The Captain I Married by Chance novel Chapter 136

The driver stared at Aaron's phone, saying nothing.

Aaron felt a wave of embarrassment.

He prided himself on being a top graduate with a glamorous and promising career, yet here he was, unable to even pay for a cab ride in the middle of the night.

He made another mental note, blaming Nora for this whole mess.

"Do you have cash?"

Even the driver seemed surprised by the situation, finally asking slowly after a long pause.

"I should…" Aaron reached into his pocket and fumbled around for a while.

Finally, he pulled out a ten-dollar bill, his face burning with shame.

Ten dollars wasn't even enough to cover the base fare.

He couldn't bring himself to look the driver in the eye.

But the driver took a deep breath and said, "Forget it. I was heading this way anyway."

The driver plucked the ten-dollar bill from Aaron's hand, restarted the car, and drove away.

Aaron let out a sigh of relief.

He walked to the entrance of the apartment building and reached for the keypad, only to find the electronic lock was dead.

"Don't tell me the power's out here, too?"

Being close to the police station, this complex had strict security.

Without the code, the main door wouldn't open, and he had no way to call Nora and ask her to buzz him in.

After hesitating for a few seconds between leaving and staying, Aaron decided to lean against the wall nearby and slide down to the ground.

In truth, he couldn't leave even if he wanted to. With his phone dead, he had no way to call a cab or pay for one.

"Nora, you put me through all this. If you don't make it up to me this time, don't blame me for getting serious!"

Aaron didn't believe Nora would actually break up with him. After all, she loved him so much.

Even after everything that had happened, he was confident that if he just made the first move, Nora would cave.

He closed his eyes, smugly imagining the demands he would make after they got back together, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

***

At 5:30 in the morning.

***

Nora was woken by the sound of a vibrating phone and habitually reached for her own.

But her phone was silent.

The buzzing sound continued.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance and opened her eyes, puzzled by the dim morning light.

If it wasn't her phone, whose could it be?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, there was a knock on her bedroom door.

Nora jumped, calling out sharply, "Who is it?!"

The knocking stopped, and then Nathan's slightly tense voice came through. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

Her memories of last night came flooding back.

Scratching her head, Nora threw off the covers and got out of bed. "It's fine. I was half-asleep and forgot you were here. What's wrong?"

"There's been an arson case. We need to get there as soon as possible."