The hospital room was empty.
Every call and message went unanswered.
Blaire was still recovering. She had no one to rely on here. Where could she possibly have gone?
Evan listened to the endless busy tone, his brow tightening. He muttered a curse under his breath and snapped at his secretary and bodyguards. "She doesn't just vanish into thin air. What were you all doing?"
The bodyguards exchanged uneasy looks. Under his darkening expression, one of them explained carefully, "Ms. Hayes was worried someone might try to harm her again. She asked us to stay posted outside her room. That left fewer people watching over Ms. Bennett."
Everyone knew who that someone supposedly was.
Evan's agitation deepened. Blaire had always been gentle, almost too gentle. The fiercest emotion she had ever shown was when she discovered his affair. Otherwise, she rarely even raised her voice.
Since when had she become, in other people's eyes, some unstable woman capable of violence?
A dull ache spread across his chest, as though a sacred statue he had once placed on a pedestal had been defiled.
Then he realized he had been the one to defile it.
The discomfort hardened into something heavier, like a stone lodged in his chest that refused to move.
He drew a slow breath, forcing himself to calm down.
The secretary seized the moment and spoke cautiously. "After the previous divorces, Ms. Bennett would disappear for a while too. She loves you. She just needs time to process the hurt. When she's ready, she'll come back and start over with you."
Evan's expression eased slightly.
Encouraged, the secretary continued, "There's no need to worry. She can't leave you. This time isn't any different from the last three. Once you've handled your current matters, you can bring her back."
That was true. There was no real difference between this and the previous three times.
If Blaire had forgiven him three times, she would forgive him a fourth.
He would simply have to put in a bit more effort. And compared to what she meant to him, that effort was nothing.
"Find her. I want to know where she is and whether she's safe." Evan paused before adding, "But don't disturb her. Seeing you might make things worse."
He glanced at his watch and realized it was time for the auction he had promised to attend with Cora. With a tired wave, he dismissed the guards.
Cora stood by the car, dressed elegantly. The sight made him pause.
He remembered, unbidden, the promise he had once made during his early days with Blaire—that the passenger seat would belong only to her.
Somewhere along the way, that seat had lost its exclusivity. Models, actresses, socialites—anyone could sit there. In the end, Blaire had occupied it the least.
The thought unsettled him enough that when Cora reached for the passenger door, he stopped her. Despite her soft protests, he insisted she sit in the back.
The distraction followed him throughout the auction.
He was there to help Cora select jewelry, yet every piece he looked at reminded him of Blaire.
The unease in his chest grew stronger than it had after any of the previous divorces.
He needed to coax Blaire.
The idea lodged firmly in his mind. He suddenly had no patience left for the event. He lifted his paddle and made an open bid on every lot, effectively buying the entire collection.
If he brought her gifts like these, Blaire would not stay angry for long.
He moved to leave in a hurry, almost forgetting Cora entirely, until she grabbed his arm, eyes reddened. Only then did he remember that she was meant to be the bride of his upcoming ceremony.
"Evan, you bought all this for me, didn't you?"
Evan felt a flicker of irritation and answered casually, "These are for Blaire. I'll get you something better next time."
"But I wanted these." Cora's voice trembled. "You and Blaire are divorced. Why are you still giving her gifts? Do you even realize I'm the one you're supposed to marry?"
"It's just a ceremony. It doesn't mean anything to me." He tugged at his lip dismissively. "As for the divorce, what about it? I could divorce Blaire a hundred times. I'd still remarry her."
His voice dropped in warning. "Cora, I agreed to give you a wedding because you saved my life. But don't forget your place. The only person who gets to question my decisions is my wife. And that will always be Blaire."
