Three Years Protecting His Secret Love… Until His Wife Finally Disappeared Chapter 04

Three Years Protecting His Secret Love… Until His Wife Finally Disappeared Chapter 04

I had barely returned to the apartment I owned when my phone started ringing.

“Ms. Bennett, your father’s heart condition has flared up again. He’s in critical condition. Please get to the hospital immediately!”

Panic shot through me.

I raced to the emergency department, where a doctor was going through my father’s chart with a grave expression.

“Ms. Bennett, the chest trauma your father suffered in the past has contributed to the arrhythmia he’s having now. He needs surgery immediately.”

So that was the chest trauma.

My father had borrowed from loan sharks to help Graham get his company off the ground, and the men who came to collect had beaten him badly enough to leave that injury.

I took a deep breath and headed straight to billing.

The clerk handed my card back with an apologetic look.

“Ms. Bennett, there’s a problem with the account linked to this card. The payment isn’t going through.”

I froze.

That card was linked to the account Graham and I had set aside for my father’s care. We put five figures into it every month.

How could there be anything wrong with it?

I didn’t have time to think. I handed over every other card in my wallet, but one after another, they were all declined.

The doctor came back again and warned me that my father’s vital signs were dangerously unstable.

Trying to keep myself from shaking, I called Graham.

It rang and rang. He picked up just before the call went to voicemail.

My voice shook.

“Graham, why can’t I access any of my money? My dad needs surgery right now…”

After a few seconds of silence, he scoffed.

“You’re getting more creative with these stunts.”

“Camille cried for hours today. Freezing your accounts for a month is me going easy on you.”

He started to hang up.

I nearly dropped the phone.

“I’m not joking. My dad is critical! I sent you his medical report. Just look at it—”

“How long are you going to keep this act up?” he snapped.

It was only then that I realized the report had never gone through.

Graham had blocked me.

The doctor returned with another grim update.

Desperate, I said, “I’m not lying. The doctor is right here. If you don’t believe me, listen to him!”

Before the doctor could say a word, Camille’s sweet voice came through the phone.

“Graham, what flowers do you think we should have at the engagement party? Come help me pick.”

Graham’s voice softened instantly.

“Lilies. They suit you.”

When he spoke to me again, his voice was openly impatient.

“Enough. You’ve signed the divorce papers. Stop putting on this pathetic act just to get my attention.”

“I’ll unfreeze your accounts when Camille says so.”

The line went dead.

I called again.

His phone was off.

A chill went through me.

I waited outside while the doctors tried to stabilize him. Eventually, one of them came out.

“We did everything we could, Ms. Bennett. I’m so sorry.”

Everything after that passed in a haze.

I contacted a funeral home, arranged the cremation, and took care of the final paperwork after his death.

I didn’t shed a single tear. I forced myself to stay calm.

I had some of my father’s ashes placed in a pendant and wore it everywhere, as if he had never left me.

Once it was all over, I used the last of the cash I had to buy a plane ticket across the country.

As I boarded, Graham finally remembered I existed and sent me two messages.

Graham: [Your cards are working again. Don’t pull a stunt like this again.]

Graham: [Have some dignity. I might still let you come to our engagement party.]