THE WIFE HE WON’T CLAIM

Chapter Seven

Jayden’s POV

I’d been waiting in the underground parking lot for twenty minutes. The fluorescent lights cast long shadows across the concrete, and the air smelled faintly of gasoline and polished metal.

Long enough to replay yesterday’s landline call for the tenth time.

Very few people had that number. When I picked up and heard, “Jayden, it’s me,” I knew it had to be her.

Sophie. Standing by the window at the Kings Hotel, Suite 103, nervous, saying she missed her family. Saying she wanted to see Emerald.

I’d told her no. We had an agreement two years ago, she stays in Germany until I reveal Emerald’s face to the public. I told Edward to put her on a jet back tomorrow.

“Take care of Emerald,” she’d said as I left. “That’s my only wish.”

I will.

The sound of heels on concrete pulled me out of it. Emerald finally appeared, looking exhausted.

“I’m glad you’re here,” I said. “What happened to your other car? It’s not parked anywhere.”

She hesitated. “I left it on the secluded highway after the crash that night.”

I stared at her in disbelief. “Are you f*****g kidding me? So how did you get home?”

“I walked all the way until I saw a taxi,” she replied, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

I ran a hand through my hair. She’d walked alone, hurt, at night on the same highway where a man with a gun had just tried to take her.

“You could have at least told me,” I said, my voice tighter than I intended. “I would have sent my men to retrieve the car.”

Emerald looked down at her shoes. “I didn’t think you would care.”

The words hit harder than I expected. She said it so quietly, but I heard every syllable. For a moment, the parking garage went completely silent except for the hum of the lights.

I stepped closer. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t move back. She just stood there, quiet and composed, even though I could see the exhaustion in her eyes.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

She stayed silent. The silent treatment again. It made me want to push, but I held back.

“The campaign starts tomorrow,” I said finally. “Stay home this week. Don’t go to work.”

“No, I can’t,” she whispered. “I need to report to the school outreach program.”

“Emerald...”

“I know your dad asked me to quit,” she cut in, her voice barely there but firm, “but I want to keep working. No one knows me as Mrs. Raymond. I’ll be fine.”

I stared at her pleading eyes and thought: That psychopath is still out there. For him to know Emerald’s real name and get to her car, he’s closer to us than we think.

“Fine,” I said. “Just keep your security guards with you anywhere you go.”

“Don’t make it so obvious,” she replied softly, then turned and walked away.

I stood there, watching her retreating back. Something about the way she carried herself, quiet, stubborn, and hurt unsettled me more than I wanted to admit.

I took out my phone and dialed Liam.

“Liam, Emerald left her car on the highway the night of the incident. Find it. Pull the dashcam and check every traffic camera on that route between nine and ten p.m.”

“Right on it, Boss.”

I ended the call and exhaled slowly.

I hadn’t been this curious about anyone in my life the way I was curious to know who that f*****g psychopath was and why he knew the name of a wife I’d spent two years hiding.