CHAPTER 3- GONE

For one terrifying second, Damian thought he misheard.

The noise of the ballroom faded into the background.

“What did you say?”

On the other end of the call, the hotel manager sounded nervous.

“Mrs. Vale collapsed near the west entrance. Security said she nearly fainted in the rain.”

Damian’s grip around his phone tightened instantly.

“Is she injured?”

“We’re not sure, sir. By the time staff reached her, she had already left in a taxi.”

“What?”

His voice came out sharper than intended, causing nearby conversations to stop.

Vanessa looked at him in confusion.

“Damian?”

He ignored her completely.

“Where did she go?” he demanded into the phone.

“We couldn’t stop her, sir.”

Damian ended the call immediately.

Something ugly twisted inside his chest.

Anger.

Not concern.

Definitely not concern.

Amelia always did this.

Running away instead of explaining herself properly.

Acting fragile whenever things became difficult.

Yet despite the thoughts running through his mind, his feet were already moving toward the exit before he fully realized it.

“Damian!” Vanessa hurried after him in disbelief. “Where are you going?”

He stopped near the ballroom doors.

The cold expression returned to his face almost instantly.

“Go home.”

Vanessa blinked.

“But—”

“I said go home.”

His tone left no room for argument.

For a second, irritation flashed across Vanessa’s face before she quickly masked it with softness.

“You’re worried about her?”

Damian’s jaw hardened.

“She’s still legally my wife until the paperwork is finalized.”

Not because he cared.

That was what he told himself.

Vanessa forced a smile. “Of course.”

But inwardly, panic slowly crept into her chest.

Something about Damian’s reaction felt wrong.

Too intense.

Too immediate.

She had expected satisfaction tonight.

Not this strange tension in his eyes.

Not him leaving the gala for Amelia.

Vanessa watched him disappear down the hallway, her nails digging into her palm.

No.

She hadn’t worked this hard just for Damian to soften now.

Rain hammered violently against the city streets as Amelia sat silently in the back of the taxi.

Her soaked dress clung to her skin.

Her fingers remained pressed tightly against her stomach.

The driver occasionally glanced at her through the mirror, clearly concerned, but Amelia noticed none of it.

Her mind kept replaying the same moment repeatedly.

“Sign the divorce papers, Amelia.”

The coldness in Damian’s voice.

The whispers.

The humiliation.

The way he looked at her like she disgusted him.

A sharp ache spread through her chest again.

Amelia closed her eyes tightly.

No more.

She couldn’t survive loving him anymore.

“Miss?”

The taxi driver spoke gently.

“We’ve reached the address.”

Amelia looked outside blankly.

A small apartment building stood ahead.

Old.

Simple.

Nothing like the luxurious life she once lived.

It belonged to her college friend, Sophie Bennett.

The only person Amelia trusted enough to come to tonight.

She paid the driver quietly before stepping into the rain again.

By the time she reached the apartment door, her entire body was shaking from cold and exhaustion.

She barely managed to knock before the door flew open.

“Oh my God— Amelia?!”

Sophie’s horrified expression blurred through Amelia’s watery vision.

“What happened to you?!”

The moment Sophie pulled her inside, Amelia finally broke.

The strength she forced herself to maintain all night collapsed instantly.

Tears spilled uncontrollably as she clutched Sophie tightly.

“I—I don’t have anywhere else to go…”

Sophie immediately hugged her back.

“You idiot,” she whispered emotionally. “You always have somewhere to go.”

That single sentence nearly shattered Amelia completely.

An hour later, Amelia sat wrapped in blankets on Sophie’s couch while a cup of hot tea rested untouched in her hands.

Sophie sat across from her, furious.

“He publicly divorced you?”

Amelia nodded weakly.

“In front of everyone.”

“What kind of psychopath does that?!”

Amelia lowered her eyes quietly.

The sad part was—

Even now, part of her still wanted to defend Damian.

“He thought I betrayed him.”

“Did you?”

“No.”

“Then he’s an idiot.”

Simple.

Direct.

Almost funny.

A faint smile appeared briefly on Amelia’s face before disappearing again.

Sophie’s expression softened slightly.

“You still love him.”

Amelia didn’t answer immediately.

Then finally whispered:

“I don’t know how to stop.”

Silence filled the room.

Sophie hated Damian Vale at that moment.

Not because he ended the marriage.

But because Amelia looked destroyed in a way Sophie had never seen before.

“You’re staying here,” Sophie said firmly.

“I don’t want to burden—”

“You’re staying.”

Amelia’s eyes stung again.

“Thank you.”

Sophie nodded before suddenly noticing Amelia’s hand resting protectively over her stomach.

Her gaze sharpened immediately.

“…Amelia?”

Amelia froze.

Sophie stared at her slowly.

Then realization hit.

“No way.”

Amelia looked down quietly.

“Oh my God.”

Sophie moved closer instantly.

“You’re pregnant?”

The words felt strangely real spoken out loud.

Amelia swallowed hard before nodding faintly.

Sophie looked completely horrified.

“Does Damian know?”

“No.”

“And you still signed the divorce papers?!”

“What was I supposed to do?” Amelia’s voice cracked painfully. “Beg him to stay because I’m carrying his child?”

Sophie fell silent.

Because honestly—

Amelia had too much pride for that.

Even broken, she still had dignity.

Amelia looked down at her stomach again, eyes filling with emotion.

“I was going to tell him tonight.”

The confession came out barely above a whisper.

Sophie’s heart clenched instantly.

Amelia laughed shakily through tears.

“I even wrapped the pregnancy test.”

That hurt more than anything.

Not the divorce.

Not the humiliation.

The fact that she had arrived tonight hopeful.

Sophie immediately moved beside her and held her hand tightly.

“You’re not alone,” she whispered.

But Amelia’s thoughts had already drifted elsewhere.

To Damian.

Was he relieved now?

Happy?

Free?

The thought hurt enough to make her chest ache physically.

Meanwhile—

Across the city, Damian Vale was losing patience.

“She disappeared?”

Nathan stood silently in Damian’s office while rain battered the massive windows behind them.

“We tracked the taxi briefly,” Nathan explained carefully. “But the driver changed routes because of traffic.”

Damian’s expression darkened dangerously.

“You’re telling me my wife vanished in the middle of the night and nobody knows where she is?”

Nathan wisely ignored the wife part.

Technically, she still was.

“Sir,” Nathan said cautiously, “maybe Mrs. Vale simply needs space.”

Damian scoffed coldly.

“She caused a scandal at my company gala and now disappears dramatically.”

Yet despite his harsh words, he had not stopped searching for the past hour.

Nathan noticed.

And so did everyone else in the office.

Damian paced toward the window irritably.

Why did this bother him so much?

He already ended the marriage.

Wasn’t this what he wanted?

Then why did the image of Amelia collapsing in the rain refuse to leave his mind?

Something felt wrong.

Deeply wrong.

His phone suddenly buzzed again.

Damian answered immediately.

“What?”

The private investigator’s voice came through calmly.

“We found something regarding the photographs shown at the gala.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“What about them?”

A pause.

Then—

“The images were altered.”

Silence.

The room temperature seemed to drop instantly.

Nathan slowly looked up.

Damian’s voice became terrifyingly quiet.

“Explain.”

“The timestamps were edited and parts of the footage were manipulated before presentation. Whoever arranged it knew what they were doing.”

Nathan’s face paled.

But Damian remained completely still.

Too still.

The investigator continued carefully.

“We’re still tracing the source, but preliminary evidence suggests the photos were intentionally staged.”

Every muscle in Damian’s body tightened.

Amelia’s voice echoed painfully in his memory.

Someone set me up. Damian, please just listen to me—

A sharp unease settled heavily in his chest.

No.

Not unease.

Something worse.

Because for the first time that night—

Damian realized Amelia may have been telling the truth.

And if she was innocent…

Then he had destroyed his marriage for nothing.

Before Damian could respond, another message suddenly appeared on his phone screen.

A notification from his bank security system.

His brows furrowed.

Then his expression changed instantly as he opened it.

All secondary access connected to Amelia’s accounts had been removed.

Her shared cards deactivated.

Her location services disconnected.

Even the emergency contact line tied to the Vale residence was gone.

Amelia had cut herself off completely.

Nathan saw Damian’s face darken.

“Sir?”

Damian slowly lowered the phone.

For the first time in years—

He felt something dangerously close to panic.

Because Amelia Hart wasn’t just upset.

She was leaving him for real.