The Dice Said Divorce, but He Thought I’d Stay Chapter 05

The Dice Said Divorce, but He Thought I’d Stay Chapter 05

He refused to believe it. He called countless times. The same recording, every time.

Panic crawled up his spine and spread through him. He checked her socials. Every profile picture had gone gray. Every account, gone.

What the hell was going on? Dread kept building, cold and relentless.

He grabbed his keys and drove straight to Audrey’s apartment. A man he’d never seen opened the door.

“I just bought the place,” the man said. “The whole thing went through an agency. Never met the previous owner.”

Harrison’s world tilted.

It had never crossed his mind — not once — that Audrey might actually leave. She loved him. That was the one thing he’d always counted on.

She never fought back. She’d swallowed Chloe’s cruelest games in silence.

But when had he become someone who demanded that from her? He remembered — in the beginning, he couldn’t stomach it.

But Chloe’s tears never stopped. Her breakdowns felt impossible to walk away from.

He’d look at her face — seeing so much of her brother in her features — and the guilt would crash over him all over again.

Her brother had shoved Harrison aside and taken the bullet himself.
He was choking on his own blood, barely holding on.

“She’s all I’ve got left,” he’d choked out. “Take care of her. Promise me.”

That scene replayed every time he closed his eyes. The weight of it never got lighter.

He’d look into those wide, vacant eyes — eyes that had no place in a grown woman’s face — and it gutted him. He’d wish he’d been the one who took the bullet.

So he gave Chloe everything she wanted. It was the only thing that quieted the noise in his head.

The first time he made Audrey sign those divorce papers, he’d known how insane it was. Everything that came after — he hadn’t been blind to it. He hadn’t been numb.

But his excuse was always the same: Audrey loved him. She was his wife. She’d understand. She’d forgive him — she always did.

Had there really been no other way? There had to be. He’d just never bothered to find it.

He’d gotten used to Audrey being the one who sacrificed. Gotten used to the certainty that she’d never walk away.

So he kept letting her hurt.

The memories hit him one by one. Audrey had lifted her face in the

trench, shells still falling, and asked him to kiss her.

Audrey had smiled under the stars, clasping on the necklace he’d designed for her.

Audrey had knelt in the wreckage, cradling the shattered jade like it was all she had left in the world.

He’d hurt the one person who had loved him with everything she had. He hadn’t just hurt her — he had completely shattered her.

And then there was the file. He called Chloe over.

He hadn’t expected her to confess without so much as blinking. “Yeah! I’ve been perfectly fine this whole time, Harrison!”

She smiled, sweet as anything. “But I wanted to keep playing a little longer.”

“Oh, the fake diagnosis I gave you back then? I got someone at the hospital to forge it for me. But the real one? I saved that just for Audrey.”

Harrison’s eyes went dark. “You showed Audrey that file on purpose?”

Chloe finally sensed the shift. Her confidence cracked.

“It was just… for fun! You’ve been playing along with me all these years — how is this any different?”

The anger drained out of him. She was right, and he knew it.

At the end of the day, every bit of this was his fault.

He couldn’t blame Chloe — not when he’d let it happen. He sent her out and reached for his phone, ready to send someone to track Audrey down.

That’s when the call came in. “Hi — is this Audrey Mercer’s emergency contact?”

“We haven’t been able to reach her. Could you let her know she needs to come in for a follow-up?”