Chapter 3
As I was waiting in line to enter the station, my phone buzzed with a notification.
The notification: [Your ticket has been rescheduled to tomorrow night.]
My mind went blank for a second.
The next second, Ryan and Chloe pushed their way through the crowd.
Ryan looked like he was about to snap.
"I changed it. You're really not in a state to be running all over the place," Ryan said.
Chloe was holding an insulated breakfast bag, panting. "Summer, we brought you breakfast. See, Ryan still cares about you."
I looked at them, and couldn't help thinking how absurd it all was.
"Change the ticket back," I said.
Ryan reached out to grab me.
"Let's go home. I'll handle things with the company about your overseas assignment," he said.
"Handle what, exactly? Are you going to explain how you used my account without permission? Or how you canceled our marriage license appointment?" I shouted.
People around us started staring.
Ryan lowered his voice.
"Do you really have to make a scene here?"
Chloe's eyes welled up with tears again.
"Summer, I really can't deal with you like this. Hand over your documents. I'll keep them safe for you. You're acting way too impulsively right now. What if you do something stupid again?" Chloe pleaded.
She tried to grab the zipper on my backpack.
I pulled back.
"Don't touch my things," I said.
But she suddenly gave the zipper a hard tug.
My backpack jerked to the side, and the document pouch slipped out of the side pocket.
I instinctively reached for it, and Ryan tried to snatch it at the same time.
The three of us were scrambling right in front of the security checkpoint, and the insulated bag got knocked over.
Hot coffee splashed all over the floor.
The document pouch landed right in the puddle of coffee.
The clear bag split open, and my passport, notarized diploma, and medical certificate got drenched.
I crouched down to pick them up, my hands shaking uncontrollably.
A staff member rushed over to give me a reminder.
He said. "Ma'am, you can't stay here for too long."
I scooped up the drenched documents, and my vision went black for a second.
That notarized diploma was required for the work visa for my overseas assignment.
The medical certificate needed to be the original, too.
The pages of my passport were curling up from the coffee, and the photo page was covered in sticky liquid.
Chloe covered her mouth as tears fell nonstop.
"I didn't mean to. Who would've thought you'd put something this important in your bag?" she said.
I looked up at her.
"Where do you want me to keep it? Maybe I should store it in your head, huh?" I shot back.
Her face went pale, and she started bawling even harder.
Ryan immediately stepped in front of her.
"Do you have to be so sharp, Summer? If your stuff got soaked, replace it. Chloe's already scared out of her mind," Ryan said.
I snorted.
"Replace them?" I shot back.
I held up the message Lena had sent me.
Lena: [You have to submit the valid original documents by ten, or the system won't be able to recover your application.]
Ryan went quiet for a moment.
Then he said, "Don't go."
He said it so casually that it almost made me laugh out loud.
He actually believed that because he didn't care, I shouldn't care either.
I stood up and went to the ticket counter to change my ticket for the next available train.
The staff checked the system.
"Your ticket was refunded. It was processed through the account owner's account, and the money was returned to the original payment method," the staff member said.
I turned to look at Ryan.
He avoided my gaze.
Chloe whispered, "Ryan was worried something might happen to you if you went off by yourself."
I didn't bother arguing anymore.
I called Lena and explained what happened.
Lena went silent for a few seconds.
"Summer, do you have any spare notarized documents at home? Or maybe a scanned copy saved by the company?" she asked.
"Yeah, I do." I clenched my jaw.
"They're in the cabinet in the study at our new home."
"Then go get them. Bring them to headquarters by three, and I'll see if I can get you a special review."
"Thanks, Lena."
When Ryan heard I was heading back to our new home, his face relaxed a bit.
He even managed a small smile.
"See? I told you you'd come back," Ryan said.
I walked out, clutching my drenched documents.
Behind me, I heard Chloe's voice, barely above a whisper.
"She won't admit it," Chloe muttered.
Ryan didn't say a word.