THE WIFE HE REJECTED

chapter two

CHAPTER TWO – ANDREA

One week later and my body and mind was still numb.

Xander didn't come home.

No calls. No messages.

Just silence.

I was a shadow of myself as the days dragged on till today, not knowing what to do or how to act. My only consolation was the tiny three year old a few rooms down the hall.

Even with the helps, the mansion still felt empty.

The night I caught my husband with Amy kept replaying in flashes. Her moans. His smirk. The sound of betrayal in my bones.

I couldn’t bring myself to call anyone. There was no way I'll complain to the Hillson's. They already hate my guts for ‘conniving with my father to trap Xander’.

And Amy? I had no words.

Xander said she's the only reason he endured this long, meaning its been going on for a while. So what? They'd been making a fool of me all this while?

Then, like the devil himself heard my thoughts—my phone lit up.

1 New Message — Xander

> Hi Andrea, can you meet me at this guest house by 4 PM? I'd like us to talk.

My breath caught.

There was a photo attached—a dimly lit room, candlelight glowing on glass, a small table set for two. In gold script on the wall behind the table, the words: I’m sorry.

Another message followed immediately.

> You can leave Liam with Ramona. Just you. I’ve had time to think and I realized I was cruel the other night. You didn't deserve that and I want to apologize and make it up to you. Please give me a chance.

I blinked at the screen, my thumb hovering over the reply button.

This… this couldn’t be real.

For a second, I thought maybe someone had stolen his phone.

“Could this be a joke?” I whispered. “Or worse, a prank?”

Then the phone buzzed again.

> Seeing you break down made me realize how far I pushed you and how wrong my actions have been. I’m sorry, Andrea.

I swallowed and hit dial. This can't be right. He can't be screaming Amy's name in ecstacy one night and saying this now.

He picked up on the second ring.

“Hello?” His voice sounded a bit muffled. Like he was in a tunnel.

“Xander?... is this really you?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s me.”

“You just sent a text saying you want to talk. Did you mean to send it to me?”

“I wouldn’t have sent it if I didn’t.”

“Why do you so sound strange?” His voice was still muffled and made me all the more skeptical.

“Oh… I'm at one of our warehouses. See you soon okay.”

The line went dead.

I stared at the screen. My hands shook.

Could he really mean it?

The man I saw in that office was ice-cold. But this… this felt like hope.

Could he be feeling guilty?

---

By three-thirty, a gift box arrived at the mansion with his name on it.

Inside was a sleek little black dress. Shimmery and backless

Underneath, a key card to the guest house he mentioned.

My heart thundered in my chest at the reality of the situation.

Xander wants me.

I showered, lotioned, styled my hair. I picked a sweet smelling perfume I'd gotten a while back and bathed myself with it. And then, before stepping out, I kissed Liam's sleeping cheek and whispered to Ramona that I’d be back soon.

“You look so lovely,” she said excitedly like she knew what this meant to me.

I smiled, nervous. “I hope he means it this time.”

---

The drive was quiet but I was a bundle of excited nerves.

Soon I arrived at the grand building that matched the photo. Same red brick walls. Same glass-paned doors. I walked in and went up to Room 6.

I slid in the key card.

The door clicked open and my heart sank.

Empty.

No candlelight.

No soft music.

No I’m sorry.

Just silence.

I stood in the doorway, confused. “Xander?” I called anxiously.

Nothing.

I stepped inside slowly. Maybe I was early? Or at the wrong room?

I checked the entire space but still nothing.

I turned to step back to confirm the room number but a hand suddenly grabbed me from behind, pressed a pungent cloth over my face and darkness crashed over me like a wave.

---

When I came to, I was lying on a plush bed, lights dimmed, in an unfamiliar room with expensive looking furnishings.

I sat up too fast, and was instantly dizzy, head pounding.

“What… where am I?” I whispered to myself.

I was still in the black dress but barefoot.

Fear seized me. My phone. I reached for my purse but it was gone.

I stumbled to my feet, wobbling as I searched the room. It was immaculate and very masculine but still unfamiliar. The last thing I remembered was going out to meet Xander.

I left the room and searched some more. The place was a massive condo but I found no signs of Xander. No signs of anything.

Only… photos of an equally unfamiliar man.

Dark-haired, green-eyed, sharply dressed in every frame. Smiling stiffly in some. Cold in others.

I backed away from the wall, heart thundering. What the hell was going on?

Have I been… kidnapped?

I ran my fingers through my hair and stumbled toward the main room.

That’s when I saw my phone. Plugged into a charger near the couch.

I quickly snatched it. It was 03:20am. I unlocked it and found twelve missed calls.

Six from Xander.

One from his mother.

Several from Ramona.

A pit formed in my stomach.

I barely had time to process before the phone rang again.

Ramona.

I answered instantly. “Ramona—?”

“Ma'am Andrea!” she cried. “Where are you?! I’ve been calling all night!”

“I… I don’t know where I am. What’s going on?”

“You have to come to the hospital now, ma'am. It’s Liam.”

My knees buckled.

“What happened? What—what’s wrong?!”

“I went to check on since you weren't home yet and I found him unconscious. You have to come, his condition is critical!.” she cried.

I grabbed the wall to steady myself.

“Send me the location. I’m coming.”

I hung up, shoved the phone in my purse, and sprinted barefoot out of the house into the hallway towards the elevators.