The Moment I Realized I Can't Lose You novel Chapter 112

Bianca and Audrey dropped Nora off at her place.

"Go ahead and cry," Bianca said after closing the car door. She reached for a cigarette, remembered Audrey was pregnant, and tossed it back. Instead, she grabbed a tin of mints from the glove compartment, popping one into her own mouth and handing one to Audrey. "I know you've been holding it in all day."

"What's there to cry about?" Audrey closed her eyes, savoring the cool mint. She was smiling, but by the end of her sentence, her voice cracked.

She wasn't a crier. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones messing with her emotions, but right now, the suffocating grief welling up inside her was impossible to shake.

Audrey had always hated being the center of attention. It was why she kept her identity as the scriptwriter Quill a secret and let Nora act as the face of her work. Yet today, she had been turned into a target, hung out to dry online, and brutally cyberbullied by millions.

It wasn't like Joaquin couldn't handle bad press. A year ago, when Rainey pulled a runaway bride stunt and the Judd Group swapped brides at the altar, the internet had exploded. Joaquin made one phone call, and within minutes, every trace of his wedding was scrubbed from the web. Even now, a year later, most people didn't even know he was married.

So it wasn't that he couldn't protect her today. He just chose not to.

He had blocked her number, gone MIA all day, and left his assistant to wait on Rainey hand and foot. Even when her scandalous photos with Miles Foster were plastered everywhere, he hadn't lifted a finger. If Miles hadn't stepped in this evening, she would still be public enemy number one. Her past, her late parents, her grandparents in the countryside—all of it would have become tabloid fodder.

After a year of marriage, Audrey knew Joaquin didn't love her or care about her. But all the little moments of neglect over the past twelve months paled in comparison to the devastating blow of his apathy today.

She didn't understand. Just the night before, he had protected her when Arthur Sinclair tried to attack her. He had tended to her bruised face and carefully bandaged her fingers. Why had he completely abandoned her the very next morning?

She used to think that even if you kept a dog for a year, you'd develop some affection for it. In his eyes, was she even worth less than a dog?

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