Chapter 26

Cortland,

It's been a week since I had to ask Austin to leave. Despite her attempts to contact me, I haven't responded to any of her calls or messages. Which stopped after the third day. I couldn't bring myself to return to the event where everything went down. Carrington informed our family that Austin wasn't feeling well, but I didn't stick around to find out more. Instead, I wandered around town for a while before heading back to our hotel. When I got there, Austin was gone along with her belongings.

Although I had hoped to see her, I knew deep down that it was unlikely. My emotions were mixed as I tried to sort through my thoughts. While my heart still held feelings for her, my rational mind knew that she was likely gone for good. I didn't want to believe that she had purposely become pregnant to trap me, but there was a nagging suspicion in my mind. Despite all of this, I missed her terribly. I threw myself into my role as CEO of our family's luxury hotel business to keep myself