THE WIFE HE WON’T CLAIM

Chapter Eight

Emerald’s POV

Days later

I stood in front of the tiled sink in my bathroom, looking at my reflection in the mirror on the wall.

The bathroom was quiet. The white tiles were cold under my bare feet, the overhead light was too bright, and my phone was sitting on the marble cabinet next to the sink. I picked it up. Not my phone. The other one.

I had thought about doing this over and over again. I had only come to one conclusion. I have to use this opportunity that slipped into my hands to get out of this marriage.

I unlocked the phone and went to the call log. It was a cheap phone, probably a voice phishing reset, and there was only one number saved on it. Jayden’s number.

The day of the crash, after I got out of my car, I saw the kidnapper’s phone on the floor right beside my bag. I took it at that moment out of curiosity and I ran. The idea came to me the moment Jayden came home that day and saw me at the dinner table. I knew then I had to use this to free myself.

I dialed the number and let it ring.

He picked up instantly, like he had been waiting for the call.

“Hello,” his voice came through, sharp and alert.

I waited for a few seconds. I could hear him breathing on the other end.

“I’ll go first if you don’t want to speak,” he said. “What do you want from me?”

I steadied my voice. “Jayden, this is what you should have asked that day. Maybe I wouldn’t have scared your little wife that much.”

There was a long pause.

“I will ask you one last time,” he said, his tone dropping. “What do you want from me?”

“Emerald,” I said. “Jayden, I want your wife.”

A laugh resonated from the other side of the line. It was so unexpected I had to pull the phone away from my ear to double check it was really Jayden laughing.

“f**k you,” he said, still laughing but with an edge now. “I am so curious to see your face, you psychopath. And what did you say again? You want my wife?”

“Aren’t you being a hypocrite, Jayden?” I said. “A week ago you clearly asked me to kill her, so what’s so wrong with disposing of her now? The world doesn’t know what your wife looks like, but I do.”

“Who the f**k are you?” he asked. He was completely flustered now.

“Calm down, Jayden,” I said. I kept my voice low. “I am closer to you than you think. Let go of Emerald and I will stop bothering you. She’s just your substitute wife after all.”

I took a breath.

“Let me remind you in case you forgot, Jayden. You were engaged to be married to Sophie Parker, the eldest sister. Emerald Parker was just the substitute for her sister’s mistake. She ran away the night before the wedding and I heard no one knows where she is. But you and your family still got together and decided to let the younger sister take her place. Isn’t that cruel? But then I understand. Your father and Ethan Parker are in an inseparable win-win relationship.”

My hand was shaking against the cold sink.

“How do you think people will react once this gets out?” I continued. “‘Jayden Raymond, the golden secretary to the president, is engaged to the eldest daughter of the Parkers and married to the youngest daughter.’ I can’t wait to see your reaction once this news gets out.”

I was smiling, but I could feel stray tears on my face.

“Can’t you speak anymore?” I asked. “Were you not running your mouth earlier, Jayden? I am sure you are curious about how I knew Emerald, the wife you kept away from the world, and how I knew about the secrets no one in New York knows about.”

A pause. I could hear a door creak on his end.

“Tell me what you want,” he said. Annoyance and fury were lacing every word. That was enough proof that my threat was working.

“I just said it, Jayden. Very simple,” I said. “Now listen to me carefully. Request for a divorce and free Emerald from that marriage.”

He scoffed, and he said it slowly like he wanted me to hear every word. “That request cannot be fulfilled, even if it leads to me dying.”

What the actual f**k is this guy’s problem, I thought. Why is he making this so hard for me?

“I can’t divorce her, nor let go of Emerald,” he said again, his voice harder now. “And how on earth do you think I, Jayden Raymond, will accept your ridiculous demands? Don’t you dare bring my wife into this or go near her again, you psychopath. Just f*****g face me directly.”

I almost laughed. “Wife? Did you just call Emerald your wife? Don’t delude yourself, Jayden. How on earth is Emerald your wife? The one you refused to acknowledge or even share a meal with?” I said it with an unbelievable expression on my face, even though he couldn’t see me.

“Forget about getting arrested,” he said. “I will be the one to kill you myself, psychopath.”

My hand locked around the phone so tight my knuckles went white, and my other hand gripped the edge of the sink cabinet to keep myself standing.

That was the last thing he said before the line went dead.

I stared at the phone in my hands. My breathing was heavy in the big, empty bathroom.

With everything that has happened recently, is it safe to say Jayden is a bipolar asshole, I said to myself. I really hoped that after a few threatening calls from me, he would finally agree to divorce me. I really can’t keep doing this. The fear of being caught is making me more nervous than ever.

I sat on the cold bathroom floor for more than an hour in complete silence, just trying to calm myself down. My legs were numb by the time I finally stood up.

I took my phone and the kidnapper’s phone, tucked them both into my pocket, and walked toward the door.

The moment I opened my bathroom door, my heart nearly burst out of my chest.

The door to my bedroom opened at the same time, and Jayden walked inside, looking angry as ever.