Chapter 2

2.

Sharon never came home that night, moving straight into the plant's single staff dormitory.

I did not bother looking for her. Instead, I quietly arranged to sell my repairman spot at the mill.

The news spread like wildfire through the factory floor.

Coworkers looked at me with a mixture of mockery and pity.

"Did you hear? Caleb is clearing out."

"Well, Director Montgomery and Technician Vance are practically official now."

"A country boy should know his place anyway."

Because Sharon never wanted people to know we were married, everyone assumed I was just a distant relative who came to the city to sponge off her.

I had wanted to correct them in the past, but I held back, terrified of ruining her promotion chances.

Now, hearing the snide whispers, I only offered a faint smile.

"Yeah, a stray dog knows when he is not wanted. City life is exhausting anyway; heading home is much easier."

They had no idea I was not admitting defeat. I was simply changing my battlefield.

In my past life, desperate to have something in common with Sharon, I studied until my eyes bled, earning an associate degree and eventually a master's.

Yet even after becoming a certified engineer, in her eyes, I remained the crude hillbilly who only talked about groceries and chores.

She preferred talking to the mute parakeet on our porch over sharing a single conversation with me.

In this life, I would live solely for myself.

I planned to finalize the paperwork with Sharon as soon as the money from selling my job arrived.

However, an urgent telegram shattered all my plans.

― Mother critically ill. Broken leg. Wire five hundred dollars immediately.

My blood ran cold.

I was selling my position for eight hundred dollars, but the administrative transfer would take at least two weeks!

My mother could not wait two weeks!

Right at that moment, I spotted Sharon stepping out of the workshop.

Without a second thought, I sprinted over and blocked her path.

"Sharon, I need five hundred dollars right now! It is an emergency!"

Curious eyes immediately locked onto us.

The polite smile on Sharon's face vanished instantly.

"Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?"

How could she not have it?

My monthly paycheck was a hundred and twenty dollars. Aside from thirty dollars for household groceries, I handed every single cent over to her.

Even with her lavish spending habits, there was no way she did not have five hundred dollars!

My eyes turned bloodshot, my voice trembling with desperate plea.

"My mother had an accident! Her leg is shattered, and she is in the hospital waiting for surgery!"

"I need it to save her life! I gave you all my wages for six years, where did it all go?"

Sharon's scowl deepened, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment under our coworkers' watchful eyes.

She lowered her voice, dripping with irritation.

"Caleb, have you made enough of a scene? When I say I do not have it, I do not have it!"

I stared at her, my heart sinking into an abyss.

"Ninety dollars a month for six straight years. How can you not even scrape together five hundred?"

Sharon crossed her arms, her expression icy and dismissive.

"Do you have no idea how much food and shelter cost you every month?"

The surrounding workers immediately burst into mocking laughter.

"Look at him, freeloading under her roof and having the nerve to demand five hundred bucks."

"He is clearly just jealous of Technician Vance and trying to cause trouble!"

I stared at Sharon. As usual, she did not utter a single word in my defense.

Even though she knew damn well I had never spent a dime of her money.

I understood now.

She was punishing me for demanding a divorce and daring to challenge her authority.

But my mother was lying in a hospital bed, and time was running out.

Swallowing the metallic taste of blood in my throat, I asked in a raspy voice, "What will it take for you to give me my money?"

Smug satisfaction flickered in her eyes as she tilted her chin up.

"Go over there and bow to Austin," she ordered.

"Apologize to him, and I will give you the cash."

Austin stood nearby, sporting a hypocritical, saintly smile.

My fists clenched so hard at my sides that my nails dug into my palms.

For my mother, I swallowed my pride.

I bent my waist at a sharp ninety-degree angle, forcing the humiliating words out through gritted teeth.

"I am sorry, Austin. I misunderstood you the other day."

Austin reached out with a fake gesture of lifting me up, his tone dripping with malice.

"You are making too big a deal of this, Caleb. I never held a grudge."

"Even though you badmouth me behind my back and ruin my reputation across the plant, we are all colleagues. I will let it slide."

I snapped my head up. He was blatantly lying!

Sharon's expression darkened instantly.

"Caleb! How could you be so utterly vile?" she hissed. "Get on your knees and apologize properly!"

"I never said those things!" I defended myself fiercely.

"Still lying?"

Sharon sneered, her eyes brimming with disgust.

The surrounding crowd egged her on, shouting taunts.

"Country trash needs to learn manners! Make him kneel!"

"If he will not kneel, kick him out of the plant!"

Two burly workers who always sucked up to management stepped forward, grabbing my shoulders to force me down.

I struggled desperately, humiliated tears burning in my eyes.

Sharon's casual voice drifted over the noise.

"Do you want the five hundred dollars for your mother or not?"

In an instant, all the strength drained from my body.

I stopped fighting and let them shove me hard onto the concrete.

My knees hit the ground with a sickening thud amid the roaring laughter of the crowd.

Gazing up at Sharon with bloodshot eyes, I rasped, "Can you give me the money now?"