I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 368

"Call me the second there's an update."

Hardening her resolve, Nora hung up the phone. She switched it to silent mode and shoved it deep into her pocket, blocking out all distractions.

She knew that, to an outsider, she probably looked ruthless and selfish. But she couldn't let a momentary lapse in judgment destroy the future she had spent years building.

Nora kept driving, but it wasn't long before she hit a dead stop. Traffic was gridlocked, a sea of cars trapped bumper-to-bumper without an inch of movement. The relentless blaring of horns echoed through the air, grating on everyone's nerves.

Frowning, she checked the time on her dashboard. She had been stuck for a full hour and a half. With less than sixty minutes left until the seminar began, there was no way she would make it at this crawling pace.

How was this happening? Did she wake up on the wrong side of the bed today? Absolutely nothing was going right.

Her anxiety skyrocketed. Her fingers drummed restlessly against the steering wheel as she silently prayed that nothing else would go wrong—that Cassie would pull through safely, the road would clear up, and the proposal she had spent weeks perfecting wouldn't go to waste.

But sitting here doing nothing wasn't an option. Unbuckling her seatbelt, Nora shoved her door open and stepped out into the gridlock, weaving through the narrow gaps between the cars to figure out what was causing the jam.

After slipping past over a dozen vehicles, she spotted a massive crowd huddled together, a chaotic murmur rising from the center. She quickly pushed her way through the onlookers.

It turned out the delay wasn't just a fender bender. Right after a minor accident was cleared, an elderly man had suddenly collapsed in the middle of the road. His face was a ghastly shade of blue, and his eyes were rolled shut.

Nora's brow furrowed. These were textbook symptoms of cardiac arrest.

Without a second thought, she shoved past the front line of the crowd and dropped to her knees. "Call 911 right now! Back up and give him some air! Don't move the patient!" she barked at the stunned bystanders.

The medic gave a sharp nod of acknowledgment. Knowing her job was done, Nora didn't waste another second. She spun on her heel and sprinted back toward her car.

As she slid back into the driver's seat, the face of the old man flashed through her mind. Though she had only caught a brief glimpse, there was something undeniably familiar about him.

She shook her head. It had to be the adrenaline. How could she possibly know some random man on the street?

Up ahead, the police had finally cleared the road, and traffic started moving. Nora didn't have time to dwell on the incident. She slammed her foot on the gas and sped toward the venue.

She finally pulled up to the building with twenty minutes to spare. Rushing through the ticket checkpoint, she navigated the aisles until she found her seat. Only when she finally sat down did the reality of the moment set in.