Chapter 282
Blake’s POV
“Audrey’s health was never good, you know that, right?” Ethan asked.
I nodded. I’d noticed her weight loss after filing for divorce, but hospital records only showed gastritis. Nothing serious. Nothing fatal.
“She had cancer. Gastric cancer,” he said.
“When I met her, you two weren’t divorced yet. At that time, she had less than three months to live.”
“What? That can’t be true.” I looked up, voice cracking.
“She was in constant pain, and you – her husband – never noticed.” The accusation in his tone was unmistakable. “With your resources and connections, you couldn’t have missed it if you’d paid any attention. But you were too busy with Miss Rose.”
I lowered my head. “Yes… it’s my fault…”
“But,” I looked up, desperate for some explanation, “if she had three months left, then how-
”
“When we got to Lunar Mansion, we found Audrey with a nail pierced through the back of her head, stuck in the wall.”
Everything stopped.
“Do you know who did that?”
My mind went blank. “You’re saying… her head was pierced by a nail?”
“Yes. She was trying to hang a painting.”
My hands shook as the memory crashed over me.
Three days ago. The bathroom at Lunar Mansion. Audrey forcing Laurel’s face into the toilet. Me pulling Audrey away, pushing her against the wall – not hard, just enough to separate them. When I left with Laurel, Audrey was still leaning against that wall, not moving. I thought she was just disappointed I’d come to Laurel’s rescue.
But now I understood.
My push killed her.
I stared at her photo on the gravestone. That gentle smile I’d taken for granted.
I fell to my knees and broke. “Audrey, I’m sorry… it’s my fault…”
Rain began to fall lightly around us.
“Five years ago – I didn’t forget anything,” I confessed to her silent image. “I remembered everything, but I found the wrong
person…”
“That day when you asked if I was with Laurel because she saved my life… were you trying to tell me that I had the wrong person?” My fingers dug into the wet earth. “I was too proud. I lied because I didn’t want you thinking I was shallow enough to love someone out of gratitude…”
1/2
Chapter 282
“If I’d just told the truth that day…”
I pressed my forehead against the cold stone. “Audrey, I was wrong… so wrong…”
For two days, I didn’t leave. Didn’t eat. Didn’t move.
My mother came first, then Elizabeth. Both tried to convince me to leave. I ignored them.
They left food and water I didn’t touch. Eventually, they gave up trying to move me and simply posted security nearby.
I existed somewhere between awareness and delirium, murmuring to Audrey’s gravestone all the things I should have said when she was alive.
On the evening of the second day, angry footsteps approached.
“Get out!” Astrid shouted, kicking me. Her fists pounded against my back. “Audrey said she didn’t want you at her grave! You don’t deserve to be here!”
I didn’t fight back. I just held onto the gravestone, taking each blow.
When she tired, Astrid collapsed beside me, sobbing into her hands.
–
“What’s the point of this?” she asked through tears. “When she was alive, if you’d looked at her just once shown just a fraction of this concern none of this would have happened!”
I had no response.
–
“Do you know what she went through for you?” she continued. “She was always cheerful, even with abusive adoptive parents and biological parents who didn’t want her. But after meeting you to be worthy of you – she endured all the humiliation from your family. Learned to be the perfect Mrs. Parker.”
I hadn’t known that about Audrey. She never shared those parts of her past.
“She destroyed her health taking care of you, and couldn’t even protect her baby!”
