Chapter 3

In the penthouse suite of a luxury hotel, Declan sat on the sofa, looking at Sloane's tear-swollen eyes. A fleeting spark of irritation flared in his chest, but it was quickly swallowed by an overwhelming protective instinct.

Nearly a full day had passed since their bitter phone call last night. Recalling the security system alert from 2:00 AM, Declan felt a twinge of unease.

But he quickly reassured himself—Imogen was getting entirely too theatrical. To think she would actually hire movers in the dead of night just to put on a show, and even use Leo's fever as a bargaining chip to force him home. He knew Imogen too well. She was always the level-headed one. This was nothing more than a bluff—moving a few suitcases out to teach him a lesson.

"Declan, am I being terribly selfish?" Sloane sniffled, tears welling up again. "I knew it was your wedding day, but I just couldn't hold it together... That bastard broke me, and you're all I have left."

Declan let out a sigh and pulled a tissue from the box to hand to her.

"Stop crying, Sloane. All that matters is that you're safe." He glanced at his watch; it was already the next day.

The wedding fallout was probably an absolute media and social circus by now, but he wasn't particularly worried. Imogen always handled those kinds of PR crises with effortless grace. As for Leo, kids get fevers all the time. A trip to the hospital and a prescription, and he'd be perfectly fine.

"You should go back, Declan." Sloane wiped her eyes, looking at him with practiced, tragic vulnerability. "Imogen must be so furious with you. She even said she'd give me her wedding dress last night. You need to go back and coax her. I'll... I'll be okay on my own."

"Where else would she go? After throwing a tantrum all night, she's probably sitting in the living room right now, waiting for me to give her an explanation." Declan stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles in his suit jacket. "She's stubborn, but she's rational. I'll buy her a necklace on the way back. She'll cave."

Declan strode toward the door, completely oblivious to the sudden shift in Sloane's expression behind him.

She had assumed playing the martyr would keep him glued to her side like it always did. She hadn't expected him to actually leave. Sloane gripped her glass so tightly her knuckles turned white, a fierce flash of bitter resentment crossing her eyes, but she kept her mouth shut.

After leaving the hotel, Declan made a quick stop at a Cartier boutique and swiped his card for a $50,000 diamond necklace.

Slipping the velvet box into his pocket, he pictured how Imogen would react—icy at first, maintaining her cold facade, but ultimately accepting the gift.

She always caved eventually. Because she loved him, and above all, because they had Leo. Wasn't that exactly how it had been for five years? All he had to do was look back, and she would always be right there, exactly where he left her.

The moment he pushed the front door open, a wave of unfamiliar, chilling emptiness washed over him. There was no smell of dinner cooking. There was no pitter-patter of Leo running over to hug his leg. Even the air in the house felt several degrees colder than usual.

"Imogen?" Declan called out.

His voice echoed through the vast, empty living room.

Then, Declan stopped dead in his tracks.

In the foyer, the rug Imogen had so carefully picked out was gone. He hurried into the living room, only to find the corner where Leo's favorite dinosaur bookshelf used to sit completely bare. The massive family portrait on the wall had vanished too, leaving behind nothing but a pale, rectangular shadow on the wallpaper.

A sickening sense of panic began to curl in his gut. Taking the stairs two at a time, he rushed to the second floor and shoved open the master bedroom door.

The walk-in closet doors were wide open. Imogen's half had been entirely cleared out; not a single hanger remained. In that massive space, only his own suits hung, pitifully isolated.

He spun around and stormed into the nursery.

Leo's toy chest, the storybooks, the Snoopy bedsheets from the crib... everything was gone. The room was so stripped down it looked as if a child had never lived there at all.

The movers she called at 2:00 AM last night wasn't a bluff. It wasn't an act.

"Imogen!" Declan's voice trembled. He frantically tore through every room in the house like a headless fly.

Nothing. There was absolutely nothing.

The once vibrant, breathing home had been physically hollowed out. She had taken every trace of herself and Leo, erasing their existence so cleanly that it felt as if their presence in this house had been nothing more than his own hallucination.

Stumbling back down the stairs, Declan rushed to the kitchen island. The everyday bone china set that usually sat there was gone. In its place, resting quietly under the pendant lights, were a few sheets of paper—and a diamond ring reflecting a piercing, cold light.

With shaking hands, he picked up the document.

Divorce Settlement Agreement.

But what sent a chilling shudder down Declan's spine was the date printed at the bottom—six months ago. The ninth time he abandoned her at the altar, she had already had her lawyer draft these papers.

She wasn't asking for a single penny of his company shares. She was only taking her own savings, and full custody of Leo.

"Impossible... this isn't possible..." Declan muttered to himself, his face draining of all color.

He frantically yanked out his phone and dialed Imogen's number.

"We're sorry, the number you have reached cannot be connected at this time..."

He opened WhatsApp, his thumbs trembling as he typed out a message.

A red exclamation mark popped up instantly: You are no longer in this contact's list.

Declan's breathing grew ragged. The $50,000 Cartier necklace in his jacket pocket suddenly felt like a branding iron, burning a searing ache into his chest.

The absolute control he had always prided himself on shattered to pieces in an instant.

She hadn't used their child as a bargaining chip, and she hadn't stayed in the same spot waiting for him. In the quietest, most ruthless way possible, she had cleanly excised him from his life.

Just as he was spiraling into absolute panic, frantically trying to call his assistant to track down Imogen and Leo—

A sudden, violent pounding erupted at the front door.