He Came With a Ring. I Had a Fiancé Chapter 05

He Came With a Ring. I Had a Fiancé Chapter 05

Dylan stood frozen.

How could Audrey have moved without him knowing?

She used to message him about everything and ask his opinion before making decisions.

Claire tried to reassure him.

“Maybe she’s still angry. I’ll call and see where she is.”

She took out her phone and dialed, only to hear a cold recorded voice telling her the number

couldn’t be reached.

Her expression stiffened. She opened their messages.

[Audrey, where are you? Still upset?]

[Dylan has a surprise for you today. You’re going to love it.]

Her long fingers flew over the screen.

But when she sent the messages, they wouldn’t go through.

She spoke in disbelief.

“Audrey blocked me.”

Dylan frowned, his anger flaring instantly.

“I’ve ignored her for an entire month, and she still hasn’t learned to behave?”

“Does she honestly think the entire world revolves around her?”

He pulled out his own phone as he spoke.

[Audrey Bennett, what are you playing at now? Aren’t you done yet?]

His message failed, too..

Dylan went still.

Something strange tightened around his heart, an ache he couldn’t name.

How could this have happened?

His father gave a contemptuous snort.

“A girl that rude and ill mannered isn’t fit to marry into this family!”

“If she wants to leave, let her!”

“Claire’s a good girl. You liked her in college, didn’t you? She’s single now. Why don’t you two get back together?”

His mother’s anger vanished in an instant.

“Exactly! Audrey isn’t half as sweet or considerate as Claire.”

She put an arm around Claire with easy familiarity.

“I liked you the moment Dylan first brought you home in college.”

Claire looked at Dylan. He hadn’t lifted his head from his phone. He seemed not to hear any of

them.

She pressed her lips together and gently disengaged herself from his mother.

“Mr. and Mrs. Walker, Dylan and I broke up a long time ago. Audrey is his girlfriend now.”

Mrs. Walker cut in anxiously.

“But Dylan’s father and I only like you.”

“Have you ever heard of a future daughter-in-law making her in-laws stand outside a locked door? It’s outrageous!”

“I used to wonder why Dylan never brought Audrey home to meet us, even after three years

together. Now I can see she was never raised properly enough to—”

“Enough!”

Dylan cut his mother off sharply.

His face had gone pale. He turned and rushed into the elevator.

Claire hurried after him.

“Where are you going? Your parents are still here!”

For the first time, Dylan shut her out completely.

“Take them to the hotel for me.”

“I… need to be alone.”

Before she could say anything else, the elevator doors closed.

Dylan left the apartment complex, got into a car, and drove straight to my office.

In three years, this was the first time Audrey Bennett had slipped entirely outside his control.

Even when he’d been hundreds of miles away and couldn’t see her, he’d always felt that she was still firmly inside his world.

Now she’d vanished without a word.

This wasn’t like Audrey at all.

He hated the helpless feeling of being at someone else’s mercy.

He thought back to the night he’d gone to Claire’s apartment. Audrey had told him over the phone that she wanted to break up, speaking as casually as if she were discussing the weather.

His fingers tightened around the steering wheel.

Had she meant it all along?