Audrey’s POV
“Thanks for earlier, I said to Ethan as we walked away from Mayo Clinic. I handed back his phone. If you hadn’t stepped in, these people would ve bapt staring, and I wouldn’t have seen the stories online.”
We found a small café between a pharmacy and a bookstore, the kind of place with mismatched chairs and regulars who never needed to order. The aim tea came in chipped mugs that somehow made it taste better.
Ethan pocketed his phone. “No wonder you didn’t answer my messages. Your phone was broken”
You sent messages?”
“Yeah. He fiddled with his napkin. ‘When Blake dragged you to the hospital, I saw how rough he was being. I got worried, so i texted you.”
His eyes went puppy–dog sad. “When you didn’t answer, I thought maybe I was too much of a nobody for you to bother with.”
I smiled despite myself. “And then?”
“Then I saw the drama on the second floor.” He shrugged.
I stirred my tea, watching leaves swirl at the bottom. The bruises from this morning’s fall down the stairs throbbed dully beneath my clothes.
Ethan took a careful sip. “Your husband…” He hesitated. “Miss Rose ditched him when he was in a coma, right? Now she’s back just when he’s on top again.” He frowned. “Why isn’t he pissed at her? Why divorce you instead?”
“Favoritism,” I said, tasting my tea. “He likes her, so she gets away with anything.”
For years, I’d tried to understand Blake Parker. I’d made excuses for his coldness, his distance, his inability to see me. I used to think he just didn’t understand emotions. Until Laurel returned from Europe… only then did I realize he wasn’t emotionally stunted. He simply didn’t love me.
Besides, I didn’t have much time left anyway.
“Doesn’t it break your heart?” Ethan asked, looking genuinely curious.
I got over it a while ago.” The words came easily after so much practice. “Life’s too short to dwell on failed marriages.”
I sipped my tea. “Too many leaves.”
Ethan watched me with undisguised fascination. Though thin and pale these days, I still had a maturity he couldn’t find in college girls. I could practically see his heart skip.
He glanced at his watch. “I’ve got class. Should probably head out.”
“Of course. Thanks for hanging out.”
“Will you be okay?”
“Sure. I need to get my phone fixed anyway.”
After an awkward tussle over the bill – which I won – we parted ways. He headed toward NYU while I turned downtown, hunting for someone who could salvage Rachel’s last gift to me.
Downtown buzzed with life as I searched for phone repair shops. My legs protested with each step, but I pushed forward.
Shop after shop gave me the same answer: water damage this extensive couldn’t be fixed. The circuit board was fried, the memory card corrupted. Nothing salvageable.
Chapter 93
As darkness fell over the city, I finally accepted reality. Rachel’s phone couldn’t be repaired. Just like how Rachel world nesen recura to lose me line e name again.
The memory hit unexpectedly Rachel’s laughter as the handed me the phone box four years ago. You need to upgrade, Audreys This dinosaur
is embarrassing me! One month later, she was in a car accident, and the vibrant waman who had been my closest friend became an unresponsive bod hospital bed before her family whisked her to Europe for specialized treatment.”
I never heard from her again.
As 1 elmost lost my hope, I found an old shop tucked on a side street. The elderly owner could fix my
phone.
“But it will take about a week,” he said, squinting at his computer. “The parts for this old model are not easy to find these days..
I placed the order, bought a basic temporary phone, and caught a taxi home. Exhaustion settled deep in my bones. My stomach ached with that fartizan pain – a constant reminder of the countdown timer on my life. Three months. Maybe less.
By the time the taxi pulled up to my building, night had fallen. I paid the driver and stepped out, taking a breath of cool evening air.
I’d barely taken two steps when a dark figure rushed toward me. Strong hands grabbed my jaw, fingers digging into my skin as I was slammed against the wall.
Through the shock, I registered Blake’s face inches from mine, twisted with fury.
“Blake Parker, what’s wrong with you!?” I said, fighting against his grip.
His fingers tightened on my jaw. “What’s wrong with me? You’ve lost it!” His eyes darkened with rage. “We agreed at the hospital that I would handle the news. What the hell have you done!?”
I was pinned against the wall, unable to move. My stomach twisted with pain, and my head started to spin- familiar symptoms of my condition worsening under stress.
I struggled to break free from his grip. “Tell me what I supposedly did! The entire afternoon, I’d been downtown looking for repair shops to fix my phone!‘ I hadn’t even been online since leaving the hospital. Whatever he was accusing me of, it wasn’t possible.
Blake’s POV
“Look for yourself!” I pulled my phone out and threw it at her.
I’d meant to show her the screen, to force her to see what she’d done. But my control slipped.
The phone hit her face. She bent forward, covering her nose. Blood trickled between her fingers.
I froze. I hadn’t meant to hurt her – not physically. I reached out instinctively to help.
Then I saw the screen of the phone on the ground. Our marriage certificate, right there on that damn social media post. I pulled my hand back. No. After what she’d done, she deserved worse than a bloody nose.
Audrey stayed crouched, covering her face. Finally, she looked at the phone screen. Her eyes widened in shock.
Despite the blood, she picked up the phone to look closer. I knew exactly what she was seeing – photos of our marriage certificate posted by some anonymous account, with a detailed story. The post claimed they couldn’t stand watching a celebrity homewrecker bullying an ordinary person, so they wer ‘exposing the truth.”
The post laid out everything chronologically: how Laurel abandoned me when I was in a coma, and how Audrey cared for me. The most a claimed the Parkers had forced Audrey to marry me using our wealth and influence.
ng part
The internet erupted immediately. Comments flooded in calling Laurel and me cheaters. People swarmed Parker Group’s social accounts with insults. Our P team rushed out a statement that private lives were separate from company business, but nobody cared. In one afternoon, our stock dropped ten points. Billions in losses.
Audrey stared at the phone, clearly stunned. Blood dripped from her nose as she scrolled through the catastrophe.
Chapter 93
Someone who knows everything about us and has photos of our marriage certificate… I glared at her “This must be your accent, or you had that college kid make it.‘
She started to speak, but I cut her off.
‘Laurel is in emergency care because of this, and my grandfather is in the hospital. I searched her face for any sign of remorse.
‘Audrey Sinclair, tell me, is this the result you wanted?”
Chapter Comments
