My Billionaire Husband Arrested Me for Taking His Money Chapter 05
My voice came out weak and barely audible. The blood loss had drained every trace of color from my lips.
I pushed the divorce papers into Ryan’s hands.
“I’m walking away with nothing.”
I turned toward the stairs, but he grabbed my arm.
“Where are you going?”
“Out,” I whispered, so softly I could barely hear myself. “Staying in this house costs thirty dollars an hour.”
His grip trembled. His gaze fell on the large canvas tote bearing the logo of Westbridge Women’s Hospital.
He pressed his lips together.
“Forget the fee for now. Do you want to stay at the hospital a few more days? I… I can go with you.”
His voice grew more strained with every word.
I didn’t turn around, but I could imagine the expression on his face.
I peeled his fingers from my arm one at a time, gripped the railing, and slowly made my way downstairs.
“Lena!”
His hurried footsteps followed me.
“Lena, I’m canceling the agreement. Don’t do this, Lena!”
“You don’t get to cancel an agreement whenever it stops suiting you.”
I looked up at him. In the lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses, I saw my dark-ringed eyes and bloodless lips.
I managed a weak smile.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Mercer. I intend to honor every term.”
“Then where are you going?”
“That’s none of your business, Mr. Mercer.”
Ryan moved to stop me, but I was so unsteady that he didn’t dare grab me.
He hovered beside me, seemingly at a loss. He followed close behind until I climbed into a cab.
He tried to stop me, but I spoke before he could.
“Go.”
Ryan stood on the curb, unaware of how panicked he looked.
“Follow her. Find out where she’s staying.”
But no one he sent after me managed to find me.
“You followed that cab the entire time. How did you lose her?”
“Mr. Mercer, it turned a corner and somehow vanished. We couldn’t find it again.”
“Useless!”
Ryan slammed his fountain pen onto the desk. Ink splattered across the House Access Agreement.
The paper around my signature had buckled where my tear had fallen.
Ryan reached out and traced the wrinkled spot with his fingertips. Then he closed his fist tightly around the agreement.
“I don’t care what it takes. Find my wife and bring her back!”
For an entire week, there was no trace of me.
Then, one evening, something finally occurred to Ryan. He drove straight to his mother’s estate and pushed through the front door.
At that moment, I was sitting with Diane Mercer, helping her arrange freshly trimmed flowers in a vase.
“Lena!”
Ryan rushed inside, breathing hard.
“Lena!”
He strode toward me, but Diane’s household manager and staff blocked his path.
“Get out of my way! Lena!”
“Lena, go back to your room,” Diane said calmly as she stood.
I glanced at Ryan before getting up and walking into the room.
“Lena!”
Ryan struggled harder, but Diane walked over at an unhurried pace.
“Mom, how could you hide her from your own son?”
“What else was I supposed to do? Send her back to you?”
Diane shot back without hesitation.
“Should I send her back to a house where she has to pay thirty dollars an hour just to walk through the hallway?”
“You’re actually taking her side?”
Ryan stared at his mother in disbelief.