บททั้งหมดของ I Was His Secret Wife, Now I'm His Nightmare : บทที่ 11 - บทที่ 20

The fluorescent light overhead had started to flicker sometime around three in the morning, and Audrey had spent the last however-many hours watching it, because it was easier than watching the wall, and easier than listening to the woman two feet away who'd been muttering to herself since midnight.Her arm was still curled low across her stomach.'Please. Just hold on. I've got you.'She had stopped counting how many times she'd said it in her head. She had stopped feeling her feet about an hour ago too, the cold from the floor had already climbed up through her thin jacket and was making her shiver. The heavy door at the end of the hall suddenly clanged, making Audrey flinch. Noise immediately filled the station, footsteps, a lot of them, were moving fast, and voices. "–I want the arresting officer's name, the booking sergeant's name, and whoever signed off on this warrant, in this room, in the next five minutes.... what kind of question is that? This is her legal team."Audrey rai

The elevator doors slid open on Audrey's floor, and she stepped out before Roman could ask her anything else."Audrey." His calm voice followed her, "You didn't answer me.""I told you, cramps." She didn't turn around. "I'm tired, Roman. Can we not do this right now?"She heard him exhale behind her, and for a second she thought he'd push it. He didn't. He just walked her to her car in silence, opened her door for her like he always did, and told her to text him when she got home. She said she would. She didn't.By the time she let herself into her apartment, it was almost midnight, and her whole body felt like it had been wrung out and hung up to dry.She dropped her bag by the door, kicked off her heels, and made it exactly three steps toward the kitchen before her stomach lurched."Oh, no. No, no, no–"She bolted for the bathroom, barely got the door shut behind her before she was on her knees in front of the toilet, throwing up everything she hadn't eaten all day, which was apparen

Diana's words hit like a slap across the entire room.Audrey felt her whole body go cold, then hot, then cold again. For a second she couldn't even breathe. The champagne glass in her hand trembled, just slightly, but enough that she had to grip it with both hands to keep it steady.A leftover. A woman so pathetic her own husband couldn't stand the sight of her.The words echoed in her head, mixing with Derek's voice from three years ago, calling her a parasite, telling her she wasn't fuckable, that she was nothing. For one horrible second she was back in that penthouse, small and stupid and begging a man to love her.The room had gone quiet. Not silent, but that thick, awful kind of quiet where everyone was pretending not to listen while listening to every word.Audrey felt her eyes sting. She hated that. She hated that after everything, after days of trying to rebuild herself piece by piece, one sentence from Diana could still make her feel fifteen years old and unwanted.Roman shif

The waiting room smelled like lavender and hand sanitizer, a strange mix that somehow made Audrey's stomach turn even more than it already had all morning.She sat near the window, sunglasses still on even though she was indoors, her scarf wrapped high around her neck like she was hiding from a storm instead of just hiding from people who might recognize her. Her phone buzzed in her lap. Another email from the finance department. Another meeting she was supposed to prep for. She turned the screen face down and pressed her palm flat over it.Her thumb found the edge of her wrist and rubbed there, slow circles over her scar, the old habit she couldn't seem to kill no matter how many years passed."Audrey Sinclair?"She looked up. A young nurse stood by the door, clipboard in hand, smiling the polite kind of smile that people gave strangers."That's me." Audrey stood, smoothing her coat down like it could smooth out everything else too, and followed her back.The exam room was small and

Audrey Sinclair sat at her desk, staring at the glowing screen of her laptop. The article's headline screamed back at her: "Sinclair Heiress Returns Amid Mental Health Concerns: Is Audrey Sinclair Fit to Lead?" Her fingers trembled as she scrolled through the comments. People were calling her unstable, broken, a risk to the whole damn company. She rubbed her thumb along the edge of her wrist, right over that old scar, fighting the sting in her eyes. The office felt colder today. Yesterday, people had smiled and nodded when she walked the halls. Today, they glanced away or muttered behind their hands. She had seen it in the elevator on her way up, two executives cutting their conversation short when she stepped in. Her heart pounded hard in her chest, but she kept her face calm. No one could see her sweat. Not now.She stood up slowly, smoothing down her sleek black dress. Her pale golden skin felt flushed, and she touched the vintage watch on her wrist for luck. Grandma's watch. It a