“Eat, Audrey, eat,” Grandfather Vince said, motioning toward the lavish spread of roasted lamb and buttered root vegetables with his unsteady hand. “You’ve grown far too thin, and you look pale. Has my grandson been neglecting to feed you properly?”
He shot Nathaniel a stern look, his thick white brows drawing together.
Nathaniel continued slicing into his meat with controlled, precise movements, though irritation flickered across his face.
“I’ve been taking good care of her, Grandfather,” he replied evenly. “She’s still recovering. Healing takes time.”
“Recovering?” Grandfather Vince gave a dismissive snort. “A miscarriage is not some ordinary illness. It isn’t a cold you simply recover from in a few days. It demands care. Patience. Compassion.”
Then he turned to me, and the genuine sorrow in his pale blue eyes made something twist painfully in my chest.
“I am truly sorry, my dear,” he said softly. “I had been looking forward to meeting the child. You said it was going to be a boy, didn’t you?”
My throat tightened.
“Yes,” I said quietly. “A boy.”
Grandfather reached across the table and gently patted my hand.
“There will be other children,” he said with quiet certainty. “You’re young, and you’re strong. Audrey, you are the best thing that has happened to this family in years. When your parents passed, I promised I would care for you as if you were my own daughter. I meant every word.”
I lowered my gaze to my plate, blinking rapidly.
This was the part that hurt most.
Leaving Nathaniel required no courage anymore.
Walking away from his wealth cost me nothing.
But leaving this old man—this man who had become the closest thing I had to a father over the past ten years—felt like tearing off a piece of myself.
He had no idea what Nathaniel truly was.
He didn’t know the darkness hidden beneath the legacy he had spent a lifetime building.
“It’s difficult to heal,” I said carefully, “when the reason for the pain is still… close by.”
The entire table went silent.
Grandfather Vince’s expression sharpened immediately.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Audrey,” Nathaniel said under his breath, warning laced through his voice.
I lifted my head and widened my eyes as though I had spoken without thinking.
“Oh—I didn’t mean…” I forced hesitation into my voice. “It’s nothing. I just meant… the stress. And Victoria.”
Grandfather’s frown deepened.
“Victoria?” he repeated. “What does that girl have to do with your miscarriage?”
I hesitated just long enough to appear panicked.
“She made the soup,” I blurted, then quickly covered my mouth. “Oh no—I shouldn’t have said that.”
Nathaniel went rigid.
Grandfather’s voice dropped into something far more dangerous than anger.
“The soup?”
His gaze locked on me.
“The soup that made you ill?”
I nodded weakly.
“She made it?”
“It was an accident,” I said hurriedly, glancing at Nathaniel as though desperate for help. “She used the wrong herbs. She didn’t know I was pregnant. Please don’t be angry, Grandfather. She didn’t mean any harm. We’ve already forgiven her… haven’t we, Nathaniel?”
For one long second, nobody moved.
Then Grandfather Vince slammed his fist onto the table.
The silverware rattled violently.
“She is not family!”
The roar shook the dining room.
“She is a parasite. A girl who has clung to this family for years, circling my grandson like a vulture since childhood. And now her carelessness has cost me my great-grandson?”
“Grandfather, please,” Nathaniel said, rising from his chair. The color had drained from his face. “It isn’t like that. Victoria feels terrible.”
“I don’t care how she feels!”
Grandfather jabbed a trembling finger toward him.
“I want that woman gone, Nathaniel. Do you understand me? I don’t want her in your home, and I certainly don’t want her anywhere near my company. And if I discover that you are still entertaining that woman while your wife mourns the loss of her child, I will remove you from my will so quickly you won’t know what happened.”
Nathaniel’s jaw locked.
He turned toward me, and the fury in his eyes was almost unbearable, but he couldn’t lash out.
Not here.
Not in front of the one man who controlled everything he wanted.
“Yes, Grandfather,” he said through clenched teeth.
The drive home passed in suffocating silence.
The moment we stepped inside the house and the front door shut behind us, Nathaniel exploded.
“What the hell was that?” he shouted, hurling his keys onto the console table. “You accidentally slipped? Don’t insult me. You did that deliberately.”
“I didn’t!” I protested, stepping backward. “He kept pressing me. I panicked.”
Nathaniel dragged both hands through his hair in frustration as he paced across the foyer.
“You just put a target on Victoria’s back,” he snapped. “Do you understand what you’ve done? He wants her out of my life. If Grandfather cuts me off, I lose everything.”
I lowered my gaze.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I’ll fix it. I’ll talk to him after we get back from the honeymoon.”
“The honeymoon,” Nathaniel muttered bitterly.
His phone vibrated in his pocket again.
Victoria.
He glanced at the screen, and I watched his entire expression change.
The anger disappeared.
Concern replaced it instantly.
It was a softness he had not shown me in years.
“She’s having a panic attack,” he said under his breath. “She heard what happened. Grandfather called her father and screamed at him.”
He grabbed his coat.
“I need to go.”
I looked at him.
“Now?”
I let hurt seep into my voice.
“Our flight is tomorrow morning. We’re supposed to leave for the Maldives.”
“I can’t leave her like this, Audrey,” he said sharply. “I’ll calm her down and come back. I’ll be home before the car arrives.”
He didn’t kiss me.
He didn’t apologize.
He simply walked out.
Once again, he chose her.
He always chose her.
The next morning, sunlight streamed through the windows, bright and merciless.
I stood alone in the foyer with a small carry-on at my feet.
The house was silent.
Nathaniel never came home.
My phone rang.
I answered.
“Audrey?”
Nathaniel sounded rushed and breathless.
“Listen, I’m sorry, but I can’t make the flight.”
I stared ahead.
“What?”
“It’s Victoria,” he said smoothly. The lie came effortlessly now. “She’s sick. Really sick. High fever. She’s delirious. I can’t leave her alone, and there’s no one else to take care of her.”
“Oh,” I said quietly. “I understand.”
“Don’t be upset, baby,” he said, slipping into that soothing tone he used whenever he wanted compliance. “You should go ahead. Take David with you so you don’t travel alone. I’ll catch the next flight tomorrow morning, I promise. I’ll be there before dinner. We’ll still celebrate our anniversary.”
“It’s alright, Nathaniel,” I said. “I understand.”
He exhaled in relief.
“You’re amazing.”
Then his voice brightened.
“Oh—one more thing. The lawyers called. They filed the transfer papers this morning. Once everything clears, the logistics company officially becomes part of Jones Corp.”
He sounded almost giddy.
“Thank you, Audrey. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“I’m glad,” I said.
Then I glanced toward the staircase.
“I left something for you.”
“For me?”
“A gift.”
I looked down at my bare ring finger.
“It’s in our bedroom. On the bed.”
He laughed softly.
“A gift? You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to,” I said.
My voice stayed calm.
“It’s for our anniversary.”
I paused.
“You deserve it.”
“I can’t wait to see it.”
I closed my eyes for a moment.
“I hope you’ll be happy,” I said.
My voice remained steady.
“Without me.”
Silence.
Then confusion.
“What do you mean, without—”
I ended the call before he could finish.
Without hesitation, I tossed the phone into the trash bin by the door.
Then I picked up my bag, turned toward the waiting car, and left for the airport without looking back.
