Chapter 4

Harrison yanked me into the lounge at the end of the hall and locked the door behind us.

“Explain.” He pinned me against the wall, his voice tight with rage. “Are you actually pregnant?”

I ignored his fury and looked him straight in the eye, playing dumb. “Natalie says you had a vasectomy. When was that?”

His face changed instantly.

His eyes slid away from mine, and I caught the flash of panic, of guilt.

He’d had the surgery behind my back, and he’d never imagined Natalie would use it in front of everyone as a weapon to humiliate me.

But the guilt only lasted a second. Then he was looming over me again, furious and humiliated. “Don’t change the subject! Whose baby is it?!”

I looked at him, unraveling, and the corner of my mouth twitched. “Well, it’s not yours. After all, you got fixed for Natalie.”

That did it.

He raised his fist like he was going to put it through the wall—and brought it down hard against the door, right next to my ear, with a bang.

“That baby…” he ground out. “Is it mine or not?”

“No.” I looked at him coldly.

We were locked in a standoff when Natalie’s voice came from outside. “Harrison! Help me!”

Harrison’s eyes went to the door on reflex. Then he turned back and stared at me.

I’ll never forget that look as long as I live. Weighing. Struggling. And then the letting go I’d gotten so used to.

“Go. She’s waiting for you,” I said calmly.

He took a deep breath and let go of me. He left me with one sentence: “When I was eight, Natalie and I were kidnapped. They locked us in an abandoned basement. She drew the kidnappers off so I could get out, and they nearly beat her to death. I owe her my life.”

The second the words were out, he pulled the door open, and his footsteps disappeared fast down the hall.

Basement… kidnappers…

At those words, my stomach heaved.

A crushing suffocation seized my throat. The ringing in my ears was so loud it nearly drowned out everything in the hall.

I slid down the cold wall to the floor, gasping for air, shaking so hard I couldn’t stop.

This had nothing to do with being weak after the miscarriage.

This was a full-blown panic attack.

With the last of my strength, I made it out the door to find help. The next time I opened my eyes, I was in the ER.

I didn’t wait for the doctor to clear me. I signed myself out AMA.

My flight to London would board in less than three hours.

I ran out of the hospital and jumped into a cab.

I didn’t look back at this godforsaken city. I didn’t take out my phone to count anyone’s missed calls.

On the way to JFK, I pulled out my SIM card and snapped it in half. I deleted every social media account I had. Then, outside the terminal, I tossed the phone—along with the last three years of my marriage—into an industrial dumpster.

Goodbye, Harrison.

While a kind stranger was getting Evelyn to the hospital, Harrison was striding across the plaza outside the gallery to deal with Natalie’s mess.

Natalie was being held at the foot of the steps by two uniformed security guards. The moment she saw Harrison, she lit up like he was her savior and tottered over on her heels, her voice shrill and wounded. “Harrison! These two creeps have been following me—get rid of them!”

One of the guards held up what was in his hand, expressionless. “Sir, the lady dropped her brooch on the red carpet. We were just trying to return it.”

Natalie glared at the guard, then grabbed Harrison’s arm. “Who are you going to believe, them or me? Call the security company right now. I want these two fired!”

Harrison brushed her hand off, irritated beyond belief. “Enough, Natalie. Get in the car. I’ll have someone take you home.”

He didn’t wait for her to argue. He turned and went straight back into the gallery.

He was practically running by the time he crossed the long corridor.

He didn’t know why, but a nameless panic had suddenly closed its fist around his heart.

He pushed open the door to the lounge.

It was empty.

“Evelyn?” He pulled out his phone and called her again and again. Straight to voicemail, every time.

He swore under his breath, yanked the door open, and drove back to the house so fast he ran two red lights.

The moment he walked in, he saw Natalie on the living room couch, holding the box Evelyn had left him, about to open it.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Harrison strode over and snatched it out of her hands.

Natalie jumped, then pouted. “Seriously? It’s just some stupid box…”

Harrison’s voice was ice. “You and Leo leave for Europe next week. Are you packed?”

The smile froze on Natalie’s face. “Harrison, you’re serious? You’re really sending us away?”

“That was the condition you agreed to.” He looked at her coldly. “Letting you stay for a while doesn’t mean you get to stay.”

Natalie shook her head frantically and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist, pressing her body against his. “I don’t want to go! I want to marry you! Let me stay with you tonight, okay? Evelyn’s not here. No one would ever know…”

Evelyn hadn’t come home?

Harrison shoved her away, took the stairs three at a time, and threw open the door to the master bedroom.

It was pitch dark.

The perfume she always wore had faded until he could barely smell it.

He opened the walk-in closet. The handful of clothes she wore most were gone. But every piece of expensive jewelry he’d ever bought her was still lined up neatly in the safe. She hadn’t taken a single one.

Harrison felt something crush his heart in its fist.

Then it hit him. He ran and tore the box open.

And when he saw what was inside—a Judgment of Divorce—

Harrison’s whole world caved in.