Divorce Me Before Death Takes Me, CEO

Chapter 1: What Is Left To Hold Onto?

Audrey’s POV

The white walls of Mayo Clinic seemed colder than usual today. Or maybe it was just me, sitting in Dr. Evans’ office, staring at my phone screen while waiting for her to return with the test results. The headline on Page Six glared back at me: “Hollywood Starlet Laurel Rose Makes Surprise Return, Greeted by NYC’s Most Eligible Bachelor.”

Most eligible bachelor. I almost laughed at that. The media had no idea Blake Parker, New York’s golden boy and CEO of Parker Group, had been married for the past three years. To me, of all people. The photos showed him at JFK, welcoming her with that smile I used to know so well. When was the last time he smiled at me like that?

Three months. That was all I had left, according to Dr. Evans. Now this. I swiped past another photo of them together, looking every bit like the perfect couple everyone claimed they were.

“Mrs. Parker?” Dr. Evans’ voice pulled me from my thoughts. She never used my married name unless we were alone. To the rest of the world, I was still Audrey Sinclair, the country girl who’d been switched at birth and found her way back to the Sinclair fortune at eighteen. The secret wife wasn’t part of my public story.

I looked up, but I already knew what she was going to say. The gentleness in her eyes said it all.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Parker. We couldn’t save the baby.”

My hand instinctively went to my stomach. “So… it’s really gone?”

“Due to your cancer, your body is too weak right now.” She paused, choosing her words carefully. “We need to end the pregnancy. The sooner, the better.”

I nodded, surprising myself with how calm I felt. Maybe after five years of loving Blake Parker, after three years of a marriage that existed only on paper, after learning I only had a few months left… maybe I had finally run out of tears.

“Can we do it today?”

Dr. Evans blinked, startled by my request. “Yes, but…”

her off. “I want to feel

you don’t have to do this. The

met her concerned gaze. “I

I made my way to the surgical wing. Two nurses huddled by the water cooler, their voices carrying despite

Rose? Three years in Europe, and the

He waited three years while she was building her career in

caring for

I knew what they’d call it: pathetic. The same thing Blake’s mother called me when I refused to leave his side after the

the phone calls I’d made this morning. Five attempts to reach Blake. Five calls that went straight to voicemail. Five chances for him to answer, to

you make this decision without

recovery room thirty minutes after the procedure. He stood in the doorway, looking impeccable as always, his face twisted with anger. Even furious, he was beautiful. It

tried calling you.” My voice came out steadier than

no

“Check your call history.”

exaggerated deliberation before letting out a cold laugh. “Nothing.

not, I thought. Laurel

baby was the right choice after all,” I said instead, watching his face darken

the room like

“Oh… my head…”

confrontation like a knife. Laurel Rose stood there, one hand pressed to