I Heard His Heart But Lost Mine Chapter 08

I Heard His Heart But Lost Mine Chapter 08

Julian watched the taxi pull away. His fists were clenched so tight his nails bit into his palms, and something inside him screamed.

But he didn’t know what to do with it

the feeling had nowhere to go.

The old Audrey would have come back on her own. She always did. No matter how badly he treated

her, no matter what he said – she’d swallow it and stay. He could never push her far enough to

actually leave.

No one had ever taught him how to say sorry. He’d never had to learn.

His mind grabbed at the only answer it could find – the bracelet.

If he got it fixed, would she forgive him? She had to. It had to be about the bracelet.

The second he settled on that answer, he threw the car into a U-turn and drove home.

He got down on his hands and knees in front of the fireplace, sifting through ash and broken pieces until he’d gathered every last fragment of the bracelet.

A small, desperate relief started to settle over him until the metallic smell hit him. Blood.

Audrey was gone. So where was it coming from?

His gaze dragged itself toward the storage room. The door was still open.

He moved toward it. With every step, the smell got heavier.

Dread coiled in his chest. He pushed the door the rest of the way open with shaking hands.

A pool of blood

went blank.

dark, dried, enormous

covered the floor. There was so much of it that his mind

“What the…” His whole body went rigid.

“She said it was her period. This isn’t this can’t be from a period. There’s too much. There’s way

too much.”

He tore his phone out of his pocket, hands fumbling, and called her.

The call wouldn’t go through. An automated voice

flat, indifferent

–

told him the number was

unavailable.

The color left his face. She’d blocked him.

Ten years. This was the first time.

She’d always answered on the first ring. She kept a special ringtone just for him, never let one of his messages sit for more than a few seconds.

Not just because she worried about his episodes – but because she couldn’t bear the thought of

him feeling alone.

And now her number was dead.

Julian called his mother.

The second she picked up, he heard his own voice

–

and barely recognized it. “Mom -try calling

Audrey. Can you get through?”

“Julian? What’s wrong? What happened?”

Julian’s voice cracked. “She blocked me.”

“That can’t be right.” His mother turned to his father. “Call Audrey – try her now.’

His father did. Same result. Straight to voicemail. Every number.

His father exploded.

ell is wrong with that girl? She blocked us? We’re her in-laws! I don’t care how upset

are lines you don’t cross!”

We’ve been too soft on her. If she doesn’t come crawling back with an apology, she can forget setting foot in this house again!”

Enough!” Julian cut his father off.

He couldn’t stand hearing his own father talk about Audrey like that

“Audrey is my wife. If she’s not welcome in that house, then who is?”

“If she’s not allowed in, then neither am I.”

His father went silent.

Wasn’t Julian the one who’d always treated her like she mattered less than everyone else? His

father had simply followed his lead.

His father found his voice. “If Audrey means so much to you, then why the hell did you keep bringing Chloe around?”

Julian had no answer.

He’d brought Chloe into their lives because he wanted to provoke Audrey. He wanted her jealous. He wanted her to fight for him, to say she loved him, to prove he was enough. Over and over and over.

But he’d played the part so well that even his own father believed he didn’t want her.

And if his own father believed it – what had Audrey believed all this time?

The panic hit him like a wave. He hung up, grabbed his keys, and tore out of the house.

He had to find her. He had to explain. He had to know what that blood meant – because his gut was telling him something he wasn’t ready to hear.

He drove straight to her office. The receptionist blinked at him.

“Audrey transferred to the branch office. She left this morning.” A pause. “You’re her husband — she didn’t tell you?”

The blood drained from Julian’s face.