After He Called Me Trouble, I Quit Him

Chapter 4

For a moment, Hailey's heart seemed to stop.

She clenched her fists and pushed the door open before Julian could answer. The room went still.

Mia's lashes fluttered, and she instinctively stepped back. "Mother..."

Julian remained composed and cold.

Hailey looked at them without a word. Then she turned, went downstairs, and walked out of the estate.

As soon as the door closed, she found her friend Ryan Brooks's number and called.

He answered almost at once, raising his voice over deafening music. "Hailey? Am I dreaming? You're actually calling me?"

After marrying Julian, she'd stopped clubbing and racing because he disapproved. Gradually, she'd lost touch with her friends too.

Ignoring Ryan's teasing, she looked at a streetlight. "Ryan, I want to race."

He was silent for a few seconds. "Are you serious?"

She said nothing. As though afraid she'd change her mind, he hurried on.

"Absolutely. I'll set it up. Meet me at the usual place in 30 minutes."

She'd just hung up when the butler spoke behind her.

"Mrs. Bennett, Mr. Bennett would like you to come back inside."

She turned and saw Julian on the upstairs balcony, looking down at her.

Meeting his gaze, she raised her voice. "Tell him I'm not coming back."

The butler hesitated and glanced up at Julian.

Hailey had already turned away and ordered a car. Then the butler's phone rang.

"Give her the phone," Julian instructed.

The butler obeyed. Puzzled, Hailey took it.

"This is a family dinner," Julian said coldly. "Walking out is extremely rude."

"A family dinner?" Her mouth twisted in self-mockery. "Julian, have any of you ever treated me like family?"

After a brief silence, he said, "Hailey, Mimi's a child. You're her mother. Do you really need to hold this against her?"

His words hurt.

'So somehow this is still my fault?'

Her car arrived just then.

Julian's gaze darkened. "Where are you going?"

"Wherever I want."

She tossed the phone back to the butler, opened the car door, and got in.

'If I'm not good enough to be his wife or Mia's mother, why should I keep begging for their approval?'

The car sped away and disappeared into the night.

On the balcony, Julian watched it go, unreadable emotion flickering in his eyes.

Behind him, Mia pressed her lips together. "Father, is Mother... blaming me?"

He looked back at her. "You shouldn't have said that."

Mia lowered her eyes and fell silent.

Elsewhere, on a closed, disused highway, Hailey accepted a helmet from Ryan. Her leather jacket and pants made her look every bit her old self.

"You haven't done this in 7 or 8 years," he teased. "Still think you've got it, Ms. Blake?"

Her body might have been 10 years older, but her mind wasn't. Just before she'd traveled through time, she'd finished racing with Ryan and their friends and spent the night at a bar.

She swung onto the motorcycle and flipped him the bird. "Give it another ten years. You still won't stand a chance."

The engine roared to life, and she shot into the darkness, gone in a heartbeat.

*****

After 1 hour, they were at Nightfall Bar.

"Cheers!" Glasses clinked together.

Hailey drained hers. For the first time that night, the pressure in her chest began to ease.

"Look at you. You haven't lost your touch." Ryan grinned. "So what happened with Julian? Didn't you say he hated this stuff and you weren't coming out anymore?"

At Julian's name, her smile faded. Everything that had happened at the Bennett Estate came back, bringing a fresh surge of bitterness.

'Should've known better than to put myself through that.'

She set down her glass and looked seriously at Ryan. "What do you think my chances are of divorcing Julian?"

"What?"

She pulled him closer and raised her voice beside his ear. "I said, I want a divorce from Julian!"

The bar fell silent.

Still absorbed in her own thoughts, Hailey didn't notice. Ryan saw something over her shoulder, stiffened, and started signaling frantically with his eyes.

She frowned. "What's wrong with your eyes?"

He covered his face and turned away helplessly.

Only then did she realize everyone had stopped to stare at her.

Unease prickled through her. Instinctively, she looked back.

Beneath the shifting lights, Julian stood with dark eyes and an icy expression.

"Hailey, what did you just say?"