Divorce Me Before Death Takes Me, CEO

Chapter 6: Abandoned Without Mercy

Blake’s POV

My heart skipped for an instant.

For the past week, my mother had assured me daily that Audrey was fine, resting at the mansion, just sulking after our argument. I’d actually believed her, assumed Audrey’s silence was just another of her moods. No messages, no calls, no constant fussing about my schedule – I’d thought she was just being petulant.

But my mother had been lying. All this time.

Audrey hadn’t been here at all. She’d left these papers and walked away.

My grip on my phone tightened until my knuckles turned white. Where would she even go? Having been switched at birth and raised in the countryside, her relationship with her birth family, the Sinclairs, had always been strained. She’d never once visited them in our three years of marriage.

Things three years ago flashed in my mind. She wouldn’t really leave. The thought surfaced with familiar certainty. She knows her place in the Parker family is entirely dependent on this marriage. I let out a cold laugh, finding my previous thought ridiculous.

But at this hour, where could she possibly be?

Unless… had she gone to James Collins? The way they’d danced together at the gala, the familiarity in their interaction… Of course, her perfect college senior would welcome her with open arms.

The anger building in my chest threatened to explode. My mother’s lies, Audrey’s disappearance, those divorce papers – it was all too much. I grabbed my phone, dialing Michael’s number with more force than necessary. He answered on the first ring, as always.

“Find out where Audrey Sinclair is. Immediately.”

“Sir, I’ve investigated.” Michael’s usually composed voice held a note of apprehension. “But I can only trace her return flight to New York… I can’t pinpoint her exact location.”

“That’s impossible. Don’t sleep until you find her. If you don’t have information by morning, submit your resignation to

the mansion suddenly oppressive. Upstairs, I needed to

suite was exactly as I remembered it – and completely different. Everything was in its place, from the Italian silk curtains to the crystal vases, but the space felt hollow. Empty in a

of designer dresses still hung perfectly pressed, each one selected and purchased to meet the exacting standards of a Parker wife. But the small section of casual wear was conspicuously bare. A few empty hangers where her favorite sweaters should have been. The antique jewelry box on her

her. The diamond earrings from our first Christmas. The sapphire necklace that matched her eyes, presented on her birthday. The pearl set she wore to every Parker family

Like perfectly arranged museum pieces,

twisted in my

a realization hit me: I was just like these discarded luxuries. Things Audrey had once cherished, now left behind without a backward glance. Objects that had lost their meaning

our bed. How many nights had I come home late to find her curled up there, pretending

insisted on keeping. Perfect and cold, like a hotel suite. Like somewhere you stay, not somewhere

she stop living here? The thought came unbidden. When did she start planning this

– another message from Laurel about her “injury” from the gala. I ignored it,

stretched endlessly, sleep impossible in this

breaking when Michael called

Parker, I’ve

hours of restless

at

in New York, known for handling

What’s

show… Mrs. Parker was admitted overnight for a minor cut, concerned about potential