Chapter 4 ~ An accident

IAN

I tap my pen against the desk while the presentation goes on. I'm a fucking mess, my heart feels like it's in shreds and there is nothing I can do.

If I'm in this kind of pain, it's only fair that she feels a fraction of it.

“Is it because I'm tainted?” Her pained voice echoes in my head.

I hate that look of vulnerability in her eyes. Fuck I hate being behind that look but I'm fucking torn. Drawing close to her feels like betraying my mother. 

 My mind is far, far away.

Back to the moment everything shattered.

Her smile at the end of the aisle.

Her hand slipping into mine.

That soft look in her eyes like she actually believed we were beginning our forever.

I grip the pen tighter.

Liar.

She knew.

She fucking knew.

I found out the truth barely ten goddamn minutes before the ceremony.

She kept that filth to herself like it was something she had the right to bury.

She chose silence.

She chose him.

And still… still I stood there like a goddamn fool, sliding the ring on her finger, kissing her like I hadn’t just swallowed poison.

Why didn’t I walk away?

I could’ve stopped the wedding. Called it off. Left her there in that stupid fairytale dress. 

But that’s the thing with Sloane, she’s inside me now. Like a fucking parasite clawing at my chest, bleeding into everything.

She makes me hate her, and love her, and want her all in the same fucking breath.

How the hell do you cut someone out of you when they’ve wrapped themselves around your soul?

My jaw tightens as I stare at the screen without seeing it.

She lied to my face and then had the nerve to look at me like I was the one drifting away. Like I was the villain. 

But then I remember the way she trembled when she thought I didn’t want her. The way her voice broke when she asked if it was because she was tainted.

And fuck me, I almost caved.

The room comes back into focus. All eyes are on me.

“Yes,” I say, “Continue.”

After what seems like forever, the meeting finally wraps.

I don’t remember a word of it.

Some junior doctor is saying something about patient turnover or funding allocation, I nod because that’s what’s expected, but my mind has already left the building.

As soon as I step into the hallway, I pull out my phone.

“Anderson,” I mutter when he picks up.

“Yes, boss?”

“Is she back yet?”

There’s a pause on the line, too long for my liking.

“No, sir. She hasn’t returned.”

I stop walking..

“She didn’t come back home?”

“No, sir. I’ve been watching for her and didn't follow her as you instructed. She hasn’t come back since she left the suite this morning.”

My jaw tenses. I squeeze the bridge of my nose. Maybe I shouldn't have given her the space. 

“Make sure she doesn’t go to Noah’s place.”

“Yes sir.”

“I want to handle this on my own,” I say through gritted teeth. “I don't want interference. Especially from her brothers.”

“Yes, sir.”

I hang up and take the elevator down. Each floor we pass feels slower than the last.

My thumb hovers over her contact, but Instead of calling, I place the phone back in my pocket.

She's probably just throwing a tantrum.

“Cancel the rest of my meetings, I'm going home.” I say to my secretary who nods in understanding. 

The city blurs past me as I drive, my hand tightening on the steering wheel with every turn. My head aches and yet, I still have no solution to my predicament.

The route I take is different today. I don’t even know why, I just wanted to be alone. To avoid traffic and maybe to breathe a little.

This road winds through the edge of town. A secluded stretch lined with tall trees and luxury homes, mostly gated and silent. 

Few cars ever pass here. Which is why the wreck catches my eye immediately.

Glass glints under the afternoon sun like broken diamonds.

I notice the twisted metal and the steam rising from the hood making me slam on the brakes.

The doctor in me kicks in.

I’m out of the car in seconds, sprinting toward the wreck. My heart pounds in my chest, warning me that something is off and completely wrong.

It’s a black sedan, the body crumpled against a tree, the passenger side obliterated. It looks like it rolled more than once. The windshield is shattered with blood smearing the cracked glass.

I crouch beside the wreckage, my hand already reaching for the door handle when I freeze.

The license plate.

Recognition slams into me like a truck.

It’s mine.

My chest tightens as I pull my phone from my pocket and dial Anderson's line.

He answers instantly.

“What car did Sloane take this morning?” I bark.

“The black sedan, sir. The one with plate 1-KDN-439. Why?”

My heart plummets.

439.

A curse escapes my lips. 

“She was in this car.”

“What?sir? What do you mean-”

I hang up without answering.

I move around to the driver's side, pulling the door open. It's barely hanging on its hinges.

The inside is wrecked. Airbags deployed and blood streaked across the seatbelt.

Worse off,

No one’s here.

No body.

and no footprints or drops of blood either. No sign she walked away.

I notice the phone wedged under the crumpled dashboard.

I reach for it, my hands trembling, afraid to even breathe. For fear of confirming who was in this car. 

The screen is shattered beyond repair, but when I turn it over, the background flickers to life for half a second. Her wallpaper is staring right back at me.

That silver hair and those beautiful green eyes that draw you in.

Fuck!

My wife was in an accident?