In the small hours of the morning, Clara walked barefoot,wearing nothing but her underwear,along the icy streets of early
autumn.
The streetlights stretched her shadow long;passing headlights swept over her pale, vacant face and bare skin,drawing a few ambiguous whistles and prying glances.
She didn’t notice. She only felt numb–desperate to escape.”
At last she saw a small,reasonably clean–looking motel.It felt like a lifeline.Staggering,she stepped inside.”
Behind the counter, a middle–aged woman dozed. Startled awake,she looked Clara up and down, suspicion flickering in her
eyes.
“One room,” Clara rasped. Her voice was hoarse, almost soundless.
The woman curled her lip and slid over a registration form.“ID.Five–hundred cash deposit.“@
Clara reached instinctively for her bag and found nothing.”
Only then did she remember–her purse,her phone,everything–left behind in that villa.
She had nothing on her but the humiliating scraps of underwear she wore.
The color drained from her face. She forced out the words:“I…I don’t have cash or my phone. Could I-”
The woman’s expression turned instantly impatient and contemptuous. “No money?No ID?Then why come here for a room? What do you think this place is?Go on,get out!”
Her gaze was the kind used for women of ill repute.
Clara flinched under it,humiliation burning deeper.”
She took a steadying breath,clinging to the last shred of composure.“I…I have a card.I can pay with a card.“”
She remembered the hidden pocket sewn into the side of her underwear where she always kept a spare debit card–her own savings,part of her dowry,never mingled with Adrian Cole’s assets.
The woman looked doubtful but handed her the card reader.
Clara’s trembling fingers slid the thin card in.
Transaction failed.”
She tried again.”
Transaction failed.
“What’s going on?Out of money? Don’t waste my time,” the woman snapped.”
“That’s impossible…there’s money in that account…” Clara’s mind spun. Her knees almost gave way.
“Could I borrow your phone?Just to call the bank,“she pleaded.
With obvious reluctance,the woman pushed over the desk phone.”
Clara dialed the bank’s service number from memory.”
The polite but icy voice of the operator came through: “Hello,Ms. Winter. Our records show this account was temporarily frozen this afternoon at the request of your spouse,citing a property dispute.””
Spouse Adrian Cole.”
The world tilted. A ringing filled her ears.
He had thrown her out,taken her cat,humiliated her dignity–and now he was stripping away even the one thing that was wholly hers.%
He meant to drive her to a dead end.”
Clara snatched up the phone and dialed Adrian’s number.”
It rang for a long time before it was answered–not by Adrian, but by Vanessa’s sharp,triumphant voice.N
“Hello?Who’s this? Looking for Adrian?He’s in the shower–no time for you.”
Clara clenched her jawher voice trembling. “Vanessa,put Adrian on. How dare he freeze my card? That’s my money.“N “Well,well And who might this be?Oh–it’s the ex–Mrs. Cole!“Vanessa’s tone dripped with mockery. “Your money? Don’t make me laugh. You married into the Cole family, you lived on the Cole family’s dime,and you dare say that’s yours? Everything was earned by Adrian. You should be grateful. Even thrown out,you still act like a princess.“N Before Clara could reply,Vanessa barreled on,her voice shrill and relentless:
“Listen,Clara–don’t push your luck!! was out working at sixteen,bussing tables,handing out flyers, pouring drinks in bars,doing whatever it took I survived on my own. And you?Without Adrian, what are you?What can you even do?“\
She paused with malice,then laughed. “Tsk. But your face is decent and your body’s passable. How about this?Out of old
eisintänne l’ll bet you a ich There are a few clube in the south of the citu Thau cater to rich man Thou laya woman lika und
9/2 70.01%
8:35 AM P P
acquaintance, I’ll get you a job. There are a few clubs in the south of the city. They cater to rich men. They love women like you who look all high and mighty–pays better than the usual. Interested? Beats starving,right? Hahaha!”
Clara shook all over,her nails digging into her palms.\
Vanessa only grew more gleeful,as if basking in her superiority. “Do you know why Adrian liked you?Because he’d never seen the world and you fooled him with that fake prim attitude. You don’t understand him at all. Aside from bossing him around, forbidding this and that, what else can you do?Do you know how stifled he felt with you?How bored?“!
“But me?“Her voice swelled with self–satisfaction. “I’m his soulmate.I know what he craves–thrill,freedom.I take him street–racing,bungee jumping,to Macau casinos.I give him the life he’s never tasted. I’m his salvation,the only sun in his dark life. You’re nothing but a nagging housekeeper he’s long since grown sick of!“}
Each word was a poisoned needle,piercing Clara’s heart.”
She thought of Adrian’s ulcer from all those drinking bouts in his early years. Of the serious car crash he’d once survived,the doctor’s repeated warnings that his heart mustn’t be overstrained. No extreme sports. No pushing limits.”
Her“rules” for him had been born of a wife’s worry and love.
And he?!
To please this so–called soulmate, he had thrown every warning aside–and now used her care as proof she was“boring.“” He was gambling with his life.
Clara’s heart twisted with pain.
Before she could speak again,she heard Adrian’s voice over the line,the rush of water in the background. He sounded like he’d just stepped out of the shower.
“Vanessa,who are you talking to?”
“Who else?Your clingy ex–wife,” Vanessa sneered.“She’s whining about her card being frozen.Hmph.“”
Clara clearly heard Adrian’s impatient reply:“Ignore her. Vanessa,you’re right. Only you understand me. Before I met you,those thirty years meant nothing. You’re the only light in my life.”
Clara hung up silently. Her body felt like ice.
Behind the counter,the woman’s eyes turned even stranger,as if certain she was dealing with a“problem“woman.[
Cornered.
Her parents were far abroad–she couldn’t bear to alarm them.”
Friends?After marrying Adrian she had all but cut off her old social circle.
Despair rose like a tide,threatening to drown her.
A name surfaced in her mind.
Jonathan Hale.
The Hale and Winter families had been close for generations. Jonathan had been her childhood companion.”
If she hadn’t been so determined to marry the self–made Adrian Cole,their families might have joined by marriage.
Even so, Jonathan had remained gracious,never making things difficult.
At her wedding he had sent a generous gift and said, “Clara,if you ever need help,the doors of the Hale family will always be open to you.“}
At the time it had sounded like politeness. Now it was her only driftwood.
She borrowed the phone again,drew a deep breath, and dialed the long–neglected number.
After three or four rings,a low,warm male voice answered.“Who is this?”
“Jonathan.“%
At that single word,all of Clara’s composure and forced strength shattered. Her voice broke into sobs. “It’s me…Clara…….I need help%
8:35 AM P P
