His Secret Wife Was My Best Friend Chapter 14

His Secret Wife Was My Best Friend Chapter 14 Access Revoked

Northcote.

By the time the court finalized the divorce, Gareth was back at work, reading contracts and rubbing his sore throat.

The changing seasons often left him feeling unwell. Cecily used to make a warm honey–lemon drink and bring it to him herself. This time, instead of something warm and sweet, he got a woman’s shrill voice outside his office.

He sighed and impatiently called his secretary in.

“Is Daphne here?”

The secretary studied his expression before answering carefully. “Ms. Keene still has the access privileges you authorized. She can enter the building without restriction.”

Only then did he remember. He’d given Daphne the highest level of access, a privilege even Cecily hadn’t had.

Thinking of Cecily made him more restless.

After the Hollises paid the enormous settlement, her mother stopped fighting them. But she also severed their business ties and suspended every project they had agreed to pursue together.

Cecily herself remained impossible to find. He had sent plenty of people to look for her, without uncovering a single useful trace.

“Send Daphne in.”

When she entered, Gareth almost failed to recognize the pale, disheveled woman as the one who had spent so much time in his bed.

“What happened to you?” he asked, frowning.

Those few words seemed to comfort her immensely. Her face crumpled, and she

began to cry.

“I’ve missed you so much.”

He cut her off before she could continue.

“If you have something to say, say it. Spare me the rest.”

She stiffened, suddenly ill at ease.

“The baby’s gone. The court has issued the divorce decree, just like Can’t you forgive me for what happened?”

you

wanted.

Gareth stood at the window with his back to her. His voice held no feeling.

“It was a fling, Daphne. Forgiveness has nothing to do with it. We’re settled now. There’s no reason for us to see each other again.”

She hadn’t expected him to describe their relationship with such blunt contempt. Her face went white, and she began shaking.

“But I really love you.”

He gave a short laugh and repeated softly, “You love me…”

It wasn’t a question. It was mockery.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said. “You spent most of our time together lying to me. That gives me good reason to wonder what you did to get me into your bed in the first place.”

He remembered taking her home drunk that night. There had been a scent on her skin that left him dizzy and intoxicated.

After so long, though, he doubted he could find any proof.

Daphne shook harder, stammering without managing a complete sentence.

Her reaction was just what he had expected. Disappointed, he no longer wanted to

waste time on her.

“You carried my child, so I’ll let the past go. Now leave.”

She cried and shook her head.

“Please don’t send me away. I don’t know where else to go.”

Cecily had reclaimed every project she’d given her before leaving. And the Keenes no longer wanted Daphne at home.

When they heard she’d become pregnant before marrying and wrecked the Hollis- Sutton alliance, her parents had been horrified.

It might have been different if the baby had secured Gareth for her. Instead, she’d lost the child and been thrown out. Her family had lost both face and prospects, with the possibility of retaliation from the Hollises and the Suttons still hanging over them.

If she hadn’t just suffered a miscarriage, her parents might have beaten her to death.

Gareth had clearly heard about it. He didn’t care.

“That’s your problem. You knew what could happen when you started seeing me behind everyone’s backs.

“I have consequences to deal with. So do you.”

Daphne sank to the floor, sobbing incoherently. “But I really do love you.”

All her declarations of love sounded ridiculous to him now.

For no clear reason, he thought of Cecily again, and loss deepened his irritation.

He called security and had Daphne taken away despite her cries. Then he told his secretary to revoke all her access privileges and bar her from the Hollis Group building.

The secretary nodded. “Mr. Hollis, we’ve found Ms. Sutton.”

Gareth’s hand jerked. His cup fell to the floor.

“You have?” Hope broke through his voice. “Where is she?”