The Moment I Realized I Can't Lose You novel Chapter 76

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"This isn't the way to Silveridge Movie World." Sitting in the back seat, Audrey stared out the window, her brow furrowing as she recognized the passing scenery. "Where are you taking me?"

Joaquin gave her a lazy, sidelong glance. "You've only been moved out for a week, and you've already forgotten where you live?"

His comment made Audrey realize they were heading straight for the sprawling estate they had shared for the past year. Her lips twisted into a cold smile. "That house was chosen over a year ago to be the marital home for you and Rainey. The only reason I lived there was because I had to step in and take her place at the altar. From the second she set foot back in this country, that place stopped being my home."

She turned to face him, her eyes deadly serious. "Take me back to the studio lots. My apartment is my home now."

A suffocating tightness gripped Joaquin’s chest. He met her gaze, his eyes icy and void of warmth. "Is the concept of a 'home' just something you can toss away and replace whenever you feel like it? We lived in that house together for an entire year! Are you honestly telling me you never considered it your home?"

"Now that you've found some random rental, you completely invalidate what that house meant to us? Is that how you treat your life? Your relationships?"

"When I say that's your home, it's your home. That little apartment is nothing but a temporary stopgap while you're working."

He hit the central locking button, sealing the doors shut. "You are coming back with me tonight."

Seeing his self-righteous fury, Audrey laughed. "You've spent the entire week at the hospital playing nurse to Rainey. You haven't been back there once. Do you treat it like a home?"

The man stared at her in silence.

Audrey pressed on. "In the past, if you were going to stay out all night, you would at least text me, or have Chase let me know. But for the last two weeks, you haven't contacted me a single time. If you hadn't miraculously decided to go back today, you wouldn't have even known I moved out a week ago. You couldn't care less about that house, yet you demand I treat it as my sanctuary? Don't you think that's hilarious? Why are you holding me to a standard you can't even meet yourself?"