Unreturned When the Fog Cleared Chapter 11

Unreturned When the Fog Cleared Chapter 11: Reissuing the Divorce Certificate

On the return trip the next day, Julian Rhodes watched through the rearview mirror as Sylvia Chevalier and Yara Rhodes huddled together in the back seat, talking and laughing.

But the sight left Julian Rhodes feeling empty inside.

His grip on the steering wheel tightened unconsciously.

‘It should have been Thera Sutherland in the back seat, with them.‘

He was suddenly desperate to see Thera Sutherland. He wanted to tell her that Yara wouldn’t deliberately give her a hard time anymore, wanted to go back to how things used to be.

He looked forward to the day they would truly become a family of three, with no more distance between them, only companionship.

The moment the car stopped at the villa’s entrance, Julian Rhodes threw open the door and hurried inside, driven by an urgency he himself hadn’t realized.

He headed straight for the guest room and pushed the door open. The room was empty. The comforter was folded neatly, showing no trace that anyone had been living there, as if it had never been occupied.

“Where’s my wife?”

He spun around and grabbed a passing maid, his voice laced with an almost imperceptible panic.

The maid, startled by his reaction, quickly replied, “The madam left yesterday morning and hasn’t returned.”

Julian Rhodes’s heart stopped cold.

He dialed Thera Sutherland’s number, but the line just rang, cold and

unanswered.

He tried calling four or five times in a row, with no response.

He suddenly remembered Thera Sutherland saying she was going to the Registry Office. At the time, he’d assumed she was going to apply to remarry him, but now…

He didn’t dare to think about it further. He immediately dialed his assistant’s number, his voice strained:

“Get on it now! Find out what Thera Sutherland was doing at the Registry Office yesterday. Track her down. The faster, the better!”

Julian Rhodes then stormed into the master bedroom, only to be met with

a scene of disarray.

Jewelry Sylvia Chevalier had left behind while getting ready that morning, the hem of an evening gown draped over the foot of the bed.

In this room, once so full of their memories, there was no longer any trace

of Thera Sutherland.

Yara Rhodes walked into the bedroom, arm–in–arm with Sylvia Chevalier.

Catching sight of Julian Rhodes’s grim face, she couldn’t suppress a look of triumph:

“Brother! The maids told me Thera Sutherland left? She’s smart enough to know when to quit. At least now I don’t have to see her loitering around all the time!”

Julian Rhodes’s head snapped up, his tone dangerously low. “What are you talking about?”

“The night before last,” Yara Rhodes said, unfazed. “I got up to use the bathroom and saw Thera Sutherland standing outside your bedroom door

for a good long while.”

It was like a bomb had gone off in his mind. Julian Rhodes froze.

The scene from that night slammed into his mind: Sylvia Chevalier, arms wrapped around his neck, panting as she asked when they would register their marriage. Lost in the heat of the moment, he had casually replied, “In a few days.”

“Thera Sutherland must have heard!‘

‘But he’d only said it without thinking! He never actually planned to marry Sylvia Chevalier…‘

Sylvia Chevalier’s eyes reddened at the rims, her tone apologetic. “Julian, this is all my fault. Did something I said last night cause a

misunderstanding with Thera? Should I go find her and explain everything?”

“Explain what?” Yara Rhodes cut her off. “It’s good that she’s gone! Saves you from always feeling so aggrieved!”

“Enough!” Julian Rhodes snapped, his voice thick with suppressed frustration.

Soon enough, his assistant called back, his voice cautious.

“President Rhodes, we have an update… The madam went to the Registry Office yesterday. She was there to replace her divorce certificate. The paperwork has already been processed.”

“A replacement divorce certificate?”

Julian Rhodes stood there, stunned, his mind a complete blank.

‘Wasn’t she supposed to be filing for remarriage?‘