He Left Me to Freeze, So I Burned His World Down Chapter 02

He Left Me to Freeze, So I Burned His World Down Chapter 02

When I woke again, the sharp smell of disinfectant had replaced the damp cold of the lake.

I heard low, argumentative voices beside the bed.

“…She just needed to calm down. I didn’t think it would get this serious.” It was Graham, a trace of regret in his voice, but far more impatience.

“Graham, don’t say that,” another woman said, her voice a soft, placating murmur. Piper. “You were doing it for me. But Ava is still your wife. It must have hurt you to treat her like that.”

“She went too far! I just wanted her to think about what she’d done!”

“But what if she hates us even more when she wakes up? I’m so afraid she’ll… she’ll do something to my son…”

I opened my eyes. My throat felt like it had been scraped with sandpaper. The doctor had diagnosed acute hypothermia; any later and the consequences would have been unimaginable.

I didn’t look at them. I turned to the nurse standing nearby.

“A glass of water, please.”

“Ava, you’re awake.” Graham leaned in, a look of forced concern tightening his features as he reached for the glass from the nurse. “Here, I’ll help you.”

I ignored him, took the glass myself, and drank it all at once. The cool water soothed the burning in my throat, and my head cleared slightly.

Piper stood behind him, her eyes red, the picture of a frightened rabbit.

“Mrs. Lockwood, I’m so glad you’re all right,” she said timidly. “You were unconscious for a full day. Graham stayed here the entire time. He was so worried.”

She paused, then added carefully, “It’s just… next time, could you please not do things that hurt other people? The car… I was terrified.”

At last, I lifted my eyes and truly looked at her.

In my past life, I had been completely fooled by that pitiful act. I had thought she was just an innocent woman swept away by love.

Now, I found it laughable.

I set the glass on the bedside table. My voice was quiet but perfectly clear.

“Our estate gates, driveway, and all public areas are covered by twenty-four-hour surveillance.”

The fragile expression on Piper’s face froze.

Graham’s brows drew together. “How long are you going to keep this up? If you didn’t do it, who did?”

His tone was that of a man scolding an unreasonable child.

“Are you suggesting Piper slashed her own tires and risked an accident with her son in the car, just to frame you?”

I looked at him and allowed myself a small smile.

“I only suggested you check the surveillance footage. Why are you so agitated? I never said she did it.”

“Ava!” Graham’s anger flared.

“Graham, don’t fight with her because of me.” Piper, eyes red, grabbed his arm at just the right moment and turned toward the door. “My son is waiting for me at home. I… I should go.”

Graham watched her wounded retreat, torn between following her and staying. He looked back at me, his expression conflicted.

“Ava, let’s not talk about this right now. Piper is…”

I didn’t stop him. I didn’t even show a flicker of displeasure.

“Go on. She’s raising a child alone. She needs you.”

Graham thought I was being sarcastic, but my eyes were as calm and still as stagnant water.

Looking into them, his chest tightened for no reason.

“Ava, you’ve been strange ever since you woke up.” He lowered his voice. “Do you think that just because I have Piper and the child, I don’t want you anymore?”

He tried to soothe me, the way one might soothe an unruly pet.

“Don’t overthink it. You will always be my wife. The only Mrs. Lockwood. That will never change.”

I looked at his hypocritical face and found the sentiment unbearable.

But I still smiled.

“You don’t need to worry about me overthinking anything. I won’t. I see things quite clearly now.”

I had figured out exactly how to leave him.

“Really?” he asked, his voice a mix of belief and doubt.

“I don’t want to see you pretending to be magnanimous while playing petty games behind my back,” he warned. “It will only make me despise you.”

I closed my eyes, shutting him out.

“I’m tired.”

Graham seemed to think I had finally relented. His expression softened slightly. After telling me to rest, he turned and hurried from the room.

The moment the door clicked shut, I picked up my phone and called my lawyer.

“Mr. Davis, it’s me.”

A steady voice answered. “Mrs. Lockwood. What can I do for you?”

“Send someone to retrieve all surveillance footage from our estate between six and ten p.m. last night. I want the driveway and the entrance to the lakeside boathouse. I also want the electronic access logs for the boathouse.”

After a brief silence, the lawyer asked, “And once we have them?”

“Submit all of it directly to the court,” I said, my voice devoid of warmth. “File for a protective order on the grounds of unlawful imprisonment and intentional harm.”

“Understood.”

After hanging up, I leaned back against the headboard and waited.

Less than an hour later, an email from my lawyer arrived.

Attached were two video files and a PDF.

In the first video, Piper furtively removed a tool from the trunk of her car and punctured the tire herself.

The boathouse access log was just as clear:

“Command source: Graham Lockwood. Action: Lock. Time: 8:15 p.m.”

“Command source: Security Patrol. Action: Emergency Unlock. Time: 10:42 p.m.”

The evidence was ironclad.

I didn’t forward any of it to Graham. I gave him no chance to explain or repent.

I simply opened my messages, found his name, typed a single sentence, and hit send.

[The evidence has been submitted to the court for a restraining order.]