Billionaire, I Am Not Your Wife! novel Chapter 22

Chapter 20: Reunion at the hospital

Logan’s POV

Two days. Sedona had been gone for two full days without so much as a text message or phone call. No demands, no ultimatums, no crying voicemails begging me to understand her point of view for once in my life. Just silence.

It was driving me insane.

I’d expected her to crack by now, to send some passive-aggressive message about how I’d hurt her feelings or how much she missed Nick. Instead, nothing. Complete radio silence, as if she’d simply vanished from the face of the earth.

I stared at my phone, my thumb hovering over her contact. This was ridiculous. If she wanted to play games, fine, but I wasn’t going to let her drag this out indefinitely. We had a child together, responsibilities. She couldn’t just disappear because she was having a tantrum about Katherine.

I typed out a message: “How long are you planning to keep this up? This is getting childish, Sedona. We need to talk.”

I hit send and waited, watching the screen for the “delivered” notification, the “read” receipt that would tell me she’d seen it.

Nothing. The message just sat there, delivered but unread, as if she couldn’t even be bothered to look at her phone.

The irritation that had been sitting inside me for days, just bubbling underneath me, seemed to grow more intense. Who did she think she was? I was Logan Hayes. People didn’t ignore me. People didn’t walk away from me.

My phone buzzed, and I grabbed it eagerly, expecting to finally see Sedona’s name on the screen.

Instead, it was Katherine.

“Hey! I have a follow-up appointment at Northwestern Memorial this afternoon for my wrist. Would you be able to come with me? I’m a bit nervous about what the doctor might say, and it would really help to have a friendly face there.”

I hesitated for only a moment. Sedona was clearly too busy with whatever game she was playing to communicate like an adult. Katherine, on the other hand, was actually asking for my help, actually appreciating my presence, and communicating, something Sedona was clearly incapable of doing.

“Of course,” I typed back. “What time?”

“2 PM? I can meet you there.”

“I’ll be there.”

I was about to put my phone down when Nick appeared in my office doorway, clutching his tablet. “Dad, can we go to Aunt Katherine’s house today? She said she’d show me her trophy room.”

1/3

<Reunion ALThe Hospital

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“Not today, buddy. Aunt Katherine has a doctor’s appointment.”

Nick’s face fell. “Can we go with her? Please? I promise I’ll be good.”

+25 Points

I should have said no. A hospital visit wasn’t appropriate for a six-year-old. But Nick looked so hopeful, and after Sedona’s abandonment, I found myself wanting to give him whatever he asked for.

“Alright. But you have to promise to be quiet and well-behaved.”

“I promise!” Nick bounced excitedly. “I’ll get my shoes!”

Northwestern Memorial Hospital was busy that afternoon, full of the usual chaos of a major medical center. Katherine met us in the lobby, looking beautiful despite the brace on her wrist. She’d dressed well for the appointment wearing a soft blue dress that brought out her eyes, her hair pulled back in an ponytail.

“Thank you so much for coming,” she said, giving me a warm smile before turning to Nick. “And you brought my favorite little man! How sweet.”

Nick beamed up at her, and I felt a surge of satisfaction. See, Sedona? This is what a positive female role model looks like. Someone who builds Nick up instead of constantly restricting him.

“The appointment should only take about thirty minutes,” Katherine continued. “They just want to check the healing progress and maybe adjust my treatment plan.”

We made our way to the orthopedic clinic on the third floor, and Katherine checked in with the receptionist. The waiting area was fairly empty-just an elderly man reading a newspaper and a young woman scrolling through her phone.

“I’m going to grab some coffee,” I told Katherine. “Want anything?”

“Just water, thanks.”

“Me too!” Nick piped up.

I headed toward the small café I’d spotted near the elevators, Nick chattering beside me about something Aunt Katherine had told him about tennis tournaments. I was only half-listening, my mind still on Sedona’s continued silence, when I rounded the corner and froze.

There, not twenty feet away, stood my wife.

۴

She was at the discharge desk, speaking with a nurse. She looked terrible-her face was pale and drawn, dark circles under her eyes, her clothes hanging loosely on her too-thin frame. She was leaning heavily against the counter, as if standing required too much effort.

But what made my blood run cold wasn’t how sick she looked. It was the man standing beside her.

He was tall, probably six-two, with dark hair and sharp features that spoke of wealth and privilege. He had his arm around Sedona’s shoulders, supporting her weight, his other hand resting possessively on her lower back. The gesture was intimate, protective-the way a husband might touch his wife.

The way I should have been touching Sedona.

C

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