“Why are you zoning out? Hurry up—we need to get on board.”

“Oh—yeah.” Eric snapped back to reality and quickly followed.

Inside the train, they watched from a distance as Andrea settled into her seat. They didn’t dare get too close, but they couldn’t stray far either. Since they had bought standing-room-only tickets, they found a spot near the carriage door.

Ten minutes passed. Hadley shifted from foot to foot, her eyes never leaving Andrea.

Noticing this, Eric leaned in, concern lacing his voice.

“Do you want to find an empty seat? I can keep watch.”

“No need.” Hadley shook her head firmly.

“I feel better watching her myself.”

“But…” Eric frowned.

“You’ll get tired.” He pointed at the screen displaying the train route.

“Her stop isn’t until tomorrow morning.”

Standing all night—he knew she couldn’t manage that. If it were up to him, he would have upgraded her ticket on the spot, maybe even gotten her a private cabin.

“Are you tired?” Hadley misunderstood, glancing at him sideways.

“Didn’t I tell you? I can handle it. You should just get off at the next stop and go back.” She checked her phone.

“Ten more minutes to the next station.”

“No!” Eric’s response was instant and resolute.

“I’m not tired at all!” He was just worried about her.

He felt a bit wronged, muttering under his breath, “You’re always trying to get rid of me…”

Hadley caught the sound but not the words.

“What was that?”

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“Nothing.” He shook his head quickly. But he had to come up with a plan. If she stood like this all night, she’d collapse from exhaustion.

“Come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“Just follow me.” Eric led her to the connector between Carriage 10 and 9.

“Hello.” He stopped in front of two seats, currently occupied by a young man and woman—likely college students.

“Excuse me,” he said politely.

Both students looked up from their phones.

“Yes?” the girl asked, brows lifting.

Eric nodded.

“Are you two traveling together?”

“No. We’re not,” she replied.

“Why?”

“Here’s the thing,” Eric said evenly.

“I want to buy your seats. Name your price.”

“What?” Both the young man and woman stared at him, dumbfounded.

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