His Last Command Came Back to Kill Him novel Chapter 5

The next morning.

A thick, suffocating mist blanketed the world outside her window, the heavy gloom of the rainy day pressing in on her.

Her phone shattered the silence.

It was the National Research Institute.

"Whitley, there's a major federally funded pharmacology project coming up. Our team is highly competitive for it. Are you in? There's a networking event for it tomorrow night."

Whitley didn't hesitate for a second.

Her marriage was dead in the water. Instead of drowning in a pathetic love triangle, she needed to pour every ounce of her energy into her career. PurePath Biologics was her empire, her only true foundation.

"I'm in. Get the prep work started, I'll be at the institute shortly."

She hung up.

Outside, the low hum of a powerful engine approached the driveway.

Clive was back.

He had been stationed overseas for three years, only returning for brief diplomatic debriefings. The number of times they had seen each other could be counted on one hand. Whatever fleeting warmth they had shared in their first year had been utterly annihilated by three years of cold distance. Now, they were practically strangers.

Whitley walked to the window. Through the rain, she watched him step out of a custom black luxury sedan.

He looked immaculate. The long, dark cashmere coat accentuated his tall, imposing frame. Holding a black umbrella, he walked toward the door with purposeful strides.

As he got closer, looking at his sharp, devastatingly handsome face only made the profound sense of alienation worse. The man walking into her house was legally her husband, but he had never truly been a part of her life.

Seeing Whitley standing in the foyer, Clive closed his umbrella, shaking the water from the canopy.

Swallowing her frustration, she turned and walked into her dressing room.

By the time she emerged in a tasteful cream knit dress, Clive was already waiting in the car.

He sat in the driver's seat, gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, flipping through a stack of classified government documents.

Whitley walked straight to the back door and reached for the handle.

"Sit in the front," he ordered, not even bothering to look up.

Whitley understood perfectly. No matter how fractured their marriage was behind closed doors, the moment they crossed the threshold of the Sherwood Manor, they had to play the part of the devoted power couple for his family.

This entire marriage had been a catastrophic mistake from day one.

Originally, it was Yelena—the newly discovered biological daughter of the Nash family—who was supposed to marry him. A perfect union between two elite families.