He Left Me to Freeze, So I Burned His World Down Chapter 11

He Left Me to Freeze, So I Burned His World Down Chapter 11

He yanked open his car door, ignoring the driver.

The Bentley roared out of the parking lot like an enraged beast, leaving Piper’s stunned face and the murmurs of the crowd behind.

He drove back to the estate as if his life depended on it.

Only one thought consumed him: find Ava.

She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t replace him with Bennett Shaw. The Hart Foundation was his life’s work, the bedrock of his status, everything he had. How dare she?

The car screeched to a halt on the gravel drive. He practically broke down the front door.

“Ava!”

Only dead silence answered.

The house was terrifyingly empty.

Graham stood in the vast foyer, his heart hollowing out. He scanned the living room. Something was wrong.

The cashmere shawl she always draped over the armchair in the reading nook was gone.

The side table where she kept her equestrian magazines was bare.

Her favorite set of hand-painted bone china teacups, the ones she’d brought back from France, had vanished from the display cabinet.

A chill crawled up his spine.

He rushed upstairs and burst into her dressing room. It was empty. Where rows of couture gowns and shirts had once hung, only bare hangers remained.

“Where is she? Where did all her things go?” he roared down the empty hall, his voice edged with a panic he didn’t recognize in himself.

The elderly housekeeper hurried up the stairs, her expression placid.

“Sir, Miss Hart had those things moved out.”

“Moved out?” Graham’s breath caught. “When?”

“After she came back from the hospital,” the housekeeper answered softly. “At first, it was just small things from the common areas. Then she dealt with the jewelry you gave her.”

“She threw it away?”

“No. She donated it all to a women’s shelter.”

Graham’s fists clenched.

“And then?”

“Then she started packing the things she truly loved. Her saddle. The old books she collected at Cambridge… everything.” The housekeeper paused. “After that, she rarely came back.”

He stood rigid, a statue hollowed out from the inside.

“When was the last time she was here?”

“About two weeks ago.”

The housekeeper looked at him, her gaze calm but sharp as a blade.

“Sir, you haven’t been back much yourself lately. You may not have noticed.”