{ YOU HAVE TO BE SMART, KARL }

KARL The coffee on my desk had gone cold an hour ago. I hadn't touched it since my assistant set it down, the brown liquid sitting still beneath the bright office lights. I stood by the grand glass windows, my hands shoved deep into my pockets as I looked out at the morning traffic on the boulevard below. My tie was already loose at my throat, my collar unbuttoned, the pressure of the board's ultimatum sitting like a physical weight behind my ribs. My assistant knocked once and stepped halfway through the door, holding a gold card in her hand. "Mr. Hawthorne, the Sovereign Apex Prize committee sent an invitation for the grand finale. Four days from now. They'd like confirmation by end of day." "Accept it," I said, not looking up from the glass window. "I'll handle it," she said, closing the door behind her. I barely registered the word

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{ WHAT I HAVE TO BEAR }

LEILAThe clerk's eyes dropped to her screen, then back up, careful and rehearsed. "I'm not able to say more than that, Ms. Stonne. I'm sorry. It's a decision from management, not something I have the authority to explain."I stood there a moment longer, waiting for something more, some explanation that would make sense of any of it. Nothing came. The lobby behind her was quiet, the carpet clean, the white walls throwing back the harsh morning light. I didn't have the strength left to push. I picked up my bags, turned toward the exit, and walked back out into the gray morning light. The next place I tried didn't even let me finish giving my name before the answer came back the same way. The woman at the counter gave me a small shake of her head, her smile tight. No explanation. No room available.A third stop, further out, gave me the same quiet refusal, delivered with the same careful, rehearsed discomfort I was starting to recognize. The man behind the desk wouldn't meet my eyes a

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{ LEILA STONNE IS NO LONGER HERE }

GEORGE The call came in just after nine. I stood behind my black desk, looking out at the morning sun hitting the glass towers across the street, the phone heavy against my palm. "He's improving, Sir," the attending physician said, his voice coming through the line clear and steady. "Still critical, but stable in a way he wasn't a month ago. I think a video call would do him good, if you're able." "Set it up," I said, my voice dropping. "Now, if you can." I sat down, my eyes fixed on the blank monitor as the system processed the secure link to the hospital in New Delhi. A few minutes later, Theodore's face filled the screen, thinner than I remembered, lines worn deep into his skin, with medical tubes running along his left arm. But his eyes found the camera lens and held there, steady and clear. "George," he said, his voice thin but present through the speaker.

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{ I CAN NOT LET THIS DAY PASS }

LEILA The email arrived just after breakfast, a formal request from the Sovereign Apex Prize committee to confirm my attendance at the grand finale. The text was short, asking for a final verification before they locked the presenter list for the evening panels. I typed my reply in under a minute, my fingers heavy against the keyboard. Confirmed. Three days remained. George's name lit up my phone more times than I could count over those three days, calls followed by text messages I didn't open. Doreen called twice, then stopped trying. I let all of it go unanswered, the phone face down on the small table near the bed. I didn't have room for either of them right now, and I couldn't risk the distraction of their voices breaking through the walls. The constant vibration against the wood table became a background hum to my panic. ...

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Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE WIFE HE THREW AWAY: My ex-husband's regret : Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 54

{ YOU HAVE TO BE SMART, KARL }

{ WHAT I HAVE TO BEAR }

{ LEILA STONNE IS NO LONGER HERE }

{ I CAN NOT LET THIS DAY PASS }