Chapter 3

I locked my phone, wiped the tears from my face, and decided to head home.

The streets were empty on Christmas Eve.

The subway had already stopped running, and the buses were all off for the holiday.

I stood by the curb for almost half an hour, my hands and feet numb from the cold, before I finally managed to flag down a cab.

The driver rolled down the window and held up a finger. "Holiday rate, one hundred bucks extra."

The cold wind whipped against my neck. I gritted my teeth and climbed in.

The warmth from the car's AC made me feel a little more alive.

Instinctively, I reached for my phone, ready to complain to Henry like I always used to. But my fingers hovered in the air, stopping halfway.

Stuff like this happened before.

When I got overcharged by cab drivers, people shamelessly cut in line, or the delivery guy brought the wrong food, I'd always end up whining to him about it.

He'd shrug it off with a quick comment. "Deal with it. If you can let it go, let it go."

I always thought he was easygoing and didn't like to make a fuss, until I saw that woman's profile.

She complained about how hard it was to get a cab, and Henry bought her a car with a personal driver.

She casually mentioned that the line at a trendy restaurant was too long, and Henry handed two hundred bucks to everyone in front of her so she could be the first one in.

As for delivery, she never had to eat delivery food at all.

Henry thought food from outside was unhealthy, so he went out of his way to learn how to cook for her, making every meal by hand.

He told me to put up with every little thing. But when it came to the woman he really loved, those were emergencies that had to be solved on the spot.

The line between love and indifference was crystal clear.

I turned to look out the window, watching the city lights blur past.

Every house was glowing with the warmth of family reunions.

And here I was, drifting through life, with nowhere to call home.

I couldn't hold back anymore. Tears started falling silently down my cheeks.

Before I knew it, I was sobbing out loud, my whole body shaking.

The driver kept glancing at me in the rearview mirror, and when he finally stopped at my apartment complex, he let out a sigh. "Forget it, girl. It's Christmas Eve. You don't have to pay the extra one hundred. Go home, okay?"

Even a stranger could show me more kindness than anyone else.

But the man I'd poured my heart into for five years, the one I thought was my whole future, just watched as I made a fool of myself and wasted my youth for his happiness with another woman.

After getting home and washing up in a daze, I was so exhausted that I collapsed on the couch and passed out.

Before dawn, a frantic phone call yanked me out of a nightmare.

I answered in a daze, but the moment I heard the voice on the other end, I was wide awake.

It was Martha, my grandma's neighbor, her voice trembling with panic. "Bea, you need to come home right now.

"Your grandma got up early to use the bathroom, but the yard was still icy. She slipped and fell. We took her to the nearest hospital."

My mind went blank, and my hands and feet went cold as ice in a flash.

Without hesitation, I threw on my coat, grabbed a few things, and raced straight to the train station.

The station was packed with people. I squeezed my way to the ticket gate, but no matter what I tried, the turnstile wouldn't let me through.

I tried over and over, but the machine kept repeating the same cold, mechanical error sound.

I rushed over to the service desk. "Hi, could you check my ticket for me?"

The staff member took my driver's license, typed a few things in, and then looked up at me. "Sorry, ma'am, we don't have any record of your booking."

I froze for a second, and then leaned in, my voice shaky with panic. "How can that be? Please, could you check again? I'm sure I changed my ticket a few days ago. It's for the first train this morning."

The staff member checked again, but still shook her head. "I'm sorry, there's no record of your booking."

My throat was tight, my voice trembling with the beginnings of tears. "Is there any way I can buy a ticket now? I'll take any train.

"I'm sorry, all trains are fully booked."

The people behind me in line started getting impatient, urging me to hurry up.

I moved forward in a daze, numb and letting the crowd jostle me from side to side.

Suddenly, a thought popped into my head.

My hands were shaking as I pulled out my phone and called Henry. "Henry, did you cancel my train ticket?"