Blake POV:
My mother. Kyleigh. The name jolted me, pulling me from the precipice of despair. A sliver of hope, however desperate, pierced through the suffocating darkness. Amelia wouldn't just vanish and leave a cryptic message for my mother if she didn't want to be found. This was a test. A challenge. She wanted me to find her.
"To my mother's estate!" I barked at Marcus, already halfway out the door. My Ferrari roared to life, leaving a trail of burning rubber. I pushed the speedometer past its limits, the wind a blur against my face, mirroring the chaos in my mind.
I burst into my mother's opulent drawing room, her sanctuary of refined elegance. Kyleigh Hodge, a vision of impeccable taste, sat calmly sipping Earl Grey tea, her gaze serene, unruffled by my frantic entrance. Her cool composure only fueled my impatience.
"Mother!" I exclaimed, my voice raw and desperate. "Where is she? What did Amelia tell you? Where is she?"
Kyleigh raised a perfectly arched eyebrow, her eyes, so much like my own, holding a depth I rarely saw. "Blake, darling. A little decorum, please. One would think the world was ending." She took another sip of tea, drawing out the suspense with infuriating slowness.
"It is, Mother! My world is ending! Amelia is gone! Marcus said she left a message for you. What is it? What did she say?" My heart hammered in my chest, a frantic drumbeat of anticipation. I needed to see her. I needed to explain. I needed to fix this.
She placed her teacup delicately on its saucer. "Amelia did indeed leave something for you, dear boy. A very important document." She reached for a mahogany box on the side table, her movements slow, deliberate.
My breath hitched. A document? Was it a letter? A confession of her feelings, a plea for me to find her? My mind raced, constructing scenarios of our tearful reunion, my heartfelt apologies, her eventual forgiveness. She wouldn' t abandon me. She couldn' t.
With a graceful hand, Kyleigh retrieved a crisp, official-looking envelope from the box. She didn't hand it to me. Instead, with a flick of her wrist, she tossed it onto the polished Chippendale table between us. It slid across the surface, coming to rest directly in front of me.
My eyes fell on the contents. A stack of papers, legal documents, thick and imposing. My gaze scanned the top sheet, then the signature. My own signature. And then, the date. Three days after her "spiritual cleansing."
Divorce Decree. Amelia Levine Hodge vs. Blake Maxwell Hodge.
My world stopped. The elegant script blurred, the words swimming before my eyes. Divorce. It couldn't be. I had signed a blank document, yes, but that was a symbol of trust, a gesture. It was never meant to be used.
"No," I whispered, the sound devoid of all conviction. I picked up the papers, my hands trembling. "This is a trick. A cruel joke. Amelia wouldn't do this. She can't." I laughed, a raw, humorless sound. "It's not valid. It's a blank form. She just filled it in. It's not legal."
Kyleigh's gaze was unwavering, piercing through my denial. "Oh, it's very legal, Blake. That precious 'symbol of trust' you so carelessly offered? She completed it with impeccable legal precision, using every loophole and clause you unwittingly provided. She filed it immediately after her discharge, while you were still distracted with your... new family."
My mind flashed back to the hospital, to Chyna's dramatic faint, to my own self-imposed isolation at the guru's retreat. Chyna, keeping me from my phone, from any news. It all clicked into place, a horrifying mosaic of manipulation and betrayal.
"You knew!" I roared, my voice shaking with a fresh wave of fury. "You helped her! You, my own mother, conspired against me?"
Kyleigh sighed, a long, weary sound. "I did what was right, Blake. What you refused to do. I helped a broken, terrified woman escape a monster." Her eyes, usually so impassive, held a deep, profound disappointment. "Amelia came to me after that horrific 'cleansing' ritual. She was barely recognizable, bruised and burned. She was utterly shattered, Blake. And she finally told me everything."
Everything. Her miscarriages. The deliberate cruelty. My coldness. My callous dismissal of her pain. My mother knew. And she saw me for what I was.
"She was always a good woman, Blake," Kyleigh continued, her voice soft but firm. "Kind, resilient, fiercely loyal. She loved you, Blake. She truly did. And you broke her. Over and over again. You treated her like a disposable object, a pawn in your guru's ridiculous games." Her voice hardened. "I saw her devotion. I saw her heartache. And I saw your absolute lack of empathy, your obsession with this charlatan and his 'prophecies.' You destroyed every ounce of her spirit, then you destroyed her body. And for what? For Chyna? For these 'destined' children who are nothing more than a convenient delusion?"
Each word was a hammer blow, shattering my carefully constructed self-deception. My rage evaporated, replaced by a cold, sickening shame. I stood there, stripped bare, my monstrous actions laid out before me. The truth, stark and undeniable, was an unbearable weight.
I fled. I couldn't face her, couldn't face myself. I drove aimlessly, the city lights blurring into an indistinguishable streak. I returned to the mansion, a hollow shell of myself, my mind replaying my mother's words, Amelia's cries.
Chyna met me at the door, her face alight with expectation. "Blake, darling! You're back! Did you talk to your mother? Is everything settled with Amelia?"
I stared at her, my vision unfocused. "It's settled, Chyna," I said, my voice flat, devoid of all emotion. "It's all settled."
