Free Gambler’s Woman by Unknown Page A

had gone along willingly with the whirlwind courtshipChadhad instituted. Her father had been enormously pleased after meeting the young man she proposed to marry. If his daughter wasn't quite smart enough to take a place in the stellar list of brilliant mathematicians, she was smart enough to marry someone who eventually would. Knowing she had pleased her father and flattered by the overwhelming attention of a fellow student whom she had admired from afar, Alyssa had agreed toChad's proposal of marriage.
    It occurred to Alyssa on occasion that she'd never really set her own goals. For years, her father had established them for her, and later, married toChadand working to pay his graduate student fees, she had attempted to gain her satisfaction through helping her husband attain his lofty goals. And there was some satisfaction along that route. Being with Chad, entertaining his brilliant friends, gave her a sense of participating in the elite world of mathematicians, a world she'd always been taught to respect For a time, Chad had seemed content with his admiring wife, whose practical ability had won her an excellent paying position right out of college. Joseph Chandler certainly fulfilled his duties as a proud father-in-law, helping his daughter's husband get into the graduate school of his choice and making certain he was brought to the attention of the right people.
    But a year and a half after marrying her,Chadwas offered a teaching assistant's post at the university.
    He had been recognized by the people who mattered. Along with the new position came introductions to new people. Perhaps it was inevitable thatChadwould eventually meet a woman who was more suited to his intellectual level. In any event, he evidently felt he no longer needed Joseph Chandler's support or a hardworking wife. He had divorced Alyssa to marry a beautiful and unquestionably brilliant faculty member who would undoubtedly take over the furthering of his career.
    It had all been for the best, Alyssa had told herself a thousand times since then. She would never have felt entirely comfortable inChad's environment There would always have been that feeling of inferiority with which to contend, that knowledge that she could never compete with his brilliant friends. And there was no doubt that from her very humble, very practical point of view, it hadn't been pleasant learning thatChadhad basically seen her as a meal ticket and her father as an added asset.
    But all the common sense in the world didn't alleviate the feeling of rejection that struck her like a hammer when her former friends, the onesChadhad cultivated, no longer found her particularly interesting. It was Chad's intelligence and upward mobility in the academic world that had drawn them. They had nothing in Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    common with his wife.
    And all the common sense in the world couldn't dispel. She notion that she'd somehow disappointed her father for not being able to hold on toChad. She'd brought a brilliant mathematician into the family, a man who could have been a true son to the elderChandler, only to lose him.
    Alyssa's reaction had been abrupt and single-minded. If she wasn't good enough for the academic world, she'd damn well prove she could hold her own in other spheres! Namely, a sphere where her brand of math was appreciated, sought after and paid for. She dedicated herself to the business world, where she had since proved more than able to rise steadily to the top.
    In the area of statistics and probability theory, she had shown real flair, and Alyssa was determined to be as successful at her job asChadand her father were in their worlds. She measured her success by the salary and title she held. They were the only gauges she had. Her father had been accidentally killed in an automobile crash just about the time Alyssa was starting to demonstrate her true abilities. She'd never known for sure whether or not he had