Chapter 4

Audrey's POV

I stared at Blair as though I had never truly seen her before.

"What does that mean?" I asked, unable to look away from her.

"What exactly did I take from you?" I continued, searching her face for answers.

"Not tonight," Blair said with a smile as she lifted a hand to stop me.

"You don't get to say something like that and walk away," I snapped, feeling frustration rise inside me.

"Actually, I do," she replied, her smile never fading. "When you're ready to accept reality, maybe we'll have this conversation again."

"What reality?" I asked in confusion.

Blair didn't answer me. Instead, she slipped her hand into Reid's, and the simple gesture felt like another knife in my chest.

"The reality that I'm not going anywhere," she said calmly. "And neither is our baby."

I looked at Reid, silently begging him to say something but he didn't. He simply stood there, cold and detached, looking like a stranger wearing the face of the man I had loved.

"Let's go," Blair said as she squeezed his hand.

Together, they walked out and left me standing alone in the suite. The door clicked shut behind them.

A few seconds later, my legs gave out beneath me, and I collapsed into a chair. The tears came immediately. Everything hurt. My chest, my heart and my soul.

I buried my face in my hands while the photographs around the room mocked me.

Hours passed before I finally calmed down. When I looked up, my reflection stared back at me through the dark window.

I looked broken and exhausted. Yet beneath all the pain, one thing remained.

Determination.

This couldn't be the end. Reid had to be wrong. My father wasn't a murderer, and if I could prove it, maybe I couldn't save my marriage, but I could uncover the truth.

Wiping my face, I reached for my phone. There was only one person I could call.

---

Cam arrived less than an hour later.

"Audrey?" he asked the moment he saw my face, his expression filling with concern.

"Sit down," I said quietly before taking a deep breath and telling him everything.

I told him about the affair, Reid's revenge, Blair's pregnancy, and everything he had confessed.

By the time I finished, Cam sat in stunned silence before suddenly getting to his feet.

"No," he said sharply.

"What?" I sniffed, looking up at him.

"I'm going to find Reid." He answered.

"Cam," I called after him as he started pacing.

"He can't destroy your life and walk away," he said angrily.

"No, please," I begged, shaking my head.

He stopped and looked at me. "He deserves to answer for this."

"We need answers first," I said after taking a deep breath.

"What answers?" he asked, his jaw tightening.

"The truth," I answered quietly. "I need to know what really happened to his father."

His expression softened. "You still believe your father is innocent."

"I know he is," I replied, surprising even myself with how certain I sounded. "I know my father."

Cam slowly sat back down.

"So what do you want to do?" He asked.

"I want to reopen the investigation," I answered without hesitation.

---

Three days later, we met with a private investigator.

"You understand this case is decades old," he said after listening to our story.

"I know," I replied.

"And much of the evidence may no longer exist."

"I know." I answered.

He studied me for several moments before nodding. "I'll see what I can find."

For the first time in days, I felt something that resembled hope but that hope disappeared the moment I returned home.

I heard Blair's laughter before I even stepped into the living room.

When I walked inside, I found her sitting comfortably on my couch beside Reid as though she belonged there.

"Oh, you're back," Reid said casually when he noticed me.

"What is she doing here?" I asked, keeping my eyes fixed on him.

"Hello to you too," Blair replied with a smile.

I ignored her completely.

"What is she doing here?" I repeated.

Reid stood calmly.

"There is no reason to hide anymore," he said.

"What does that mean?" I asked, already feeling sick.

"It means Blair is moving in."

"What?" I whispered, convinced I had heard wrong.

"She's pregnant," he reminded me.

"I know that." I told him.

"Then you understand." He replied simply.

No. I didn't understand at all. Blair rested a hand on her stomach, forcing me to look away.

"The decision has already been made," Reid continued. "You'll need to move into one of the guest rooms."

"What?" I asked, barely able to process his words.

"The master bedroom belongs to Blair and me now." He announced.

The humiliation burned through me.

"You can't be serious." I told him.

"I am." He replied simply.

Blair remained silent, watching everything with quiet satisfaction.

"You've had three years," Reid added as he folded his arms.

"And?" I asked.

"And after three years, you still couldn't give me a child."

The room fell silent. Something inside me broke. Not because of his cruelty, but because they both knew that wasn't true.

We had never even tried. Children had always been part of the future we planned together.

I looked at him and realized I no longer recognized the man standing before me..Without saying another word, I walked upstairs, packed a small suitcase, and left and neither of them tried to stop me.

---

The hotel room was exactly what I needed. For two days, I barely left. I slept, cried and thought a lot. Then my phone rang.

"Mr. Daniels?" I answered immediately, my heart racing.

"I found something," he said.

"What?" I asked, sitting upright.

"Surveillance footage from the day Sterling Calloway died. I think you should see it yourself."

Thirty minutes later, I sat across from him as a flash drive rested on the desk.

"This was difficult to recover," he said. "But it's authentic."

"Can I watch it?" I asked, my hands trembling.

He nodded. The footage began playing. The quality wasn't perfect, but it was clear enough. Then I froze.

Someone appeared on the screen. It wasn't my father. It was someone else.

A stranger moved quickly before disappearing, and only moments later my father arrived.

I stared at the screen as tears filled my eyes. My father hadn't killed Sterling..A sob escaped me as relief flooded through my entire body. He was innocent.

All these years of hatred had been built on a lie. A smile broke through my tears. I finally had proof. Proof that could clear my father's name. Proof Reid couldn't ignore.

Without wasting another second, I grabbed the flash drive but instead of driving to Reid...

I drove straight to my father's house.

My father looked older than I remembered. The past few years had clearly taken their toll. When he opened the door, surprise crossed his face.

"Audrey?" he asked.

"We need to talk," I said, holding up the flash drive.

An hour later, we sat across from each other in his study after watching the footage twice.

"You knew," I finally said, breaking the silence.

My father lowered his eyes.

"You knew you were innocent." I repeated.

"Yes," he answered quietly.

"Then why?" I demanded, frustration surging through me. "Why didn't you tell Reid? Why did you let him believe you killed his father?"

He remained silent.

"He destroyed our company," I continued, fighting back tears. "He destroyed my marriage. He destroyed our lives."

He still remained silent.

"Why didn't you stop him?" I asked, my voice breaking.

Finally, he looked up, his face filled with guilt.

"I thought he deserved to hate me," he admitted softly.

"What?" I whispered.

"He lost his father," my dad continued as he looked away. "I understood his anger."

"You understood it?" I asked, my voice rising. "Dad, he spent years destroying us."

"I know."

"You knew?" I stared at him in shock.

"Yes."

Everything suddenly fell into place. My father had known all along. But one question still remained. I looked down at the flash drive before raising my eyes to him again. My heart pounded.

"If you didn't kill his father..." I said slowly as I stood to my feet. "...then who are you protecting?"