Sham Marriage Quit Real Heiress Strikes Back novel Chapter 252

Chapter 252 The One He Didn’t Call

She just needed time.

“Tomorrow,” Elena said softly, her voice steady but distant, as if she had already decided that neither of them was in the right state to fix anything tonight.

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After dinner, she followed Chloe back to her apartment, and once they had both showered and settled into bed, the room gradually quieted, leaving only the faint hum of the city outside the window.

Not long after, Chloe’s phone buzzed against the nightstand.

Elena glanced over instinctively, but Chloe had already picked it up, her expression shifting in a way that was just subtle enough to feel deliberate, before she turned her back slightly and unlocked the screen.

Elena watched her for a second, then smiled faintly. “Okay, that was suspicious. Are you seeing someone?”

Chloe reacted a little too quickly, her shoulders tightening as she sat up. “No. Don’t start making things up. It’s just work.”

Without waiting for another question, she grabbed her phone and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Elena lay back against the pillow, staring at the ceiling for a moment before reaching over to pick up her own phone.

He really hasn’t reached out. Not even once.

The next morning, she had a scheduled report at Pinnacle Group.

She gathered her documents carefully, stacking everything in order, and just before leaving, she hesitated for a moment before stopping by a bakery nearby to pick up a small cake, the same one Alexander had once tried and casually said he liked.

By the time she finished getting everything ready, she checked the time and realized it was already close to one thirty, yet Matteo still hadn’t come by as usual.

Frowning slightly, she pulled out her phone and called him.

“Are you not heading to headquarters today?” Elena asked.

Matteo sounded genuinely confused. “You’re still going? Didn’t Fiona send out a notice? The report was canceled.”

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Chapter 252 The One He Didn’t Call

Elena paused mid–step. “Canceled?”

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Finished

“Yeah,” he said. “She said Mr. Kingsley wasn’t feeling well, so the meeting was called off.”

His voice dipped slightly toward the end, as if he had just realized something he probably shouldn’t have said.

Elena was Alexander’s wife, yet she seemed to be the last to know he wasn’t feeling well, the news reaching her through Fiona instead.

Elena went quiet for a brief second before responding, “Alright. I understand.”

She ended the call, but almost immediately dialed Alexander’s number.

The call rang. No answer.

She stared at the screen for a moment before lowering the phone, then quickly pulled up another contact and called Fiona instead.

This time, the call was answered almost instantly.

“Ms. Sterling,” Fiona said, her tone polite and professional.

“Where is Alexander?” Elena asked, unable to fully hide the tension in her voice.

There was a slight pause on the other end.

“He’s in the middle of something right now,” Fiona replied gently. “Is there anything you’d like me to pass along?”

Elena tightened her grip on the phone. “Is he at the office?”

“Yes,” Fiona answered without hesitation.

Then, as if anticipating Elena’s next move, she added, “There’s really no need for you to come in. It’s just a mild cold, and I’m with him, so everything is under control.”

Her tone was measured, calm, and entirely appropriate. There was nothing Elena could reasonably take issue with.

“I see,” Elena said, her voice flattening slightly before she ended the call.

But even as the line disconnected, she was already reaching for her keys.

The drive to Pinnacle Group took less than thirty minutes, and by the time she arrived, she didn’t slow down for a second, heading straight for the executive elevator and riding it up to the

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Chapter 252 The One He Didn’t Call

top floor.

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Finished

When she stepped out, she walked directly toward Alexander’s office, her pace steady, her expression composed, though her thoughts were anything but.

She was just about to knock when Ryan’s voice came from behind her.

“Ms. Sterling?”

He looked genuinely surprised to see her there.

Elena turned slightly. “Is he inside?”

Ryan hesitated, and that single moment of silence was enough to tell her everything she needed to know.

Without waiting for an answer, she reached out and pushed the door open.

The office was empty.

The faint scent of freshly brewed coffee still lingered in the air, suggesting he had only just left not long ago.

Elena stood there for a second before turning back. “Where is he?”

Ryan lowered his voice. “Mr. Kingsley wasn’t feeling well. Fiona took him to the hospital.”

Elena’s expression changed almost instantly. “Which hospital? I thought it was just a cold.”

Ryan didn’t respond.

He simply stood there, head lowered, his silence heavy and deliberate.

Something in Elena’s chest tightened, and a quiet, unwelcome realization began to take shape.

“So it’s not just a cold,” Elena said slowly, her voice calm but edged with something sharper. “It’s his condition acting up again, isn’t it?”

Ryan remained silent.

Elena let out a soft, humorless laugh, the sound carrying more bitterness than she intended.

I keep asking him, over and over. And every time, he just brushes it off like it’s nothing.

And yet someone else knew everything.

When he wasn’t feeling well, he hadn’t called her. Instead, Fiona had been the one by his side.

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-inished

“Mrs. Kingsley,” Ryan said carefully, as if choosing each word with caution, “he didn’t tell you because-”

“Because what?” Elena asked, looking straight at him.

Ryan stopped himself mid–sentence, as if suddenly realizing he had already said too much, and shook his head.

“It’s nothing serious,” he said instead. “I’ll let him know you came by. You should head back and get some rest.”

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