Chapter 12
1323 Words
“Why the hell did he find you?” Jade asked immediately after she heard Kai’s footsteps fade down the hallway.
She had known Elysia since seventh grade. Known Kai just as long too—the quiet boy who used to follow her best friend everywhere without saying much.
At one point, she had even been jealous of him. Jealous that he seemed to take up so much space in Elysia’s world without ever trying.
“I don’t know,” Elysia said, shaking her head slightly.
Even as she said it, it bothered her. The lack of clarity. The gap between what had happened and what she still didn’t understand.
But this didn’t feel like the time to push for answers about Kai.
“I called his old line,” she added with a small frown. “I thought I was calling my emergency contact.”
Jade’s brows pulled together instantly.
“I am supposed to be your emergency contact, Elys,” she said, quieter now.
It wasn’t anger in her voice.
Not really. Just disbelief.
Because she had been Elysia’s emergency contact for the past five years.
And she had always shown up.
Always. Sometimes too quickly.
Always terrified she might be too late.
“You are…” Elysia said slowly. “And I thought I was calling you.”
Jade let out a small sigh, shrugging lightly.
“You must have tapped the wrong contact.”
Nicole returned to the room at that moment, followed by the nurse from earlier pushing in a fresh tray.
Elysia had almost forgotten she was supposed to eat.
“Sorry it took a while,” the nurse said politely as she set the tray down. “Your husband requested that the food be bought from outside the hospital.”
Elysia froze. Her eyes widened slightly.
Husband? What husband?
For a brief second, her mind jumped straight to Declan.
Had he found her already?
Her stomach tightened at the thought.
She didn’t want that. Not after everything
For the first time since their marriage, she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to see him again.
“Husband?” Jade repeated immediately, turning sharply to the nurse. “What husband are you talking about?”
The nurse blinked, clearly confused by their reaction.
“Mr. Parsons,” she said after a pause. “The man who was in here earlier with you.”
The tension in Elysia’s chest loosened all at once.
“Oh…” Jade let out a small breath, almost a laugh. “Him.”
Elysia exhaled slowly.
Relief washed over her in a quiet wave.
But it didn’t last long.
Because as soon as it passed, a new thought settled in its place.
Why had the nurse assumed Kai was her husband?
Her mother’s soft chuckle snapped Elysia out of her thoughts.
“Don’t worry, darling,” Nicole said reassuringly. “Declan Windsor can search far and wide, but he won’t find you.”
Elysia frowned slightly.
He could find her. The Windsor family had that kind of reach and influence.
But her mother sounded far too certain for someone making a guess.
“What do you mean?” Elysia asked.
Nicole smiled as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
“Your current husband is quite smart,” she said. “He apparently registered you under his surname.”
Silence settled over the room.
For a moment, Elysia just stared at her.
Then it clicked.
Kai.
That was why the nurse had assumed he was her husband.
Nicole, however, looked almost pleased.
There was something warm in her expression—something almost relieved.
As if, for once, someone was finally looking out for her daughter without hesitation or indifference.
Elysia nodded slowly, still processing it.
“Kai…” she murmured under her breath. “He did that.”
Then Nicole added, more casually, “Eleanor wanted to know if you were with me.”
Elysia’s attention sharpened slightly.
She was referring to the earlier call—Declan’s mother.
“I gave them a piece of my mind,” Nicole continued, a small, satisfied laugh escaping her. “Told them to make sure my daughter is brought back to me safe and sound within twenty-four hours.”
The words carried through the room with quiet finality.
Even Jade blinked at that.
Nicole’s smile lingered—sharp, protective, unshaken.
And for the first time, Elysia understood exactly how firmly she had been placed under her mother’s protection.
The door opened again. Kai stepped back into the room.
The shift was subtle, but immediate.
Whatever lightness had been in the space a moment ago tightened again.
His eyes moved briefly across the room—Nicole, Jade, then finally Elysia.
He didn’t say anything at first.
Just closed the distance back to where he had been standing earlier, as if he had never left.
Nicole watched him for a second longer than necessary.
Jade straightened slightly in her seat.
Elysia, however, just looked at him.
Like she was still trying to piece him together.
Kai’s gaze flicked briefly to the food tray.
“She needs to eat,” he said simply.
The nurse nodded quickly, suddenly remembering her task, and stepped forward to adjust the tray.
Kai didn’t sit. Didn’t explain where he had been. But there was something different in him now.
A quiet tension that hadn’t been there before he left the room.
Elysia’s eyes stayed on him a little too long.
Like she was still trying to understand what had changed. Not like he'd been giving very much away since she woke up.
“Can I have your phone?” Elysia asked her mother.
Nicole nodded without hesitation and reached into her bag, handing it over.
“What do you need, honey?” she asked gently.
“I need to make sure Mr. Ansley draws up proper terms for the divorce agreement,” Elysia said firmly.
Nicole didn’t argue. She simply watched her daughter for a moment longer before letting her go.
Elysia unlocked the phone and opened the contacts, scrolling through them with steady fingers until she found the name she was looking for.
Browyn Ansley.
She didn’t pause this time. She pressed the call button immediately.
The phone rang once, then again.
“Hello?” the man’s semi-deep voice answered on the third ring.
Elysia held the phone in her hand, the call on speaker.
“I need the divorce agreement prepared,” she said.
“Mrs. St. Laurent?” Mr. Ansley’s voice came through, slightly uncertain.
“No. It’s Elysia,” she corrected immediately.
There was a brief pause.
“Ah. Miss Elysia.”
Mr. Ansley’s tone shifted back into familiarity as he continued without delay.
“I’ve already started drafting the initial terms,” he said. “We’ll need to address asset division, settlements, and—”
“I don’t want any of it,” Elysia cut in firmly.
Elysia’s gaze stayed forward and steady.
Her mother raised a brow but said nothing, watching her daughter as if she were only now realizing how final her decision actually was.
“The Windsors may contest that,” Mr. Ansley said after a moment. “Especially Mr. Declan Windsor Sr.”
Elysia didn’t respond immediately.
She already knew that.
The Windsor marriage contract wasn’t simple. It had been designed to protect lineage, inheritance, control—and exit wasn’t meant to be easy. A divorce under anything less than severe grounds would trigger complications around Declan’s inheritance.
She knew Declan valued that inheritance more than anything else tied to his name.
But Elysia also knew something else.
If they tried to drag it into court, she had enough leverage to make it painful enough that they would eventually stop resisting.
Still, that wasn’t her concern anymore.
“Just prepare the divorce papers,” Elysia said softly. “And send them to Declan Windsor’s office at W Holdings in exactly two weeks.”
- Writer
