I Heard His Heart But Lost Mine Chapter 03

I Heard His Heart But Lost Mine Chapter 03

I made it home. The soles of my feet were covered in tiny cuts.

I cleaned them with rubbing alcohol, moving on autopilot. I barely felt the sting as I found myself looking around the room.

The home I’d once thought of as our sanctuary — Chloe’s things were scattered everywhere. When had that even happened?

“Audrey, Chloe bought me this plush bunny. Put it on the couch for me — I want to see it every day.”

“Audrey, Chloe picked out this tie. How does it look?”

“Chloe wanted me to put this diffuser here. She says it smells like her.”

Every time I lost my temper, his smile only grew wider. He savored my jealousy like it was a rare gift.

The more it tore me apart, the more it proved to him that I still cared.

And every single time, he’d brush it off with the same excuse.

“Audrey, Chloe works for me. That’s it. Stop being so insecure.”

After enough days of that, he finally got his wish. I stopped being jealous. I stopped being his wife.

I bandaged my feet and started packing. There wasn’t much left that was mine — a few outfits, barely enough to fill the suitcase.

I was almost out the door when Julian came home.

He reeked of alcohol, leaning heavily against Chloe for support.

The second he saw me, he yanked his arm away from Chloe — instinct, not choice. His mouth opened to explain. Then his gaze landed on the suitcase, and the words died on his lips.

His inner voice slammed into me.

[Why are you packed? You’re really leaving me? You really don’t want me anymore?]

[I was wrong. I shouldn’t have brought Chloe tonight. I just wanted you to be jealous — that’s all it was.]

[Don’t go. Please. I can’t lose you.]

His face was deathly pale. His inner voice was frantic, desperate with love. But what came out of his mouth was pure ice.

“Think long and hard about what you’re doing, Audrey. I’ll have women lining up the second you’re gone. But you? Who’s going to want you?”

Whatever sliver of hope I had left — he killed it with that sentence. I smiled.

“Then go find them.”

Julian’s fists clenched. Then, right in front of me, he pulled Chloe in by the waist.

“Fine. Then I’ll marry Chloe. She’s kind. She’s capable. And unlike you, she can actually give me a child. Six years, Audrey, and you couldn’t manage it once.”

Every word landed like a fist to the stomach. I couldn’t breathe.

Everyone knew my inability to have children was the elephant in the room—a strictly off-limits topic.

Six years ago, Julian had a severe autistic meltdown and fell into a freezing lake. I jumped in to save him. The severe hypothermia took a permanent toll on my body, and having children went from difficult to nearly impossible.

But I still desperately wanted a baby. I swallowed handfuls of bitter fertility supplements every single night.

Five rounds of IVF. Every single one of them — alone.

Julian knew all of this. He knew, and he used it against me anyway.

My eyes burned. “Julian, you bastard.”

The tears caught him off guard. Something flickered in his eyes — shock, maybe guilt — and he took a hesitant step toward me.

Chloe looped her arm through Julian’s and leaned in, her voice sugary sweet but dripping with venom.

“But Mrs. Sterling — Julian’s not wrong, is he? Six years and no baby. Those are just the facts. Any other man would’ve left you years ago. Julian stayed for six. He hasn’t complained once, and you’re the one asking for a divorce?”

“Wanting to walk out? That’s not courage, Mrs. Sterling. That’s selfishness. You have no idea what that man has put up with because of you.”

Julian stopped mid-step. The panic in his eyes cooled into something harder.

Chloe’s words landed exactly where she’d aimed them. Julian believed every single one.

“You know what, Audrey? I think I’ve been way too good to you.”

His gaze cut to the suitcase. I didn’t even have time to move.

He grabbed it, wrenched it open, and tore the zipper apart. My clothes spilled across the floor. He stepped on them without looking down.

Then — as if he’d known exactly where to look — he yanked out the antique emerald bracelet I’d hidden at the bottom.

It was my mother’s. The only heirloom she’d ever left me.

He dangled it in front of me and glared down.

“Do I need to remind you what this cost me? Four million dollars to get this back for you, Audrey.”

The blood drained from my face.