She Found Freedom, Not His Love

cancer had mutated, standard treatment failed, and a fifty thousand dollar deposit for exp

aced an impossible chasm. Her family trust, controlle

Keri's assistant denied expedite and blocked calls. Desperate, Eda calle

iest, yet begging on a hospital floor? Axel's indifference and Keri'

inct roared. Red lipstick her war paint, Eda Roman marched

pte

Roma

index finger. A bead of dark blood welled up, but I felt absolutely no pain. My entire nervous system was paralyzed by the words printed on the page. Since

tomach churn. He told me the standard chemotherapy had failed. The cancer cells were mutating too fast. He said w

glass. I forced my vocal cords to work, the words trembling as they left my mou

this was the only viable path left. He cut of

nto my palms that they left deep, crescent-shaped indentat

. Right at that moment, an orderly pushed a metal supply cart down the corridor. The wheels r

y thousand dollars. To the Foley family, that was the cost of a casual d

ainst the floor, but in my ears, it sounded like the ticki

of subtle, unmistakable disdain flashed in her eyes. Coming from a working-class background, my skin prickled. I wa

ately. She pinched the corner of the paper tightly. We stood the

if the deposit wasn't paid by midnight, the

ked the paper out of her grip. The crisp sound of

ned to walk away. He left me standing entirely alone beneath

My legs turned to water. My body slid down the wall in slow

watched my husband, Axel, on the financial news. He was standing at a podium, loo

Group. I was married to one of the wealthiest men in Seattle, yet I was sitting on a

s brushed the cold metal casing of my phon

b hovered over Axel's name in my contacts. It st

mous snake. He hadn't even looked up from his laptop. He had just coldly told me t

last page of my home screen. I stared at the sleek b

m. It was also the electronic dog leash Ke

l recognition scanned my pale features. The screen

y allowance was displayed in stark white numbers.

l. Instantly, a massive wall of complex legal

hands were shaking so badly that my thumb kept hitting th

system demanded the specific ICD-10 medical

diagnostic report in my lap. The lens blurred.

ng the bones together until it hurt. I forced my mu

e screen with agonizing slowness. Every passing second

t box materialized on the screen. I stared dead

. The system will conduct a prelimin