faking illness?
After ten years of marriage, her heart had frozen solid.
She’d rather divorce him penniless than stay!
This time, she’d break free from Ralph for good.
Suddenly, the announcement blared: “Train T8989 now boarding. Passengers please queue orderly for ticket checks.”
Mary rose from her seat toward the gates.
Nearby, an old woman collecting plastic bottles beamed: “Miss Nurse, that diamond ring’s the prettiest I’ve ever seen!”
Diamond ring?
Mary glanced down, stunned to find Ralph’s wedding band still on her finger.
Her lips pressed tight. Two seconds later, she slid it off.
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Chapter 8
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“You collect recyclables, right?
Sell this for cash!”
After shoving the ring into the woman’s palm, Mary limped after her medical unit toward the turnstiles, her left leg throbbing.
Five minutes later, Ralph burst into the waiting hall, scanning the departure board for T8989’s gate.
Endless train listings and sluggish screen refreshes frayed his limited patience.
Just then, a blinding glint caught his eye.
He turned to see the bottle-collector showing the diamond to her husband!
That was the three-million-dollar custom ring he’d given Mary when Walker Group went public five years ago-utterly unique, no duplicate existed.
Ralph snatched it back, demanding: “Where’d you get this?!”
The old woman stammered: “I didn’t steal it! That young nurse said she didn’t want it-told me to sell it as scrap!”
Scrap??
The word struck Ralph like a physical blow.
Forgetting his rage, he barked: “Where is she?!”
“Second floor… Gate 12 queue…”
Ralph sprinted for the escalator.
He reached Gate 12 just as the turnstile clanged shut and lunged forward.
An attendant blocked him: “Sir, boarding’s closed. You can’t—”
Ralph yanked the man’s collar: “Know who I am?
Let me through now, or I’ll bury your career!”
The stunned employee recognized him-this was the Walker Group CEO from the news!
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Chapter 8
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“Well, you… please go ahead…”
As soon as Ralph passed, the staff immediately contacted the attendant.
Mary was already seated by then.
Now that she was divorced, she was free to go anywhere.
It didn’t matter who Ralph had children with.
The train doors closed behind her, and the wheels beneath began to turn slowly.
Mary watched the city where she’d lived for thirty years fade from her life, a relieved smile on her lips.
In the ten years since marrying Ralph, especially after their child died, she hadn’t been happy
at all.
Now, at last, all that was behind her.
The love she once cared for had become worthless!
Just then, she heard the attendant in the aisle maintaining order speak in a slightly hurried voice, as if something had gone wrong?
Immediately after, the next second, she heard a familiar voice from outside the window, slightly behind the train.
“Stop!
Open the door!
Stop-!”
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