Mag-log inIn the second year after the war, I wrote my sister’s name on the military marriage permit my fiancé gave me. In my first life, I gave up my place at Westbridge University and married Daniel Whitmore after he returned from Europe. He spent our wedding night beside Clara’s sickbed. When the Army transferred him to Washington, he gave her the only Pullman berth and dependent travel pass. Even our son grew up believing Clara suited him better than I ever had. At fifty-three, I lay in a hospital while Daniel and our adult son asked me to sign divorce papers. They wanted me to free him for the woman he had loved too late. When I opened my eyes again, Daniel’s signed permit was in front of me, with the spouse’s name still blank. This time, I gave Clara the dress I had chosen for our courthouse wedding and let her keep Daniel’s ring. I stopped objecting whenever he ran to her. They thought I had finally learned to be reasonable. They did not know that Westbridge had restored my admission or that my westbound train left in four days. I had already spent one life waiting for Daniel to choose me. I would spend this one choosing myself.
view moreThe next morning, I packed my suitcase and returned my house key to Margaret.Along with the key, I gave her an envelope containing part of my savings.“You and Mr. Whitmore cared for Clara and me. I want you to have this.”Margaret pushed it back. “You’re still in school. You need this money more than we do.”“I kept enough for my expenses.”She held the envelope and finally understood that I did not intend to return.“Eleanor, this will always be your home.”“Thank you for giving me a place here.”I picked up my suitcase and walked toward the front door. Daniel stood beside the staircase, looking as though he had not slept.“I’ll take you to the station.”“I already called a taxi.”“Let me take you one last time.”A horn sounded outside. I said goodbye to Margaret and walked past Daniel, who let me leave without trying to stop me.When I reached the station, I learned that my reserved train had been canceled after heavy snow blocked part of the western route. Every seat on the later
After winter break began, Margaret called several times and asked me to come home for the holidays.She and Mr. Whitmore had cared for Clara and me after our parents died. After several days of consideration, I bought a ticket and returned.I heard Clara arguing with Daniel as soon as I entered the Whitmore house.“You promised to buy me a new coat for the officers’ dinner,” Clara said from beside the fireplace. “Now you’re saying you have no money.”“My salary paid the rent and your medical bills.”“You still have money to send letters to Eleanor.”Daniel’s face hardened when he answered, “Letters cost almost nothing.”“So you admit it.” Clara raised the hand wearing her wedding ring. “I’m your wife, and you spend every day trying to have our marriage annulled.”At Westbridge, she had cried and insisted that she never wanted to replace me. She seemed comfortable calling herself Mrs. Whitmore now.Margaret noticed me first and hurried across the room to take my suitcase.“Eleanor, than
After Daniel left with Clara, I turned my attention back to my studies.My economics courses required more statistics than I expected, so I joined the university mathematics society. Andrew Bennett organized the weekly meetings. He was a year ahead of me and had worked in naval communications during the war before returning to Westbridge.At my first meeting, I used the wrong formula on a probability problem. Andrew pulled a chair beside mine and turned my paper toward him.“Your calculations are fine. You started with the wrong formula.”He did not give me the answer. He worked through the problem with me until I found it myself.After that, we often sat at the same table during meetings. He lent me his notes and helped me locate reference books whenever we met in the library. Within a few weeks, talking to him became easy.Daniel’s letters began arriving at the dormitory during that time.In the first, he admitted that he should not have interfered with my enrollment. He asked me to
Daniel did not return to Washington immediately. For the next four days, he stayed at a hotel near the university and came to see me every morning. He offered to contact colleges in Washington and promised to pay my tuition.On the first morning, he waited outside the library with breakfast. On the second, he brought information from two colleges near his new posting. I returned both envelopes unopened. By the fourth afternoon, he had decided that reason would work better if it came from someone with authority.When I refused again, he went to the student affairs office.The dean had summoned me by the time I arrived for class. Daniel was already sitting across from her desk.“Captain Whitmore believes your wrist has not fully healed,” the dean said. “He has asked the university to place you on medical leave until next term.”He had described me as an injured woman who needed more time to recover and claimed that returning to Washington would place me under family supervision.I looked






Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.