Chapter 171
Audrey’s POV
The surveillance video ended with Blake’s car racing away from NYU, Black SUVs chasing close behind. The screen went black, leaving us in silence.
William leaned forward, eyes fixed on the dark screen. “That’s it? Nothing more?”
“We left the campus, and the cameras couldn’t follow,” I said with a slight shrug.
William let out a sigh. “You couldn’t have taken a few more laps around campus? Give me something more to watch.
“Grandfather!” Blake cut in, shooting me a glance. “If we’d stayed longer, she might not be here now.”
“I’m not that fragile,” I said, rolling my eyes at him.
If not for yesterday’s accident, Blake might have already discovered my illness. If he’d convinced William that I needed to
go to the hospital, my cancer would be impossible to hide.
With that worry in mind, I quickly shifted the focus away from my health. “William, the campus cameras don’t show
everything. But there’s more about what happened after we left NYU.”
I clicked away from the surveillance footage and pulled up a news article. The headline was bold and dramatic: “Coastal
Highway Closed After Major Accident – 2 Dead, 12 Injured!”
Below it sat a photo of Blake’s mangled sedan on the beach, alongside burned–out SUVs.
William’s eyes widened as he stood up. “This accident… was you two?”
He immediately was at my side, grabbing my hands and checking me for injuries. “Audrey, are you okay? Were you hurt?”
His genuine concern touched me. In three years of marriage to Blake, William had given me more family feeling than the
Sinclairs ever had.
“I’m fine,” I smiled. “But Blake was injured protecting me.” I glanced toward Blake. “He has a head wound and –
“Blake darling!” Laurel cut me off, inserting herself between us. She stood on tiptoes, fingers hovering near the bandage on
his forehead. “You’re hurt! Why didn’t you tell me?”
She continued her performance, voice dripping with concern. “Is this from the accident? Looks serious! You should’ve protected yourself better!”
Blake tensed at her touch before relaxing. “It’s nothing,” he said quietly.
He glanced my way before turning back to Laurel. “If Audrey hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t even remember being injured last night.”
The smile he gave her made my chest tighten. “Don’t worry about it.”
“How can I not? Laurel’s lip trembled.
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She bit her lip and leaned closer, whispering something I couldn’t hear. Their private exchange felt like a show stape my benefit.
I rubbed my temples. Just another day watching Laurel manipulate her way out of trouble. And Blake falling for it.
I’d come to expose Laurel’s attacks against me and Ethan, but somehow she’d twisted it into an intimate moment with Blake.
William apparently shared my frustration. With surprising agility, he rose from his wheelchair and stormed over, pulling Laurel away from Blake to examine his wound himself.
“Look what you’ve done,” William snapped, voice thick with emotion. “If you hadn’t divorced Audrey, none of this would’ve happened. No smear campaign, no Ethan posting evidence, no car crash while trying to help him.”
He turned on Laurel. “And you! Pretending to care? Weren’t those your men who crashed into them? Your men hurt Blake, and here you are with fake tears!”
Laurel’s eyes went wide as tears streamed down. “Mr. Parker, you’ve got it wrong. I had nothing to do with Ethan or the crash…”
Her face transformed into a mask of innocence. “If I’d arranged it, wouldn’t I have known Blake was hurt? I’d have been at his side immediately… But I only just found out.”
She dabbed at her eyes. “How can you accuse me? No matter what you think of me, I’d never harm the person I care about
most…”
William’s frown deepened as he stared at her, momentarily at a loss. Her argument made sense, even to me. If Laurel had
planned the attack, she’d have known Blake was in the car and would never have risked hurting him.
Blake’s POV
“Miss Rose is right,” Audrey set down the mouse and stood with hands in her pockets, regarding Laurel with a cool detachment I’d never seen from her. “She wouldn’t harm someone she cares about.”
She tilted her head. “But last night, when we left NYÚ, I was with a man wearing Ethan’s clothes.”
Laurel went still.
“Those men thought they were chasing Ethan,” Audrey continued. “When Miss Rose told them to crash our car, she thought the man with me was Ethan, not you.”
I watched Laurel’s face. The color drained from her cheeks.
“Right! They never saw your face!” Grandfather exclaimed, glaring at me. “She couldn’t have known the person with Audrey wasn’t Ethan but you!“,
He rounded on Laurel. “If you’d known it was Blake with Audrey, you wouldn’t have dared harm them! But you didn’t know, so you gave the order!”
His face reddened as he turned back to me. “You heard that? If you hadn’t helped Audrey and Ethan, she would’ve run them off the road! This is who you want to marry? I forbid it! She will never join this family!”
‘Grandfather, this situation…” I started, mind racing.
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“Blake, I swear I had nothing to do with this!” Laurel cut in. “You have to believe me!‘
Audrey’s eyes turned cold as she stepped toward Laurel. “Stop acting. Haven’t you lied enough?”
Laurel straightened, meeting her gaze. “You have no real proof. It’s your word against mine.”
“Need me to repeat the evidence?” Audrey advanced. “Every troll attacking me traced back to Parker–Rose Studio. I have all the chat logs between your studio managers and those trolls.”
Despite her slim frame, Audrey radiated an authority that filled the room – something I’d never witnessed before.
I stared, stunned.
The Audrey I thought I knew wore pastel dresses like some decorative fixture in our home. She never competed, never confronted, never complained.
She’d seemed so bland that talking to her felt like wasted energy.
Yet this woman before me overturned every judgment I’d ever made.
Laurel backed up before catching herself. “Chat logs mean nothing,” she countered. “Anyone can fake those.”
Audrey stopped directly in front of her, a cold smile forming. “What about the bank transfers? Were you clever or foolish, Miss Rose?”
“You were smart enough to use public opinion against me, label me a homewrecker, force me to hide at my new job,” Audrey said evenly. “But dumb enough to pay those trolls from the Parker–Rose Studio account.”
She held Laurel’s gaze. “Parker–Rose Studio. Without even thinking, I knew that name connected to you and Blake.”
Laurel’s face went ash–white.
Chapter Comments
BubbaCoop AGA
Finally! it took forever for Laurel to get what’s coming to her!
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