CHAPTER 3: WHAT'S LEFT OF ME

Ava: POV

I stayed in the hotel room for four days after my husband sent me packing. I had nowhere to go. I was still in shock that Damien could ever believe that I, Ava, stole from his company. I was still shaken by everything that had happened.

Plates had started piling up outside my room because I couldn't eat anything. All of this still felt like a dream. For the first time in three years, I wasn't at home. Damien hadn't even called to ask where I was. Why would he believe that I could do something like this to him?

A notification came through on my phone. I jumped up, thinking it was my husband finally trying to reach me, maybe to tell me it had all been a terrible misunderstanding. Instead, it was a link from an unknown number. The hope I'd felt disappeared. I picked up the phone, then immediately threw it back onto the bed.

I reached for the phone a second time. I wondered what the link was about. I hesitated for a moment. Something about it frightened me, but I couldn't stop myself from finding out. Finally, I opened it.

There it was. Damien's press conference. He stood in front of a crowd, cameras flashing everywhere, just like they had on our wedding day.

"I never knew the woman I married was nothing but a hardened criminal," he said. "I trusted her. I loved her. I never imagined I would see this day. But the truth is, she was nothing but a gold digger and a thief."

"No. No, I didn't steal from you. You truly think I'm a gold digger?"

Tears started falling down my cheeks. I remembered when he held my hands and promised me that even if the whole world turned against me, he would always stand by me.

Where was that promise now?

How could he say all of this about me?

I kept watching him destroy my reputation without hearing me out or even asking me a single question. If someone had told me Damien would ever do this to me, I would have slapped the hell out of them.

"I should have listened to my mother," he said. "She saw through her from the beginning. I didn't."

But the part that broke me was when he compared me to his father's best friend, the man who had betrayed and destroyed his father years ago. He said it in front of the whole world, as if I were no different from him.

Tears filled my eyes. Damien never loved me.

I scrolled through the comments. I knew she was nothing but a gold digger. She should have been arrested. She married him because she wanted his money, not because she loved him. Each comment felt like another slap to my face.

I threw the phone onto the bed. I couldn't keep watching. The comments were too hurtful.

Maybe I should just die. There was nothing left for me.

Then I remembered the tiny life growing inside me. I pressed my hand against my stomach and took a shaky breath.

"I guess it's just you and me now."

But I thought about calling him. Maybe he would pick up. Maybe I could get a chance to explain. Maybe the man who once said he loved me without hesitation would listen to me.

I opened Damien's contact and stared at his name for a few seconds. My finger hovered over the call button before I finally pressed it. The phone rang, and I held my breath, praying he would answer.

I called. It rang, but he didn't answer. I called a second time, but it was the same. On the third call, it went straight to voicemail.

I decided to send him a message. Maybe if he saw it, he would reach out to me.

Baby, please try to hear me out. You know I would never steal from you. It hurts so much that after three years of marriage, you could believe I stole from you, from your company.

I pressed send.

I sat there for a long moment, staring at my phone. He didn't reply. No call. No message. Nothing from him.

I burst into tears.

Tears kept falling as I stared at my phone. I needed someone to talk to before I lost my mind. Maya was the only person I could think of, so I called her.

Maya answered on the second ring.

"Hello, Ava?"

I tried to answer her, but the words wouldn't come. I just kept sobbing.

"Ava, what is the matter? Calm down and talk to me."

"Maya, my marriage is over." My voice broke. "Damien believes I stole from him. He didn't even ask me a single question. He stood in front of the whole world and called me a thief and a gold digger. People are saying all kinds of things about me."

"Ava, please calm down. I saw the news too, but I didn't believe it."

"I didn't steal any money. I didn't touch anything, Maya. You know me."

I was crying so hard that I could barely breathe. Maya stayed on the phone with me until I was finally able to breathe properly.

"Ava, tell me exactly what happened. How did this happen?"

"I don't know, Maya. I'm confused too. I was just waiting for him to come home so we could celebrate our anniversary together. I was even planning to tell him I was pregnant, but he gave me divorce papers to sign just like that."

"Please, bestie, pull yourself together. Please, I beg you. You need to stop watching everything that's happening online. Think about the safety of the baby and your mental health."

"Where are you?" she asked.

"In a hotel."

"Look," she said. "You can't stay there all by yourself. You need someone around you. You can't keep being alone like this."

"But I don't have anywhere to go," I replied. "You know my parents are dead, and Damien threw me out of the house."

"Portland," she said, her voice quieter.

"Maya, I don't have anyone in Portland."

"I do. I have a cousin there, and she has a spare room. No one will recognize you there."

"Maya, I can't. I just can't run away like that. If I leave, they'll think I'm guilty of the accusations against me."

"You and I know you're not guilty. But right now, for the sake of the baby, you need somewhere safe. And stop arguing with me. I'm booking you a bus ticket now."

I couldn't argue with her anymore. I could hear her typing on the other end.

"Pack your bags. You're leaving by eight tomorrow morning. Get some sleep, okay?"

I lowered the phone and stared at the suitcase sitting beside my bed. Tomorrow, I would walk away from the only life I had ever known. I didn't know it yet, but leaving New York would be the beginning of something I never saw coming.

The bus station was crowded when I arrived. People were there with their loved ones, saying goodbye before they left. But I was alone. Just me and my suitcase.

A few minutes later, an announcement came over the speaker that boarding for Portland was beginning. I grabbed my suitcase and boarded the bus. For one stupid second, I turned around, hoping to see my husband standing behind me. But there was no one.

I found my seat by the window and looked back at New York. The bus ride took days. I watched the sky change from day to night, then back to day again.

The journey was exhausting. I was tired of checking my phone, hoping to see a call from Damien. I could barely eat anything, and I had no idea what kind of life was waiting for me in Portland.

Portland was gray and wet. When I got off the bus, Maya's cousin, Denise, was waiting for me. She didn't ask any questions. She just hugged me and said, "Maya told me everything that happened. You're welcome here, my dear."

Denise took my suitcase and led me to her apartment. It was small but clean and quiet. I stepped inside and looked around, not knowing where to go or what to do. For the first time, I realized this was going to be my home, at least for now.

Two weeks later, I started applying for jobs. Damien had frozen my accounts, and I needed money. I couldn't keep depending on Denise, while Maya was helping with whatever little she could.

Every job application asked for my legal name: Ava Wilson. My finger froze over the keyboard. I remembered how natural it had once felt to write "Mrs. Damien Blackwood" on contracts, documents, and invitations without ever thinking twice. Back then, being his wife felt like a part of who I was. Now, even my own name felt strange.

I took a breath and typed, "Ava Wilson." Then I submitted the application and closed the laptop. My name still felt strange on the screen, but I refused to let that stop me.

At midnight, I sat alone in the living room. Denise was already asleep, but I couldn't close my eyes. I kept thinking about how I was going to survive, how I would provide for myself and this child. I had been rejected from every job I applied for, and I didn't know what else to do.

My phone vibrated on the small table beside the couch. It was midnight. I picked it up and saw a notification. I almost ignored it, but then I thought it might be one of the companies I had applied to, finally sending an acceptance email.

My heart sank when I saw the number. It wasn't from any company. It was an unknown number, and the message had been sent only a few seconds ago. I stared at it, wondering who would text me at midnight.

I stared at the message for a few seconds, my thumb hovering over the screen. I didn't know why, but something about the unknown number made me uneasy.

Then I opened it.

"You really thought you could run from me? You shouldn't have married him, Ava. Did you honestly believe I would let you live happily with Damien after what you did? How foolish. You can run to Portland and hide in someone else's home, but I will still find you. You can't hide from me forever, my darling."

Who sent this message? My heart started beating faster. No one knew where I was. Wait... what was going on? How did this person know I was in Portland?

I tried calling the number. It rang once, but no one answered. I tried again. The same thing happened. The third time, it went straight to voicemail, as if the number had never existed.

I looked out the window, but there was no one outside. I looked back at the message, my hands trembling. Whoever was behind all of this knew where I was.

Even Portland wasn't safe.