Chapter 2

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

Zane sneered. "She's only a regular office clerk at some company. What kind of credentials do you think she has?"

Anna chimed in, sounding aggrieved. "I'm with the Global Medical Relief Alliance. I just got back from the Zambara outbreak zone.

"The suitcase only contains my personal belongings and some medical notes. I think this lady may have misunderstood the situation."

She pulled out a work badge from her bag and passed it to the security guard.

He glanced at it, and the tension in his expression visibly eased. "Since you have official credentials from a recognized organization, ma'am, please—"

"That badge is fake," I said.

The whole place went quiet for a second, then the crowd burst out laughing louder.

"Fake? Then why don't you show us a real one?"

"Did getting cheated on finally drive her crazy?"

"Her husband says she's got mental issues. Poor guy. He married a total nutcase."

Zane's expression turned stormy. He strode over to me, lowering his voice to a condescending murmur. "There's nothing between Anna and me. You've got it all wrong.

"Natalie, come with me right now. I'll give you one last chance."

I didn't move.

"No?" Zane said. He reached out, grabbed my arm, and started to pull me along.

I said, "Zane, don't touch me. I'm preg—"

"Not this again." His voice was thick with disgust. "Last time, you picked a fight with me over one of my students, then pretended to have a headache and went to the hospital. And now you're telling me you're pregnant?

"If you were really pregnant, would you be running around the airport causing a scene instead of staying home like you're supposed to?"

Anna stood right beside him, one hand resting on the suitcase handle while the other rummaged around inside her bag.

The suitcase was about to slip through the checkpoint.

I pushed myself upright with one hand on my knee, but I didn't go after Zane.

Instead, I hurried toward the wall beside the security desk, about 10 feet away.

A red emergency button was mounted there beneath a plastic cover. A small label was printed above it: [Level One Biohazard Alert.]

I flipped the cover open and slapped my palm down on the button.

The shrill alarm instantly blared through the entire airport terminal. Red warning lights began flashing wildly. The noisy crowd fell silent for several seconds before erupting into greater panic.

Anna froze in her tracks. Her hand came out of her bag, her fingers trembling slightly.

When Zane saw me trigger the alarm, he stormed over in anger.

His hand came up, the slap cutting through the air as it headed straight for my face, but it never landed.

It wasn't because he couldn't bear to hit me. Everyone was watching, and a university professor who prided himself on being a respectable man couldn't bring himself to slap a woman in public.

He jabbed a finger against my forehead, hard enough to make me stumble backward. "Do you know what happens when you make a false emergency report? You get detained and fined. You're embarrassing me.

"You're nothing but a low-paid office clerk. What right do you have to press that button? Do you know what it means when that thing gets activated?"

He really had no clue who I was. He had never cared about my job, and he had never once asked what I actually did.

Every time I came home late from overtime, all he ever said was, "What could possibly be so important about that lousy job?"

For three years, he had treated me like a pretty little ornament, useless on my own and completely dependent on him.

"Please move aside." An airport biohazard emergency response team in full protective gear came rushing through a side passage, pushing a sealed inspection unit.

The captain was leading the way, his walkie-talkie crackling with static. "Level One alert triggered in Zone A3. No visible leakage at this time. Requesting backup for confirmation."

Anna stood straight beside the security gate, her suitcase trapped on the other side of the blast door.

The panic on her face lasted less than a second before she composed herself again.

She flashed the emergency team a warm smile. "Hi, sir. I'm a doctor with the Global Medical Relief Alliance, certified by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"This lady is acting out because of a personal relationship dispute. She blocked me from passing through and deliberately triggered a biohazard alarm."

The ground supervisor looked at her documents, all written in a foreign language, then at me in my ordinary clothes with my face drained of color.

He seemed convinced and turned to me with a stern look. "Ma'am, this is a restricted customs area, not a place to settle domestic disputes."

Zane turned toward the emergency team leader and slipped effortlessly back into the composed demeanor of a university professor. "Sir, sorry about this.

"My wife hasn't been herself lately. She's probably upset because we had an argument. Sorry for causing all this fuss. It's a misunderstanding."

Those onlookers whispered among themselves.

"What the hell is wrong with her? She sees someone with a suitcase and starts screaming about biohazard weapons. Now look at this. Everyone is stuck here."

"I feel bad for that doctor. She got back from saving lives overseas and now she has to put up with this crap."

"If I were him, I'd have dumped a woman like that long ago. Hell, I'd have killed her."

I listened to every word, my nails digging into my palms.

The emergency team was going through their procedures. They needed me to provide my personal information before they could initiate the specialized inspection protocol.

However, my phone had shattered when Zane shoved me.

Without my phone, I couldn't contact my supervisor. And without my credentials, the emergency team wouldn't accept my authority.

Zane stepped closer and lowered his voice. "If you bow, apologize to Anna, and admit you were acting crazy to get my attention, I might be willing to use my position as a university professor to keep you from getting arrested."

What? Bow and apologize to Anna?

I looked at the face that had once made my heart race. For the first time in three years, it looked terrifyingly unfamiliar.

"Zane," I said quietly, my voice calm. "I gave you one last chance to walk away from her."

"Are you threatening me?" Zane sneered.

"It's not a threat." I locked eyes with him. "From now on, you'll be held legally responsible for the choice you made."

After hearing all that, Anna got impatience.

She snapped open the combination lock and threw the suitcase wide open for everyone to see. "Since you're so desperate to see what's inside, go ahead.

"Let everyone here bear witness. If they don't find any contraband, I'll make sure she spends the rest of her life behind bars."