Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Five days left. I submitted my resignation.
I’d turned down a Ph.D. offer from my mentor to follow Albert to Portland, where I took a job at a generic biotech firm.
My colleagues were shocked.
“Sherry, you’re leaving?”
“I heard you’re getting married! Planning to be a stay-at-home wife? Albert is a lucky man!”
I smiled, clutching a box of my personal belongings. “Nope. Wedding’s off.”
When I got home, Albert and Krista were sitting on the sofa—the first time I’d seen him in a week. He saw my box.
“Why are you moving so much stuff?”
“Just things I don’t need anymore,” I said casually.
Albert nodded, glancing around the barren apartment. “I was only gone a week. Looks like we’ve been robbed.”
I dragged the box into my bedroom, replying calmly, “Just taking out the trash.”
Albert started to say something, but Krista cut him off.
“Sherry, Albert worked so hard taking me to Vegas. I’d like to treat you both to coffee at Starbucks to say thank you. I know I might be leaning on you for a while, so I hope you don’t mind.”
Her triumphant gaze seemed to say: See? I won.
I hadn’t confronted Albert since I found out the truth.
I had no interest in pointless arguments.
In five days, I would be gone. I just wanted to leave quietly.
Seeing my silence, Krista’s eyes immediately reddened.
“Albert, is Sherry upset? I just…”
Albert’s brow furrowed, and he turned on me. “Krista is offering to buy you a coffee. What’s with the long face? It’s not like she’s going to poison it. We’re going.”
He’d already declared me guilty without hearing a word from me.
I let Albert drag me to Starbucks. When the server came, he ordered like a pro. “One cold brew, one oat milk latte with three extra shots, no sugar, and one hazelnut latte.”
When the drinks arrived, he pushed the oat milk latte to Krista and the hazelnut latte to me. “This one’s yours.”
My appetite vanished. I put the cup down. “I’m allergic to nuts.”
How funny. After five years, Albert didn’t know about my life-threatening nut allergy, yet he had Krista’s coffee order memorized, down to the last drop—three shots, no sugar.
Albert froze, a rare flash of guilt crossing his face. He ordered me an Americano.
I didn’t touch it. I just drank my water.
Afterward, Emma called. “Sherry, the professor confirmed everything. You’re still on for the original plan, right? The first project is confidential, so you might not have outside contact for a year or two.”
My gaze fell on Albert and Krista. They were walking side by side, Albert protectively hovering over her.
My voice was calm. “Confirmed.”
Emma sighed in relief. “Good. The professor was worried you’d get cold feet about leaving your husband.”
I turned my head. “The wedding’s off. I’m leaving.”
A questioning voice came from behind me. “Who’s leaving?”
