Chapter 4

SIGN YOUR NAME AND DISAPPEAR

Riona’s POV

By sunrise, the whole city knew my name. Not because of anything I had achieved. Not because of the properties I had helped Wrenhold acquire or the projects I had spent years rescuing from failure.

I was simply Caelan Wren’s jealous wife.

The woman who had allegedly tried to poison his first love. My face appeared across news websites. My wedding photograph was everywhere.

One headline called me the scorned wife who snapped. Another asked whether I had used my pregnancy to manipulate Caelan. I stared at the screen until the words blurred.

My pregnancy. Our baby. Even that had become evidence against me. A guard walked past the holding room and glanced at his phone. I heard him whisper to another officer.

“She’s pregnant?”

“Apparently.”

“Then why would she do something like that?”

I lowered my head. Because nobody cared whether I had done it. They had already decided who I was. The Wren family had released a statement before I had even been formally charged. They expressed their concern for Melania’s recovery.

They said they trusted the authorities. And they said nothing about me.

Five years of marriage!  Five years of standing beside Caelan at charity dinners, shareholder events and family gatherings. Five years of defending his name when people criticized him.

And when the world turned against me, the Wren family had simply stepped aside.

My phone rang. Caelan.

For one foolish second, hope moved through me. I answered.

“Caelan?”

“I’ve arranged for you to be transferred to a private medical facility.”

My hand tightened around the phone.

“Why?”

“You’re pregnant.”

The words should have sounded tender. They didn’t.

“I need to see you.”

“I can’t come right now.”

“Why?”

A pause, “Melania had another complication.”

A warm trickle suddenly slipped between my thighs. I froze, then looked down. There was blood on the fabric under me. My heart stopped.

“Caelan, I’m bleeding.”

“I need you.”

“I’ll have someone handle it.”

My throat tightened, “Someone?”

“You have lawyers. Doctors. Security.”

“I don’t need security.”

My voice cracked, “I need my husband.”

He didn’t answer. Then the call ended. I stared at the phone. A sharp pain suddenly tore through my abdomen. I doubled over. A nurse rushed toward me.

“Mrs. Wren?”

“I…”

Another wave hit as I quickly gripped the edge of the bed, “Something’s wrong.”

Everything after that became noise. A wheelchair. Doctors. Bright lights. Someone asked when I had last eaten. Someone asked whether the father was coming.

I couldn’t answer. I was too busy trying not to fall apart. Hours later, a doctor stood beside my bed. Her expression told me before she spoke.

My fingers tightened around the blanket.

“My baby?”

The doctor’s expression softened, “You’re bleeding heavily, Riona. We need to take you into surgery immediately.”

My heart lurched, “Is my baby going to be okay?”

“We’re going to do everything we can.”

“Call my husband.”

“We already tried.”

“Call him again.”

“He hasn’t come.”

My eyes burned, “He’ll come.”

I said it like a promise. Like if I believed it hard enough, it would become true. But Caelan didn’t come.

Not when the pain became unbearable. Not when the doctors rushed me into surgery. Not when I lay beneath those harsh white hospital lights, terrified and alone, begging a child I hadn’t even met to stay.

He didn’t come. When I woke, the room was quiet.

A doctor sat beside my bed, holding my hand.

“Riona…”

I looked at her face, and something inside me already knew.

“No.”

Her eyes softened, “I’m so sorry. We couldn’t save the baby.”

For a few seconds, I couldn’t move. Then my hand went to my stomach, it felt flat and empty. 

I pressed my palm against it as though I could somehow find the little life that had been there that morning. A sound escaped my throat. Not a scream. Something smaller and broken.  I turned onto my side and pulled the blanket over my face. The doctor stayed. I didn’t ask her to leave. I couldn’t ask for anything.

My baby was gone and the man who was supposed to be grieving beside me had been somewhere else. With Melania.

The door opened hours later. I knew who it was before I looked. Caelan walked in. He didn’t rush toward me. He didn’t ask if I was all right. He didn’t even look at my stomach. He placed an envelope on the bedside table.

“Sign them.”

I stared at him. My voice barely came out.

“Our baby died.”

His face remained unreadable, “I know.”

“You know?”

“Yes.”

“And you still came here with divorce papers?”

His jaw tightened, “I can’t allow this situation to destroy Wrenhold.”

I laughed once.

It sounded horrible, “You’re worried about Wrenhold.”

“I’m responsible for thousands of employees.”

“And I was your wife.”

“You were.”

Past tense. That single word hurt more than anything else. I reached for the envelope. My fingers shook as I opened it.

Divorce papers. Five years reduced to signatures. I looked at him.

“Did you ever love me?”

He was silent. That was my answer. I picked up the pen.

“You said you wouldn’t let this scandal destroy everything you’d built.”

“Yes.”

I signed. One page. Then another. My name looked unfamiliar under his.

When I finished, I pushed the papers toward him.

“There.”

Caelan collected them. He didn’t say thank you. He simply turned toward the door.

“Caelan.”

He stopped. I stared at his back, “I hope she was worth it.” He didn’t turn around.

Then he left. I waited until the door closed before reaching for my phone. There was one photograph saved in my gallery. I had taken it secretly earlier that night when the investigator briefly left the case file open on the table. I hadn’t known why I was taking it then, but now I was glad I had. The threatening message from my phone had been timestamped at 9:18 p.m.

But according to the police inventory, my phone had been confiscated at 8:56 p.m.

My blood ran cold. Someone had sent that message after the police already had my phone.

I stared at the screen. I hadn’t framed myself. Someone else had and whoever had done it had access to the investigation.

I sat up, ever since my arrest, something stronger than grief moved through me which was anger. I packed the few belongings the hospital had returned.

There was no reason to stay in Aurelia. My husband had divorced me. My baby was gone. My reputation was destroyed. My home no longer felt like home. So I bought the first flight I could find. I left the hospital through a side entrance wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. 

At the airport, I kept my head down. I didn’t want anyone to recognize me. I reached the private terminal and stopped beside the glass doors. Outside, cars moved through the rain-slicked driveway.

Then I saw it. The same black sedan. It had been behind the hospital taxi. I had seen it near the side entrance. Now it was here. My fingers tightened around my suitcase. The car stopped. 

The passenger door opened. A tall man stepped out. He closed the door slowly. Then he lifted his head. His gaze found mine through the glass. He wasn’t Caelan and he wasn’t looking at me like a stranger who had accidentally noticed a woman in an airport. He was watching me as if he had been looking for me all along.