The Moment I Realized I Can't Lose You novel Chapter 63

Joaquin froze mid-step, turning slowly. "She hasn't been home in a week?"

"Y-yes, sir," the maid stuttered, keeping her eyes fixed on the pavement. "She came down with a terrible fever and was sick in bed for a whole week. Then, on the night of your anniversary... when you didn't come home, she sat down and ate the dinner and cake with us. She drank all the wine by herself, and then she packed her bags and left. We haven't seen her since."

A loud ringing echoed in Joaquin's ears. He frowned deeply, the crushing weight of his presence making the air around them feel impossibly thin. "Are you telling me she was sick for a week, and then hosted our anniversary dinner completely alone?"

The maid nodded nervously. "Yes. She had been planning it for a month. She pulled strings to get all the ingredients flown in fresh from around the world that very morning."

Fumbling with her phone, she pulled up a photo she had secretly taken of the setup and handed it to him. "She even got balloons, candles, and three dozen bouquets."

Joaquin took the phone. The image showed the grand living room transformed into a romantic paradise. Maids were busy arranging flowers and carrying a lavish three-tiered cake. But sitting right in the center of it all was Audrey. She looked devastatingly pale and exhausted, her usually vibrant eyes completely hollow and numb.

A sharp pain seized Joaquin's chest. Half a month ago, after she had left the hospital, he had been so angry at her for refusing to apologize to Rainey that he purposefully ignored her. He had no idea she had gone home and fallen violently ill. And he certainly hadn't realized she had spent their anniversary waiting for a husband who never showed up.

"If she prepared all of this," he demanded, his voice dangerously low, "why didn't anyone call me? Are you all completely useless?"

The maid flinched. "She did call you, sir. She called you herself. It was only when she realized you weren't coming that she invited us to eat with her."

The veins in his temples throbbed. "That's impossible! If she called me, I would have known!"

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