Chapter 87
Audrey’s POV
I limped toward the elevator, each step sending pain through my bruised legs. When I reached it, I pressed the button and leaned against the wall, needing its support more than I wanted to admit.
Laurel’s question still echoed in my head: “Do I matter more than Miss Sinclair? Despite everything, I’d had that stupid, tiny hope when she asked it. But Blake’s answer had been clear enough.
Though I didn’t get the answer I secretly wanted to hear, there wasn’t much turmoil in my heart. Everyone in New York knew Blake Parker preferred Laurel Rose. The way he looked at her, the tenderness in his voice when he spoke to her–it was obvious. I had no reason not to accept it.
The elevator arrived empty, and I stepped inside. Just as the doors began to close, a hand shot through the gap. Blake stepped in, immediately making the space feel smaller.
Didn’t he just finish cozying up to Laurel? How is he here now? With this thought, I moved to the opposite corner. “Aren’t you staying to take care of your Miss Rose?”
Blake pressed the button and turned to me. “I promised I’d take you home and take care of what needs to be done.
I frowned, confused by his words. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you want to see me delete those photos?” he added.
Right. The blackmail photos of Astrid. With everything else, I’d nearly forgotten.
“So, Mr. Parker, you came after me to fulfill your promise?” I kept my voice flat. “I can get home alone. Just delete the photos in front of me. You can do it right here.”
“So eager to avoid being around me?”
“I just don’t want to affect your relationship with Miss Rose.”
His mouth twisted into a cold smile. “You couldn’t affect us even if you tried.”
My fake smile instantly froze on my face.
He was right. I was being ridiculous. If I could actually influence their relationship, they wouldn’t still be together after three years. – why make things harder for myself?
just a ride home
The elevator slowed to a stop, and the doors opened. I glanced up at the floor indicator, surprised to see we were not in the lobby. I instinctively turned to go back into the elevator, but Blake blocked the doorway.
He spoke up, “You can barely walk. Want to risk another fall?”
Hearing this, I realized we were on the second floor of the hospital, where they treated external injuries and trauma.
I frowned and tried to reach past him for the button. I know my legs better than anyone. I don’t need your concern.”
“You need to get those injuries checked right away.7
“No. You said you’d take me home and delete the photos,” I said. “Having you escort me to a doctor wasn’t part of the deal. I refuse.
He crossed his arms. “Don’t you care about your own body? Have you seen the bruises on your legs?”
“I don’t need your concern!”
Blake’s expression darkened. His voice could have frozen water. Audrey Sinclair, we’re still married!”
Chapter 87
I met his glare, ‘So what does it matter?”
Deciding this conversation was going nowhere, I turned and began walking toward the stairwell. If I hadn’t been sick and missed our appointment that day our marriage would have been over already.”
His hand shot out, grabbing my wrist. I turned back to face him.
‘You missed the appointment because you didn’t want the divorce, right?‘ His tone was smug, certain.
I stared at him in disbelief.
‘Audrey, there’s a limit to how far you can push this act.” His grip tightened. “Play the divorce card too many times and it might actually happen.
I pulled my arm free. Even now, he thought I didn’t really want a divorce? That I was just making a scene? After three years, Blake had never truly understood me. He believed I was acting out, that I didn’t want to leave him.
He thought the divorce drama had ended when I hid in the hospital instead of signing the papers. And now he was annoyed I’d brought it up again.
I turned toward the stairwell door, pushing it open with more force than necessary. The dim emergency lighting cast long shadows as I approached the first step. Whether from anger or the dim light, I missed the first step entirely, and my body tumbled toward the stairs-
Blake’s POV
I lunged forward without thinking. One second she was standing there, the next falling/headfirst into the dark stairwell. I caught her arm and yanked her back, the force sending her spinning into my chest.
She hit me hard enough that I had to brace myself. I wrapped my arms around her, steadying us both. Her hair smelled like vanilla – simple, nothing like Laurel’s expensive perfumes.
Her heart hammered against my chest, her breathing quick and shallow from the scare. I ran my hand down her back, feeling her trembling.
“You already fell down the stairs once this morning,” I said. “Want to try again?”
She didn’t respond, still pressed against me.
‘One more time and you might break your leg.”
After a moment, she took a breath and pulled away. Just like that, her face was composed again, as if nothing had happened.
“Thank you,” she said, turning to grip the stair railing.
Looking at her stubborn, too–thin back as she prepared to try the stairs again, I made a decision. This woman was going to hurt herself
I stepped forward and lifted her into my arms. She weighed less than I remembered – too little.
She let out a startled sound, grabbing my collar to steady herself. Seeing this, I tried hard to stifle my laugh.
When she realized what was happening, surprise quickly turned to anger.
“Let me go!” Her voice echoed in the stairwell.
ure pride.
‘Let you go? So you can fall down the stairs again? I carried her back through the door into the hallway. “Do you have a death wish or something?”
“That’s none of your bussiness” Her eyes flashed with genuine anger.
She pushed against my chest. “Put me down! Let me go!”
Watching her fight finally made me smile despite myself, The Audrey I’d lived with for years was always calm, controlled, proper some rulebook for perfect wives. Since filing for divorce, she’d shown more real emotion than in our entire marriage.
-like she was follo
Chapter 87
Thinking about this, I felt a mischievous impulse. I loosened one arm holding her, pretending I might actually drop her. “Keep struggling and [11 really let so and let you fall.”
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