ke

no missed calls, no desperate pleas. Nothing. It was impossible. Amelia always contacted me, even afte

the network, rebooted the device. Nothing. The horrifying truth began to dawn, a

e. She was trying to make me miss her, to make me chase

uld set her straight. I would remind her of her place, of her obligations, of the fate that awaited her if sh

female voice cut through the silence. "Th

in service. My ears roared, a deafening white noise filling my head. My body stiffened, a paraly

ne defied Blake Hodge. No one. I snatched up the phone, ignoring the

, my voice raw and unhinged. "Find

e, she's... she's not in the city. We tracked her

ying. "Don't be ridiculous, Marcus! Where would she

. "She boarded a flight to... to an unknown international destination. We've tried to

Amelia? This was impossible. "Why wasn't I informed?" I snarled, my voice

sturb you or Ms. Hatfield. You were deeply immersed in your spiritual retreat, and your personal assistant had relayed specif

t me from knowing. Chyna had orchestrated this. She had encouraged my isol

y propelling me forward. I sped through the city streets, ignoring traffic laws, my mind a maelstrom of confusio

il scrambling to follow. "Where is she?" I roared, grabbing the

. she was to be prevented from taking anything. But she came back while

?" I snarled, my

d she was legally ending the marriage, and she had the right to collect her propert

I had called it. A cruel, ironic twist of fate. I had

ing the rooms. The master suite, now completely redecorated in Chyna' s gaudy taste, still felt empty. I walked into Amelia' s former study, t

membered the estate manager's report about the destruction of

taken anything of mine. She had destroyed her own. My mother's roses. H

tightened, a suffocating weight pressing down on me. She was gone. Truly gone. And I had drive

remembered something. When Amelia left the hospital, she gave a message to one of the junior nurses

h. A cold, hard gleam entered my