Chased by my Ex Husband novel Chapter 66

Tristin

I stare at the people sitting around the conference table, all waiting for me to start talking or to give them a chance to talk.

But I can’t do anything.

I stare at the screen of my phone.

It’s been three days—three days since I failed to protect Grace and she disappeared.

One more failure.

Another person I care about is gone.

I know who did it, but I have been sitting here like a fool, instead of turning the world upside down to find her and bring her back to my side.

Panic threatens to bubble in my throat but I push it down, hide it behind the facade of indifference. People stare at me, trying to gauge my emotions, but all they meet is ice. Yet, my heart is…

Burning.

Every second that passes brings me closer to losing my grip on my sanity.

I tell myself that I just need a little time. And it sounds similar again.

The phone on the table starts ringing, and my cold hand reaches for it. I pick it up and place it against my ear.

Heavy breathing sounds from the speaker. My muscles freeze, my heart beginning to beat again.

The wall I have been building around myself for three days, to not show that I am crumbling breaks and I find myself springing to my feet and marching towards the glass wall behind me.

“ Did he hurt you? ” I ask, hoping for a negative answer.

But I receive none. Just the sound of her breathing soothes an ache inside my chest and adds fuel to the fire that’s already burning in my veins.

“ He—He has…my…friend and— ”

“ I am asking about you. ” My voice rises, my palm reaching for the cold glass, to keep myself plastered here. “ are you in pain? ”

What do I hope to hear? I know she is. Her voice is weak—too weak.

It’s all because of me that she is in this state again. I shouldn’t have let her go. I should have kept her by my side even if she hated me for the rest of her life.

“ He wants you to…give up. ” She whispers in a croaky voice instead of answering me.

I close my eyes and stay there, just listening to her breathing again. She doesn’t understand the hell I have been through.

The moment I got the call that someone had taken her, a switch flipped inside my head. It didn’t take long to understand that Carlos took her, and her parents played a part in it. They wanted to get back at me, for taking their favorite daughter Lily.

Fucking sick bastards!

Now, they are in my basements, ready to get what they deserve. But I can’t bring myself to focus on that.

I have been busy searching for her day and night. But Carlos has her in a place where I can’t trace her.

I have been desperate, panicking, and burning all the time. It felt like someone had stolen a part of me.