But the room was completely empty. Helena was nowhere to be found.
The only trace of her was the dried blood smeared against the edge of the cabinet, stark and damning.
His face grew terrifyingly grim. He spun around and marched out, dialing her number as he went.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is powered off." The automated female voice was as cold and robotic as ever.
His impatience flared into full-blown fury.
She had pulled this exact same stunt twice now.
"Mr. Hayes, where are you going? You just had surgery—" Carter looked horrified when he saw him storming down the corridor.
He scrambled to catch up and block his path.
But Sebastian effortlessly shoved him aside, sending the assistant stumbling into the wall.
Sebastian threw himself into the driver's seat of his car.
Ignoring the fresh blood seeping through the bandages on his right arm, he fired up the engine and sped toward Helena's apartment.
He tried calling her a few more times on the drive over, but her phone remained off.
The dangerous scowl on his face deepened.
Right then, his phone buzzed.
He answered without checking the caller ID. "Helena, who gave you permission to turn off your phone?"
There was a beat of silence before Janetta's voice drifted through the speaker.
"Seb, did you go looking for Helena?" she asked quietly.
This time, it was Sebastian's turn to fall silent.
"Do you still have feelings for her? You have been married for seven years, after all," she continued in a soft, understanding tone. "It's normal that you can't just let her go. She really hasn't done anything wrong in this marriage."
Her words made him grip the steering wheel until his knuckles cracked.
For the past seven years, Helena had flawlessly played her part as Mrs. Hayes. She never flaunted her status and never once complained about having to keep their marriage a secret.
He stepped inside, his large frame radiating an overwhelming, suffocating presence.
She backed away on instinct.
"Are you still trying to play dumb?" He backed her into a corner.
Pinned against the wall, she furrowed her brow.
Wasn't he here to talk about the divorce?
"You deliberately showed up while Janetta was there just to insult her and call her a homewrecker. You put on that whole helpless act in the hospital just so I'd take you to bed. And then you cried about it afterward? And you turned your phone off specifically to force me to come looking for you."
Every word out of his mouth was a damning accusation.
His eyes were bloodshot as his fingers clamped around her jaw, squeezing harder by the second.
Helena stared at him in utter disbelief. "Sebastian, you're psychotic! That's absolute slander!"
"Slander? Name one thing I just said that isn't completely true." He scoffed. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. You're trying to use Grandpa's will to leverage me, and let me tell you—you're out of your mind if you think it's going to work."

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