"Weren''t you in such a hurry to divorce me? Why aren''t you here yet?"


    Half an hour passed, but not only had Jessica Greene not replied, she hadn''t shown up either.


    The heavy feeling in Timothy Lawson''s chest began to lift. Maybe she''d changed her mind. Maybe she didn''t want the divorce after all. Perhaps she couldn''t bear to leave him and their son. They had, after all, spent seven years of their lives


    together.


    The thought echoed in his mind, growing stronger with each passing second. She must not want to leave. Yes, that had to be it.


    But a sliver of reason cut through his hope. How could she not want this? She had always wanted to leave him. Something else must havee up.


    He had steeled himself to grant her wish this time, truly prepared to sign the papers. Timothy dialed Jessica''s number again. The phone rang until it went to voicemail, unanswered. He didn''t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. But if she didn''t show, he was taking it as a sign. He wasn''t going through with it.


    He quickly typed out another message.


    "Jessica, I''m giving you onest half hour. If you don''t show up, I will never agree to a divorce again for the rest of our lives. You''re my wife, in life and in death!"


    God only knew how much it had cost him to agree in the first ce. If she didn''te, it was on her. Not his fault. If she didn''te, the deal was off.


    The final thirty minutes were a torturous mix of contradictions for Timothy. One part of him prayed she would hurry and get there, while the other desperately wished she would stay away. After what felt like an eternity, the half-hour mark passed. Jessica never appeared.


    He decided not to question why. Her absence was a tacit agreement to stay married. Whatever the reason, it didn''t matter. He would feign ignorance. From now on, she was still his wife. No divorce. What a relief. No divorce, not now, not ever.


    Time to go back to the hospital.


    Timothy left City Hall.


    Meanwhile, after two hours of emergency treatment, Jessica regained consciousness. Her


    copse was indeed due to her. worsening condition; the sharp overwhelming pain had finally made out The attending doctor


    her pass that


    informed them that she needed to beginprehensive treatment and get on the donor list immediately. They couldn''t dy any longer.


    Jessica was terribly weak. Vince Zimmerman sat by her bedside, holding her hand. “Jessica, we''re not waiting anymore. I''m chartering a private jet to take you abroad for treatment right now."


    Herbert Wheeler was already on the phone, leveraging all his connections to find a matching donor.


    “Vince,” she whispered, “I was supposed to sign the divorce papers with Timothy today. What time is it?"


    "It''s already past ten."


    Jessica struggled to sit up, but Vince gently pushed her back down. "You can''t leave the hospital. You''re still on an IV drip."


    "You know him better than anyone,” she pleaded. "If I don''t go today, he might change his mind. I have to go. Where''s my phone?"


    She had silenced her phone the previous night to ignore Timothy''s calls and texts. When Vince had rushed her to the hospital, he''d _grabbed it for She hadn''t heard


    any of Timothy''s recent attempts to contact her. He pulled the phone from his suit pocket and handed it to her.


    As soon as she unlocked the screen, she saw the missed calls and the


    message from Timothy. Hel


    1.n


    sank as she read the text. She immediately tried calling him but he didn''t answer. Jessica frowned, dialing again. Timothy saw her name sh on his screen but ignored it. He couldn''t answer. He didn''t want to. If he picked up now, he knew she would just be calling to get him back to City Hall.