He Drove Her To The Exam, Left Our Daughter In The Flood Chapter 01

He Drove Her To The Exam, Left Our Daughter In The Flood Chapter 01

On the day of my daughter’s SATs, a once-in-a-century rainstorm flooded half the city.

Traffic was paralyzed, the streets were deeply submerged, and my daughter was in tears from anxiety.

I called my husband, Arthur Vance, who drove for a rideshare service, eighteen times.

When he finally picked up, he sounded both frantic and annoyed:

“Traffic is a nightmare over here. Just grab an electric rental scooter or something, don’t let our girl miss the most important day of her life.”

But the water was above our knees; the scooters wouldn’t even budge in the flood.

By the time my daughter and I stumbled to the testing center, the first bell had already finished ringing.

My daughter collapsed into the muddy water, sobbing uncontrollably.

Madison Brooks, a girl from her class who bullied her daily, stood there gloating:

“Well, look at that. Some people are born but not loved, unlike me. My dad had the car ready and the umbrella open hours ago, just so I wouldn’t catch a single drop of rain.”

I was so furious I reached out to grab the girl and give her a piece of my mind.

But the next second, a hand with prominent knuckles clamped onto my wrist, shielding the girl behind him.

“Don’t touch my daughter.”

Our eyes met, and it was him—my husband, Arthur Vance, the man who was supposed to be “stuck in traffic.”

***

“Dad.”

Seeing Arthur arrive made Madison even more arrogant.

She snuggled into Arthur’s arms and shot me a triumphant smirk.

Arthur’s face turned pale.

Yet, he didn’t remove his hand from Madison’s shoulder.

“I thought you were stuck in traffic?”

As I spoke, I realized my voice was shaking.

To get a ride, my daughter and I had stood in the rain for over an hour.

We were soaked to the bone, shivering violently.

Arthur reached out a hand, wanting to wipe the mud off my face.

I slapped his hand away and stared at him coldly.

“The thing is… Sienna was sick…”

He looked away guiltily. “Madison had no one to take her. I was heading that way anyway, so I dropped her off first. I was going to come back for you, but the roads were just too blocked…”

“Heading that way?”

I looked at my daughter, who was still slumped on the ground.

“It’s a traffic jam for your own daughter, but for Sienna’s kid, it’s ‘on the way’?”

Arthur choked on his words.

He turned to look at Hope, his eyes filled with heartache as he reached out to pull her up.

But Hope shifted her body, flinching away from him.

Arthur’s hand froze in mid-air.

Before he could say anything, Madison pulled on his sleeve.

“Dad, I’m cold.”

He looked at his daughter, then back at Madison, and sighed.

“Sienna is already sick. If Madison gets sick too, that household will be in real trouble. I’ll get Madison to the car first, we’ll talk later.”

With that, he held the umbrella over Madison, shielding her as they walked toward the car.

A surge of fury blocked my chest.

I instinctively wanted to chase after him and slap him.

But a hand caught mine.

“Mom, forget it.”

My daughter watched Arthur’s retreating back, her eyes filled with desolation.

The girl who had just mocked her for being “unloved” was being cradled by Hope’s own father and carefully tucked into a car.

While she was left abandoned in the rain.

I knelt down and hugged my daughter.

“It’s okay.” I tried my best to stay calm.

“It’s just one section of the test. We can retake it next year, or we can look at schools abroad. Whatever you choose, Mom supports you.”

Hope shook her head, her gaze complex.

“I’m not going abroad.”

Arthur’s car lights flashed as he prepared to pull away.

Hope stood up and took my arm.

“Mom, you should divorce him.”

I was stunned.

Hope had always been close to Arthur.

Every time Arthur came home, Hope would bring him his slippers, pour him water, and say, “Good work, Dad.”

If Arthur hadn’t broken her heart today, she would never have said the word divorce.

I wiped the mud from her face and patted her shoulder:

“We’ll talk about that later.”

Hope buried her face in the crook of my neck, her voice breaking.

“Mom, I’m serious. Divorce him. I’m staying with you.”

Tears burst from my eyes.

In that moment, every word of comfort was stuck in my throat.

After a long silence, I forced a smile. “Okay.”

“We don’t need him anymore.”

I supported Hope as we walked back step by step.

When we reached the intersection, Arthur’s car drove by.

He rolled down the window and gestured for us to get in.

But Madison, in the passenger seat, tugged at his shirt. “Dad, Mom is still sick at home.”

He hesitated for a split second, then dropped a quick line: “Just go home and wait for me.”

Then he rolled up the window and drove away.

Hope remained hunched over, desperately protecting the folder containing her admission documents, letting the rain hammer down on her.

I looked at her and suddenly felt that the person who had wronged her most in this storm wasn’t Arthur.

It was me.