Chapter 3

Punctuality wasn’t George’s strongest suit with me.

His call came through at a quarter past nine.

“Tammy passed out.

“I need to get her to the hospital.

“Give me half an hour.”

I stood in the lobby.

In my hand, I clutched the ticket number.

The numbers on the digital display shifted quickly.

Couples emerged from the service desks.

Some cried.

Others had big grins on their faces.

The clerk called out, “Next. Number 38.”

I glanced at the ticket in my grip.

It was number 39.

I spoke into the phone, “I’m done waiting.”

George panicked.

“Millie, Tammy’s unconscious.”

“Dial the emergency line.”

“What did you say?”

“You can always call an ambulance.”

I uttered with composure, “You’re a pilot, not her personal paramedic.”

He spoke in hushed tones, “Don’t say things you’re going to regret later.”

Before I could say anything more, Tammy’s frail voice drifted from the line.

“Just leave me, George.

“Millie’s been waiting for you. She’s going to be upset.

“I can handle it on my own…”

George blurted, “Stay still.”

He then turned to me.

“Hear that? She can’t even stand up straight.”

“Oh, I heard her.”

I added. “She sounds pretty tough to me.”

Just as I hung up on him, George shouted my name.

I had enough.

When my number was called, I approached the desk by myself.

The staff member reviewed the document.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t process this without your husband’s presence.”

I nodded.

“I know.”

“Then…”

I slid my phone across the counter.

“He signed a power of attorney.”

The clerk examined the document for a while before calling over a colleague.

The pair murmured to each other.

I sat on the chair, my palms clammy.

It wasn’t out of fear that the process would fail.

I simply fear that George might show up.

The last thing I wanted was for him to ask me with a frown, “Millie, are you ever going to let this go?”

The sound of his voice might make my resolve waver.

Ten minutes later, the clerk pushed the paperwork back across the counter.

“Everything is in order. We can file the petition today.

“Come back in a month to finalize the divorce.”

I tightened my grip on the filing receipt.

It was a thin sheet of paper.

Yet, it felt sharp enough to sever a part of my life.

As I stepped out of the building, George’s car pulled up right outside.

He got out of the car with a menacing look.

“Did you actually go through with it?”

I slipped the receipt into my bag.

“Yes.”

Tammy was in the front passenger seat.

She looked pale, and a thin necklace hung around her neck.

Dangling at the bottom of the chain was my wedding band.

Caught in the sunlight, the glare was blinding.

Tammy unbuckled her seatbelt frantically when her gaze fell on me.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Millie.

“George lent me the ring.

“I was so terrified last night that I forgot to return it.”

I met her gaze.

“Give it back now.”

Tammy’s arm froze.

George pulled a scowl.

“Quit giving her a hard time out in the open street, Millie.”

I smiled.

“I was only asking for my belongings back. Does that count as giving her a hard time?”

Tammy’s eyes went red.

“I’m sorry.

“I didn’t mean to.

“The ring got me through a thunderstorm flight. It’s the only thing that keeps me grounded while I’m in the air.

“If you mind it that much, I’ll take it off right now.”

While talking, Tammy reached up to unclasp the necklace.

She fumbled with the clasp, her fingers trembling, but failed to unhook it.

Liam popped his head out from the back seat.

“Papa George, don’t make Mommy take it off.

“She’ll be scared."

Papa George?

Those words made my heart stop.

George heard Liam.

He didn’t correct the boy.

Instead, George turned around to calm him down.

“Now, now, Liam.

“Mommy is going to be just fine.”

Tammy sobbed with her head down.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll remove it now.

“I can’t be the reason you and your wife are falling apart.”

George caught her hand.

“Don’t.”

George turned to me.

“Millie, it’s just a ring.

“If it’s a ring you want, I can get you another one.”

I stared into his eyes.

Seconds later, I let out a chuckle.

“George, do you even know what’s engraved inside the ring?”

His lips parted.

No words came out.

I answered for him, “It bears my dad’s initials.

“The band itself was made from a gold bar my father left me before his passing.

“I chose to use it for our wedding band because I thought you would step into his shoes and love me as he did.”

George turned completely pale.

Tammy was taken aback.

I put my hand out.

“Give it back.”

Tammy bit her lip, as if she had suffered the greatest hurt in the world.

“George…”

At last, George said solemnly, “Give it back to her.”

Tammy’s tears rolled down her cheeks.

She unclasped the chain and returned the ring to me.

I took the ring, not to slip it back onto my finger.

Instead, I marched to the trash can near the entrance of the county clerk’s office.

George lunged forward.

“Millie!”

I dumped the ring.

The metal hit the inside of the can, making a clinking noise.

Tammy snapped her hand over her mouth.

Liam shrank back into the backseat in fright.

George reached into the can to fish it out.

I stopped him.

“Don’t bother.

“It’s filthy.”

His arm froze midair.

His eyes were terrifyingly bloodshot.

“Your dad left that for you.”

“Yeah,” I replied.

“All the more reason to cut the last thing that connects us.”

The words hit him like a blow.

Weeping in the back, Tammy said, “Don’t do this, Millie.

“It’s all my fault.”

I shifted my attention to her.

“Of course, you are to blame.”

Tammy went stiff.

I approached her.

“You knew he was married.

“Yet, you still called him in the middle of the night, during thunderstorms, when your kid was running a fever, and even when you needed to change a lightbulb.

“Weren’t you trying to prove that he would ditch me the moment you called?”

Tammy’s face went white.

George stepped out in front of her.

“That’s enough.”

I looked at the man who came to her defense.

In seven years of marriage, I had never seen such hostility in George’s eyes.

I bobbed my head.

“It is enough.”

I turned on my heel to leave.

George grabbed my wrist.

“Millie, we’ll talk at home.”

I broke free from his grasp.

“That’s not my home anymore.”

His voice tightened.

“What do you mean by that?”

I opened the cab door.

Before sliding into the seat, I looked back at him.

“I already moved out last night, George.”