Chapter 26
Selene lifted the lid of the gift box. Inside, a sapphire bracelet gleamed up at her.
She studied it for a moment, her gaze sharpening. Picking it up, she asked, “What’s the wrist size on this?”
“Five and a half inches,” the man answered without hesitation.
Selene smiled, a bitter taste rising in her throat.
“That’s Felicity’s size.”
Without another word, she stretched her hand out the car window. The sapphire bracelet, catching the sunlight one last time, slipped from her palm and tumbled to the ground.
A furrow appeared between Harrison’s brows, a flicker of turmoil darkening his eyes. “You’re jealous of Felicity, aren’t you? That’s why you always pick fights with
me.”
“I’ve known Felicity for over twenty years. If there was really something between us, do you think you’d even get a chance with me?”
Harrison’s words seemed to pull some distant memory from the shadows of Selene’s mind.
Her fractured smile reflected in the rearview mirror.
“Do you remember, three years ago, one night you suddenly rushed out to find Felicity? You left me alone to go to the hospital. I had a fever–102 degrees. Our family doctor was away, the housekeeper had left for the night. I was counting on you to drive me…”
As Selene spoke, Harrison’s memory stirred.
“Didn’t you just take a cab to the hospital?” He couldn’t understand why she clung to these trivial things.
“I did go,” Selene replied quietly. “I called you, over and over, but you never answered.”
“Felicity had gotten drunk and wandered off to the beach. It was pitch black out there–I was busy searching for her.”
At this; Harrison gave a short, dismissive laugh. Why did Selene always compete with Felicity? Jealous women, he thought, were never attractive.
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Selene’s eyes were fixed ahead, but her vision was blurring.
“Harrison, I was waiting for you at the hospital. I needed your signature for the
abortion consent form.”
Harrison froze, caught completely off guard.
“You had a miscarriage? Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
Selene lowered her thick lashes, unwilling to see the expression on her own face in the mirror. Seven years of love had worn her down to nothing but resentment.
“Do you even remember why I had that fever?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Harrison’s eyes narrowed; he remembered all too well.
Dames, their son, had gotten into trouble–he’d dumped the glass marbles from Harrison’s keepsake jar and shot every last one into the lake with his slingshot. That jar had belonged to Harrison’s late sister.
He’d been furious that night, and the staff had tiptoed around him, terrified.
He’d ordered Selene to wade into the lake and retrieve all thirty–two marbles.
Selene had spent the whole night out there. At dawn, instead of resting, she’d gone straight to the kitchen to make breakfast for their son.
She’d been running on empty all day, and by the time she sat down to help Dames with his homework that evening, her whole body was burning up with fever.
“Harrison, three years ago, I stopped loving you. And now, I won’t make a fool of myself waiting for our son to care about me, either.”
She didn’t expect anyone to save her.
Nor did she hope for a shred of pity from Harrison or their son.
While Harrison stood there, stunned, Selene slammed the car door shut and
pressed her foot to the gas,
She drove off without a backward glance.
Harrison remained standing where she’d left him, watching as her car disappeared down the road, leaving him with nothing but a cloud of exhaust.
Felicity emerged from the house, limping slightly. She came up beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder for support.
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Chapter 20
“So, did you give her the gift you picked out yourself?”
Harrison’s cold gaze fell to the sapphire bracelet lying on the pavement.
Following his eyes, Felicity let out a gasp. “You just tossed it away?“.
She hurried over and scooped up the bracelet.
“Honestly! I get it–winning a woman over is always such a hassle. But you never know: stop chasing her for a while, and maybe she’ll come crawling back to you.”
She turned, but Harrison was already striding away, phone in hand.
“Harrison! Wait up!” Felicity called after him.
But Harrison was already speaking into his phone, instructing his assistant, “Look up every hospital record for Selene from three years ago.”
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