The Day I Quit Him (Autumn and Mars) novel Chapter 37

**Chasing Light, Finding Peace – by Rohan Verma**

**Chapter 37**

As the evening settled in, draping the world outside in soft shadows, Autumn Lopez found herself preparing for the tranquil solace of her nightly routine. She was just about to extinguish the last flicker of light, ready to embrace the comforting cocoon of her bed, when her phone erupted in a cacophony of notifications, shattering the serene stillness of her sanctuary.

With a slight grimace, she glanced at the screen, her eyes narrowing at the sight of Mars Wright’s driver’s name glaring back at her. A wave of irritation washed over her; she had absolutely no intention of engaging with him tonight.

Determined to dismiss the call, she instinctively pressed the button to end the connection. Yet, in a moment of clumsiness, her thumb inadvertently tapped the screen, and the line clicked open, pulling her into an unexpected conversation.

Before she could gather her thoughts to greet him, the driver’s frantic voice erupted through the receiver, filled with urgency and breathlessness. “Ma’am, it’s serious! Mr. Wright is in the hospital!”

Time seemed to slow for Autumn, her heart momentarily stalling in disbelief. Hospital? The word echoed in her mind, sending ripples of confusion and concern through her like a sudden chill.

“What happened?” she managed to ask, her voice surprisingly steady despite the turmoil brewing within her.

The urgency that had initially gripped her began to morph into a surreal sense of detachment, as if this calamity were unfolding in a parallel universe, far removed from her reality.

The driver, sensing her unusual demeanor, hesitated, the weight of the night’s events pressing down on him. He recalled the chaotic scenes and felt a wave of discomfort wash over him. With no time left for hesitation, he lowered his voice, trying to navigate the delicate situation. “He had too much to drink and got so worked up that he just passed out,” he explained, carefully omitting the detail about Mars’s reckless approval of bringing women into the room, framing it instead as a business meeting gone awry.

Autumn, however, could sense the gaps in his narrative, the unspoken truths lurking just beneath the surface. Choosing not to challenge him directly, she decided to play along, adopting a facade of ignorance. “If he just drank too much, won’t an IV drip fix him right up?” she asked, her tone deceptively casual as she masked her simmering frustration. “I’m stuck in the hospital myself, and he’s out at some club drinking instead of resting at home?”

“He’s really living the high life, isn’t he?” she added, sarcasm dripping from her words.

The driver fell silent, caught off guard by her tone. He wanted to defend Mars, to rationalize his behavior, but the words failed him. The truth was, once Autumn arrived at the hospital, she would uncover the reality behind Mars’s reckless night. The more he revealed now, the deeper the trouble he would find himself in later.

“Ma’am…” he began, desperation lacing his voice as he searched for the right words to sway her.

But Autumn was resolute. “The doctor said I need to rest,” she interrupted, her tone final and unyielding. “Find someone else to take care of him. The CEO of Cloudbreak Corporation can certainly afford a private nurse, can’t he?”

With that, she hung up the call, her heart racing with a mix of emotions—relief, annoyance, and a hint of satisfaction.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she navigated to her chat with Julian Moore, her fingers flying across the screen as she implored him to investigate Mars’s activities that night.

Julian’s response was swift, filled with the assurance she had come to rely on.

Less than ten minutes later, a message pinged through, and as Autumn absorbed the troubling details, a bitter laugh escaped her lips, a cocktail of disbelief and anger bubbling to the surface.

She pondered her next move, her mind racing, before dialing Lydia Lopez’s number, her heart pounding in anticipation of the conversation to come.

“Autumn?” Lydia’s voice came through, laced with surprise, clearly startled by the unexpected call.

A woman’s intuition told Lydia that Autumn wasn’t entirely oblivious to the truth about her and Mars. Yet, the uncertainty loomed large, and she dared not probe further, wary of what Autumn might know.

“Lydia, do you have a moment?” Autumn’s voice was strained, almost fragile, like a porcelain doll on the verge of shattering.

Immediately, Lydia’s defenses shot up. “Is something wrong, Autumn?”

The quiver in Autumn’s voice was unmistakable as she responded, “It’s about Mars…”

At the mere mention of his name, Lydia’s internal alarm blared, a cacophony of dread echoing in her mind.

“What’s happened to Mars?” she blurted out, a little too quickly, a hint of eagerness creeping into her tone, betraying her concern.

Autumn recounted the driver’s story, her embellishments dripping with dramatic flair. She acted as if she were completely unaware of the betrayal that had been brewing beneath the surface, her voice heavy with heartbreak. “I’m here in the hospital trying to save our baby, and he’s out drinking with his friends, abandoning everything at work.”

“And he…”

Autumn played the role of the devastated wife flawlessly, suppressing a smirk as she spoke through feigned sobs. “Why has Mars turned into this?”

“Lydia, besides you, I don’t know who else I can confide in about this.”

“You’ve seen us grow into what we are today. What do you think is driving him to act this way?”

How was Lydia supposed to answer that?

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