Chasing The Wife He Discarded のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 51 - チャプター 59

Nerissa's POVA week goes by fast when you have something to chase.Priya barely left the office. Rousseau sent updates twice a day, sometimes more, each one thinner and colder than the last. Lucien didn't once ask me to slow down, which told me he already knew where this was going before I did.By Friday, I had enough. I picked up my phone and called a number I never thought I'd use again.He picked up on the second ring."Nerissa?""Mr. Blackwood." I kept my voice flat. Nothing personal in it. "How fast can you fly over here?"A pause. "Now. I can be there in a few hours.""Good."I hung up before he could ask why. I wanted him walking in blind. I wanted him to hear it the same way I had, all at once, no time to brace for it.He showed up just after six, tie loosened, looking like he hadn't slept right since the last time he stood in my house. Henri brought him to my office this time, not the study. I wanted this on my ground."You look terrible," I said."Long week.""Mine too." I

Nerissa's POVThe house was quiet by the time Lysander's car pulled out of the drive. I stood at the window a minute, watching the taillights fade past the gate, and let myself breathe for the first time in what felt like hours.All I could feel for him at this point was just pity.I checked on the twins before I did anything else.Nicole was curled on her side, one arm hanging off the bed, the shark book still open on her nightstand where she'd fallen asleep reading it again. I closed it, marked her page with the ribbon, and pulled the blanket back up over her shoulder.Nicholas had kicked his off completely. I fixed that too, tucking it around him the way he liked it even though he'd never admit that out loud.I stood there a minute longer than I needed to, listening to them breathe.Lucien was in the study when I came down. Tie gone, sleeves rolled up, a glass in his hand he hadn't touched."He's gone," Lucien said. Not a question."He's gone.""How'd it go?""About how you'd expec

Nerissa's POVI didn't sleep much. I kept waking up every hour, checking my phone, half expecting a headline to already be sitting there waiting for me.By six, I gave it up.The twins were still asleep when I passed their doors, so I let them be and went down to the kitchen instead, where Priya was already sitting at the counter with two cups of coffee and a face that told me the morning wasn't going to start easy."You didn't sleep either," I said."Neither did you, from the look of it." She slid one of the cups toward me. "I have an update. You're not going to like it.""When do I ever.""The photographer. His name's Devereux. Freelance, like he said, works for whoever pays him that week." She turned her tablet around so I could see it. "We got his memory card last night. What we didn't get was his phone.""His phone.""He'd already sent two shots to a photo agency in London before Marcus ever knocked on his window. Standard practice for guys like him. Snap it, upload it, sell it t

Nerissa's POVI sat there for a long time before I picked up the phone.I told myself I was just deciding how to say it. Where to start. How much to give him at once and how much to hold back for later. That was the sensible reason, the one I could say out loud if anyone asked.I dialed before I could talk myself out of it.It rang twice. Then a click, and a voice that wasn't his."Hello?"I froze for half a second, phone pressed hard against my ear."Who's calling?" Seraphina said, when I didn't answer fast enough.I almost hung up. I should have hung up. Instead I sat there and said nothing long enough that she filled the silence herself."Nerissa." She said my name slow, like she was tasting it. "I'd know that little pause anywhere.""Where's Lysander.""In the shower. His phone kept buzzing, so I answered it." A pause, and I could hear something shift in her voice, curiosity sharpening into something else. "Imagine my surprise.""Tell him I called. I'll try again later.""Oh, I do