My non–existent heart skipped a beat. For a terrifying second, I thought he could see me.
But then his focus softened, his gaze turning inward. He finally spoke into the phone, “Cancel it.”
“Sir? But I checked your schedule, and Ms. Monroe’s… shall I reschedule for next week?”
Their wedding was just two months away.
“No,” Julian said, his voice quiet but firm. “I mean cancel it entirely. We’re not doing them.” He took a breath. “And book me a flight.
For tonight.”
As he said it, a strange sense of clarity seemed to settle over him. He leaned back, and for the first time in days, the hard lines of
his face softened into something that looked almost like tenderness,
He spoke, more to himself than to Arthur.
“I have to go find her,” he said, “She left in such a hurry. There were things… we never got to say.” He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Do you think she’ll hate me? For how it ended?”
I stared at him, motionless. The ‘her‘ he was talking about… was it me?
He clutched the phone, his knuckles white. It was the most vulnerable I had ever seen him. He’d always believed Ava was the great love of his life. But in my absence, he was finally realizing it was just an old obsession, a ghost he’d been chasing. He couldn’t lose
me–and our child–for a memory.
Chapter 10
Arthur, on the other end of the line, did not immediately agree. There was a long, hesitant pause.
“Sir,” he said finally, his voice strained.
“Ms. Devereaux passed away several days ago.
“The flight it crashed.”
A jolt of energy shot through me. This was it.
Julian’s hand began to tremble. The color drained from his face, leaving it a stark, waxy white. All the things he’d willfully ignored
these past few days came rushing back at him. The unanswered text. The news headlines he’d scrolled past. The overheard conv-
ersations.
If he had paid just one ounce of attention, he wouldn’t be learning about it now.
Arthur’s voice was cautious. “Sir? Are you there?”
Julian’s voice was a raw, rasping sound, “When did you know?”
“Shortly after it happened.” Arthur’s voice trailed off, then he added, “The day you told me you no longer required updates on her.”
I nodded silently. He was telling the truth. I could vouch for him, Julian was a man who demanded absolute obedience. And in Arthur’s mind, I was an insignificant loose end. Why would he risk the wrath of his boss, and the future Mrs. Vance, to deliver news
about a woman Julian had made it clear he never wanted to think about again?
Julian’s face was a thunderous mask. He looked like he was about to explode. In the next second, he shot to his feet and kicked the
glass coffee table with savage force. It shattered into a thousand pieces.
A pang of regret shot through me. I’d picked out that table. It was expensive,
He stood there, breathing heavily, then snatched up his phone. He fumbled, his fingers shaking, and pulled the airline’s number out
of his blocked list. He hit redial.
Chate
His other hand moved automatically to the cigarette box on a side table, lighting one with an unsteady flame.
“Chloe Devereaux,” he said into the phone, his voice tight. “She’s dead, isn’t she?
There was a pause on the other end, then a somber, professional voice.
rry for y
your loss, sir.”
“We’re very sorry
