All Chapters of The Wife He Never Loved : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

57 Chapters

Chapter 30: The Photo

Aria’s POVI must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes, the room was darker. Evening light filtered through Kyle’s bedroom windows, casting everything in soft purple-grey tones.Kyle was still there. Lying on his back beside me, one arm thrown over his head, breathing deep and even.He was asleep.I turned on my side to look at him. In sleep, his face was softer. And peaceful. The intensity that usually lived in his eyes was hidden behind closed lids.He looked younger like this. Less… overwhelming.I smiled and leaned over carefully. Pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.He didn’t wake up. Just made a small sound and shifted slightly.I settled back against my pillow and reached for my phone on the nightstand.7:23 PM. We’d been asleep for over an hour.Several notifications lit up the screen. Margaret asking about tomorrow’s meeting. A reminder about a gallery event next week. And three messages from Claire.I opened them.Claire: “Just got home. Thank you for today! I misse

Chapter 31: Wicked

Aria’s POVI woke slowly, the way dawn creeps in…soft, reluctant, wrapped in layers of warmth and lingering dreams. My body registered the sensation before my mind could catch up: the heat blooming low on my stomach, a slow, glide of lips moving upward. Each kiss felt like a spark against sleepy skin, pulling me gently but insistently out of the haze.My breath hitched. I blinked once, then twice, my lashes felt heavy. The room was still dim, morning light was pale and golden at the edges of the curtains. And there he was.Kyle.His dark hair fell forward as he pressed another open-mouthed kiss just below my ribs, then higher, tracing the soft curve beneath my breast. His hands were already on me…warm palms sliding up my sides, thumbs brushing the undersides of my breasts like he was learning their weight all over again. He didn’t rush. Which made everything feel more intense. Jason always rushed when he was with me like he couldn’t wait to be done with me.I felt the moment he rea

Chapter 32: The Hook

Kyle’s POVMorning light streamed through the kitchen windows as I ground fresh coffee beans. The sound filled the apartment because there was no one else here but the both of us.Aria was in the shower. I could hear the water running through the walls.I pulled out the small bottle from my jacket pocket. It contained a small odorless liquid that was tasteless when mixed properly.Alprazolam. Dissolved in propylene glycol for faster absorption. Just point-five milligrams. Nothing that would knock her out or make her obviously impaired. Just enough to take the edge off. Make her calmer. I liked seeing her calm, with only thoughts of me running through her mind.I measured it carefully into her mug. The one with the little flowers she’d pointed out last week at a coffee shop. I bought it the next day. I added coffee. I watched the clear liquid disappear into the dark brew. And stirred it thoroughly.By the time Aria was out of the bathroom… with her damp hair, wearing one of my shir

Chapter 33: The Collision

Kyle’s POVI stood at my office window, with a cigarette between my fingers, watching the morning traffic crawl by below.Claire Donovan’s address was burned into my brain. Brooklyn. A converted loft building in Williamsburg. I’d memorized the route she took to work. She always went to a coffee shop on the corner. And got the same order every morning. Oat milk latte with an extra shot.Predictable.Everyone was predictable once you watched them long enough.I checked my watch. 8:47 AM. She’d be leaving her apartment in exactly eight minutes. Same as every weekday for the past three weeks since she’d moved back to New York.I stubbed out the cigarette and grabbed my keys.The drive to Williamsburg took twenty-three minutes. I parked two blocks from her building and waited.At 9:15, right on schedule, Claire walked out. Her blond hair was pulled back. Designer workout clothes that probably cost more than most people’s rent. Phone already in her hand, scrolling as she walked. She w

Chapter 34: The Obsession

Claire’s POVThe apartment door slammed behind me harder than I intended.My hip throbbed where Kyle’s car had hit me. I could already feel the bruise forming. It would definitely turn purple and yellow and last for weeks.I didn’t care.I walked straight to the kitchen. Yanked open the cabinet above the fridge. Grabbed the bottle of Macallan 18 I’d been saving. It was really expensive. A gift from a client I’d slept with once and regretted immediately after.I twisted the cap off and gulped the amber liquid inside.Then threw the whole fucking bottle against the wall.Glass exploded. Scotch splattered across the white paint, dripping down like blood. The smell filled the kitchen immediately. Rich and peaty and wasted.“FUCK!” I screamed at the empty apartment.My hands were shaking. I pressed them against the counter. Breathing hard.Why does she always get the good ones?Always.Every fucking time.I grabbed the pack of cigarettes from the junk drawer. I hadn't smoked in three years

Chapter 35: The Disappearance

Aria’s POV - Three Days LaterI stared at my phone for the fifth time in ten minutes.Claire still hadn’t responded. It has been three days of silence. No texts, no calls, nothing.We were supposed to have dinner on Tuesday night. I’d texted her that morning to confirm and got nothing back. I figured she was busy with work. I texted again on Tuesday evening. Nothing. I called Wednesday and it went straight to voicemail.Now it was Thursday and my stomach was churning with worry.This wasn’t like Claire. She always responded. Even when she was traveling for work in Europe, she’d send quick messages. Always stayed in touch.Three days of complete silence was wrong.I pulled up our text thread again. Read through our last conversation.Me: “Dinner this week? I miss you!”Claire: “Yes! Can’t wait”That had been Monday afternoon. Then nothing.I tried calling again. Straight to voicemail.“Claire, it’s me again. I’m starting to get worried. Can you just text me back and let me know you’re

Chapter 36: The Basement

Kyle’s POVI looked down at Aria sleeping on the couch. Her face looked peaceful. I brushed a curl back from her forehead. Leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her temple.“Sleep well, my love,” I whispered.Then I stood, grabbed my keys, and left.The drive took forty minutes. Out of Manhattan, through Queens, into an industrial area in Long Island City that nobody paid attention to. Warehouses. Shipping containers. Buildings that had been abandoned when the manufacturing jobs dried up.I bought this building two years ago. Cash purchase through a shell company. No paper trail connected it to me. I had it renovated into a basement that could be locked from the outside. I had no use for it then just that I had always wanted a dark basement for myself ever since I was younger. A place to keep things I didn’t want to find sounded very intriguing to me.I parked in the alley behind the building. Used my key on the heavy steel door. And stepped inside.The main floor was empty. Concr

Chapter 37: Happiness

Kyle’s POVThe first thing I was aware of was the sweat.It had plastered my hair to the back of my neck and soaked through the thin fabric of my sleep shirt, the sheets beneath me were damp and twisted from what must have been hours of restless turning. I blinked at the ceiling, with my chest heaving.I exhaled slowly.The room was still. Morning light came through the curtains in thin pale strips, striping the floor in gold. I pressed the back of my hand to my forehead, then let my arm fall across my face and just lay there, breathing, waiting for my heartbeat to remember what normal felt like. These days, I always felt like my body was off. It seems like Kyle wasn’t yet back. My phone buzzed on the nightstand.I ignored it.It buzzed again.I reached for it without looking, squinting against the screen’s brightness when I finally tilted it toward my face. A notification. I almost set it back down … probably an app, probably nothing … but the name registered a half-second later

Chapter 38: The Blood

Aria’s POVI stared at the cut on my finger, more annoyed than anything else.“Of course,” I muttered. “Of course this happens.”The blood was bright red, welling up in a neat line across my index finger. I turned toward the sink to run it under water.And then the front door opened. I turned around watching Kyle in the doorway. His chest was heaving like he’d run up the stairs. His eyes swept the kitchen frantically before landing on me.He smiled walking towards me when he noticed me clutching my hand his face drained of all color as he walked towards me.“Aria.” He crossed the space between us so fast I barely registered the movement. His hand shot out, grabbing my wrist. “What happened?”“I just cut my finger. It’s nothing…”“You’re bleeding.” His voice was tight. “Kyle, it’s fine. I was just being clumsy with the knife…”He wasn’t listening. He lifted my hand, looking at my finger with wild eyes. Then, before I could process what he was doing, he brought my finger to his mouth.

Chapter 39: The Breaking Point

Kyle’s POVThe moment we got back to the apartment, I went straight to the bathroom.Closed the door behind me. Locked it.Pressed my back against it and tried to breathe.My hands were shaking.I held them out in front of me, watched them tremble like I was freezing even though sweat was dripping down my spine.Blood. There had been blood on her finger. Bright red against her skin. Dripping onto the counter.Something had hurt her.Something had cut her. Broken her skin. Made her bleed.And it wasn’t me.The thought sent a wave of rage through me so violent I had to grab the sink to stay upright.I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My face was pale. Eyes too wide. Pupils blown.I looked insane.“Calm down,” I whispered to myself. “Calm down, Kyle. Calm down.”But I couldn’t.Because the image of that blood kept replaying in my mind. Over and over. The moment I walked into the kitchen and saw it dripping from her finger.Someone else had hurt her. Something else had marked her.N

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