Chapter 2 - THE SECRET SHE TOOK WITH HER
I left Chicago with one suitcase, a new phone, and enough money to disappear.
I did not take any of Julian’s money.
I did not touch our joint account.
I did not sell the jewelry he had bought me.
I left everything behind because I refused to let him say I had stayed for his wealth.
My college friend, Hannah Price, managed a small hotel outside Albany, New York.
She was the only person who knew where I had gone.
When I arrived at midnight, she opened the staff entrance and wrapped her arms around me.
I did not cry until then.
I cried against her shoulder until I could barely breathe.
Hannah led me upstairs to a quiet room overlooking the trees.
“You can stay as long as you need.”
“I don’t know what I need.”
“You need sleep.”
“I need to stop seeing them.”
Her face tightened.
“Did he admit it?”
“He said it was one kiss.”
Hannah gave a bitter laugh.
“Men always count the betrayal instead of the damage.”
I sat on the edge of the bed.
“He looked scared.”
“Good.”
“I don’t want him destroyed.”
Hannah stared at me.
“Audrey, he did not accidentally kiss that woman.”
“I know.”
“Then stop protecting him.”
I looked down at my empty ring finger.
“I don’t know how.”
For the next several weeks, I kept my life small.
I helped Hannah with hotel reservations.
I answered phones.
I folded towels when the housekeeping team was short-staffed.
No one knew I was married to Julian Foster.
No one knew my husband’s company owned more than forty luxury hotels.
To everyone in Albany, I was simply Audrey Lane.
Lane was my grandmother’s maiden name.
For the first time in years, no one treated me like a billionaire’s wife.
I liked the quiet.
But silence did not erase Julian.
He called from new numbers.
I blocked each one.
He sent emails.
I deleted them without reading past the subject line.
Please let me explain.
I am sorry.
Come home.
I never meant to hurt you.
Then the messages changed.
I sold the penthouse.
I fired Madison.
I started therapy.
Please tell me you are safe.
The last one nearly broke me.
I placed my hand over my mouth and closed the laptop.
Hannah found me sitting in the dark.
“You read another message.”
“I only saw the subject.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I believe he is sorry.”
“That is not the same as believing he will change.”
I nodded.
That was why I stayed gone.
Two months after I left Chicago, I woke before sunrise with nausea.
I barely made it to the bathroom.
At first, I blamed stress.
Then it happened again the next morning.
And the morning after that.
Hannah stood outside the bathroom door.
“Audrey?”
“I’m fine.”
“You are not fine.”
“I probably have a stomach bug.”
“When was your last period?”
The room went silent.
I stared at the tiled floor.
“No.”
Hannah opened the door slowly.
“When?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Yes, you do.”
I calculated the weeks in my head.
Then I sat down hard on the closed toilet lid.
“No.”
Hannah drove to a pharmacy before breakfast.
I bought three pregnancy tests.
All three were positive.
My hands shook so badly that one of them fell into the sink.
Hannah read the result over my shoulder.
“Oh, Audrey.”
“This cannot be happening.”
She crouched beside me.
“You have options.”
I pressed both hands against my face.
“He betrayed me.”
“I know.”
“And now I’m carrying his child.”
“You do not have to decide anything today.”
But part of me had already decided.
Whatever Julian had done to me, this baby had done nothing.
Two weeks later, I lay on an examination table while an ultrasound technician moved the probe across my stomach.
The room was dark.
A blurry shape appeared on the monitor.
Then the technician paused.
Her eyebrows lifted.
My heart jumped.
“Is something wrong?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“Nothing is wrong.”
“Then why did you stop?”
She adjusted the screen.
“I hope you are ready for a surprise.”
My fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
“What kind of surprise?”
She pointed toward the monitor.
“There is one heartbeat.”
A rapid sound filled the room.
Then she moved the probe slightly.
“And there is another.”
I stared at her.
“Another what?”
“Another heartbeat.”
My breath stopped.
“Twins?”
She nodded.
“Twins.”
I started crying before I could stop myself.
The technician handed me a tissue.
“Are these happy tears?”
“I don’t know.”
That was the truth.
I was terrified.
I was heartbroken.
I was already in love with two tiny lives I had not expected.
After the appointment, Hannah waited for me in the parking lot.
I handed her the ultrasound image.
She stared at it.
Then she looked up.
“There are two.”
“There are two.”
She hugged me.
For a few seconds, I allowed myself to feel joy.
Then fear returned.
“Julian will take them from me.”
Hannah pulled back.
“You don’t know that.”
“He has money.”
“He has lawyers.”
“He has influence everywhere.”
“He will say I disappeared.”
“He will say I hid his children.”
Hannah’s expression became serious.
“Are you planning to tell him?”
I looked at the two small shapes in the image.
“I don’t know.”
Back in Chicago, Julian sat inside the old French restaurant where we had once celebrated every anniversary.
The owner placed a black cherry tart in front of him.
“You came alone again,” Madame Claire said.
Julian looked at the empty chair across from him.
“She used to order this.”
“I remember.”
He pushed the plate away.
“I ruined everything.”
Madame Claire studied him.
“Did you love the other woman?”
“No.”
“Then why did you kiss her?”
Julian looked down.
“Because she made me feel wanted.”
“And your wife?”
“She made me feel known.”
Madame Claire’s voice softened.
“Being wanted is easy.”
“Being known is rare.”
Julian closed his eyes.
His phone rang.
It was his private investigator.
He answered immediately.
“Did you find her?”
“I found a lead.”
Julian stood so quickly that the chair scraped across the floor.
“Where?”
“There was a woman matching Audrey’s description who checked into a hotel outside Albany two months ago.”
Julian gripped the phone.
“What hotel?”
The investigator hesitated.
“The property belongs to a woman named Hannah Price.”
Julian remembered the name.
Hannah had been Audrey’s closest friend in college.
“Send me the address.”
“I already did.”
Julian reached for his coat.
But before he could leave, the investigator added one more thing.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Hannah drove Audrey to an obstetrics clinic yesterday.”
Julian stopped moving.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then his voice came out barely above a whisper.
“An obstetrics clinic?”
“Yes.”
May you like
Julian looked toward the empty chair.
And for the first time since I disappeared, he realized I might not have left Chicago alone.
