After Eight Years, They Threw Me Away

Chapter 36: Nora Walked Out

Olivia did not leave immediately.

She stood outside Liang Tea Ware for almost twenty minutes after Nora and I went inside.

I knew because Liang kept walking past the window with unnecessary interest.

"Still there," he said the first time.

"Stop looking," May snapped from the counter.

Three minutes later, he passed again.

"Now she is crying."

May threw a roll of packing tape at him.

He caught it against his chest.

"What? I report facts."

"Report orders."

Nora sat at the folding table near the back, sorting customer feedback into categories. Gift packaging, delivery speed, product quality, repeat purchase questions. Her face was calm, but she had not typed for several minutes.

I noticed.

She noticed me noticing.

"Work," she said.

"You first."

"I am thinking."

"So am I."

"Dangerous."

The familiar word should have made me smile.

It did not quite get there.

Olivia's sobs were not audible from inside. That helped and did not help. A person could be silent and still fill a room.

May came over and placed a cup of tea in front of me.

"Drink."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. You look terrible."

Liang, from the counter, said, "He always looks like that when women talk."

May turned.

"Do you want to sleep in the warehouse?"

Liang became very interested in order slips.

I drank the tea.

It was too hot.

Good.

Pain somewhere simple helped.

Nora finally closed the spreadsheet.

"I need air."

I looked up.

"Nora."

"Not running away."

She stood, picked up a folder, then seemed to change her mind and put it down.

"Five minutes."

She walked out the side door into the alley behind the shop.

I waited ten seconds, then followed.

The alley smelled of rainwater trapped in concrete, cardboard, and the kitchen exhaust from a noodle shop. Nora stood near the back steps, arms folded, looking at nothing.

"I said five minutes," she said.

"I am bad at instructions."

"I noticed."

I stood a few steps away.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

Then she said, "She still loves you."

I looked at her profile.

"No."

Nora turned.

"You are certain?"

"She loves the man who would have saved her."

"That is still a kind of love."

"A hungry person may love a bowl of rice. That does not mean the rice is loved."

Nora blinked.

"That was grim."

"Accurate."

She looked away again.

"Are you okay?"

"No."

She nodded.

"Good answer."

"You prefer me not lying?"

"Always."

The alley was narrow. Somewhere above us, a window opened and someone shook water from a mop. Drops splattered near the drain.

I stepped closer, just out of reach.

"I meant what I said."

Nora's fingers tightened around her sleeve.

"You said many things."

"That you matter to me."

She did not look at me.

"That was not necessary."

"It was true."

"Truth can still be badly timed."

"I know."

"Do you?"

This time, she looked at me fully.

There was something guarded in her eyes.

Not fear of Olivia.

Fear of becoming a place I ran to before I had finished leaving another.

I understood it because I had feared the same thing.

"I am not asking you for anything," I said.

"Good."

"And I am not saying it because she came."

Nora waited.

"I should have said it before she came."

Her eyes shifted.

For a second, the guard almost lowered.

Then she looked down.

"You are still hurt."

"Yes."

"You are still angry."

"Sometimes."

"You still answer her in your head."

That one landed.

I did not deny it.

Nora gave a small nod, as if I had answered anyway.

"Then heal first."

"And you?"

"I am not going anywhere today."

"Only today?"

"Do not negotiate future terms in an alley."

I laughed quietly.

She almost smiled.

Then footsteps sounded near the alley entrance.

Olivia stood there.

Her face was pale, eyes swollen. She had clearly heard enough to understand little and imagine much.

"So this is where you were," she said.

Nora's expression cooled.

I stepped forward.

"Olivia, leave."

She looked at Nora.

"Did you wait until we divorced?"

The question was ugly.

Nora did not flinch.

"No."

Olivia's eyes flashed.

"At least you're honest."

I said, "Stop."

Nora lifted one hand slightly.

"Let me."

She walked down the steps into the alley.

For the first time, she stood face to face with Olivia.

Olivia was dressed like a woman who had once belonged to expensive rooms.

Nora wore a simple shirt, jeans, and worn sneakers. Her hair was tied back carelessly. There was ink on one finger from marking package drafts.

They could not have looked more different.

Olivia's voice shook.

"You think you know him?"

Nora answered calmly.

"No. I am still learning."

"I was married to him for seven years."

"Then you knew more than anyone how to hurt him."

Olivia went white.

Even I stopped breathing for a second.

Nora continued, still quiet.

"I don't hate you. I don't need to. But do not come here and turn your regret into his responsibility."

Olivia's mouth trembled.

"You have no idea what happened between us."

"I know enough. When he was bleeding, you asked why the floor was wet."

The alley fell silent.

I had never told Nora that exact line.

Not fully.

Maybe she had pieced it together.

Maybe she simply understood.

Olivia looked at me, then back at Nora.

The anger drained, leaving only humiliation.

"You love him," she whispered.

Nora did not answer immediately.

Then she said, "I respect him. That came first."

Something in Olivia's face broke.

Respect.

The thing she had stopped giving before love ended.

She stepped back.

"Ethan," she said, voice hollow, "I really lost you."

I looked at her.

"Yes."

No explanation.

No kindness shaped like hope.

Just the truth.

Olivia turned and walked away.

This time, she did not look back.

Nora stood in the alley until the footsteps faded.

Then she exhaled.

"That was more than five minutes."

I almost laughed.

Instead, I said, "Thank you."

She gave me a tired look.

"You are far past ten."

"I know."

"Good. Start using other words."

"I will."

But I did not know any words large enough.