Divorce Me Before Death Takes Me, CEO

Chapter 439

Audrey's POV

Henry stared at Rebecca’s crumpled form on the floor. ‘How could she not know who fathered her child?”

| glanced down at the once-formidable woman now reduced to muttering incoherently. Against my better

judgment, | felt a flicker of pity.

“Maybe she didn’t know herself,” | said. “Leo never cared for her. Their marriage was empty. That one night she

got pregnant was probably their only ttogether.”

| watched Rebecca rock back and forth. “Now our DNA tests prove Thalia has zero Parker blood. Leo wasn’t her

father.”

Henry's eyebrows shot up.

“And that’s not all | told her,” | added. “When Leo took Blake on that cruise five years ago, he was meeting

someone from Leonora Sterling’s family. He'd received a letter from the Australian Parkers.”

Henry studiedwith fresh interest. “So beating Thalia was revenge on her, and breaking Rebecca’s mind was

revenge on her?”

| nodded with a small smile. “Three years living with them taughtexactly where to aim.”

“You're nothing like your sister,” Henry remarked.

My smile remained, but my eyes fixed on the wall ahead. “I used to be.”

Down the hall, Charles spoke quietly to a teary-faced Elizabeth while Henry and | stood in silence broken only by

Rebecca’s muttering.

“What now?” Henry asked. “Staying to help with arrangements or going to see Blake?”

| hesitated, glancing toward William's room before sighing. “With my current identity, | shouldn't stay.”

“I'm officially the adopted daughter of Leonora Sterling's sister,” | explained.

Henry let out a dry laugh. “Good point. William tore them apart and drove your adoptive parents out of New York.

Your presence at his funeral would start talk that wouldn't help anyone.”

“Exactly,” | said, trying to mask the bitterness in my voice.

‘lll say goodbye to Mr. Parker,” Henry said. ‘Wait for- we'll visit Blake together.”

| nodded and leaned against the wall as Henry walked into William's room. | pulled out my phone to text the

driver, then sorted through work emails. Even withgone from Sydney, my sister's company Q-elegant kept

running, and my inbox was flooded with things needing my attention.

Mrs. Knox.

I looked up to find Elizabeth standing before me, Rebecca was gone, the guards had left, and we were alone in

the hallway.

Elizabeth studied my face, “Are you Audrey Sinclair?

| stared at her, caught off guard. “You...”

“There's no one else here,” she said, glancing around. “Everyone's gone.”

She faceddirectly. “William’s body has been taken away. Henry's inside with Charles planning the funeral.

We're alone. Tellthe truth.”

1/3

Chapter 439

‘I've always thought... if you were just Audrey's sister, you wouldn't know everything about her past so perfectly.

You wouldn’t understand all her relationships so clearly.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “William once toldand Audrey that we were the two young people he cared

about most. He wantedto never treat Audrey like Rebecca did.”

“I promised him | wouldn't,” she continued. “All these years, | kept that promise. | never cafter Audrey

myself. Sometimes | couldn't control Olivia when she followed Thalia around, but | never started anything.”

Her eyes held mine. “That's why you leftand Olivia alone today, right?”

| raised an eyebrow, took a deep breath, and put my phone away. “Kind of weird, isn’t it? Finding out dead

people can cback?”

Elizabeth stared atfor several seconds before her face relaxed with understanding. “So staying neutral paid

off."

She pressed her lips together. “After the funeral, I'll make Olivia apologize properly for the crap she pulled with

Thalia...”

| waved dismissively. “Don’t bother. | already dealt with Olivia before.”

“If you're really sorry, just give William a proper funeral,” | said. “Make sure he gets the send-off he deserves.”

| glanced past her toward William's room. “You done in there?”

*Yeah, we're finished,” Henry said, appearing behind Elizabeth. “Let's go.”

| nodded and walked past Elizabeth without another glance, following Henry to the elevator.

As we passed, Henry offered Elizabeth a quiet “Goodbye” but kept his focus forward, quickly catching up to walk

beside me.

Five years ago, that shipwreck took her only brother. After Leo died, Elizabeth dropped twenty pounds from grief

and couldn't eat for a month. Since then, she’s kept her distance from everyone except her daughter and

husband.

William once said if his family only cared about his money, he’d cling to life with his last breath just to spite

them. So whenever he got sick, Elizabeth would immediately start fighting with Rebecca over his assets.

Childish, but it worked for her - because every time, he pulled through.

But this time... even if she threatened to blow his fortune on crap, he wouldn't get up to argue with her. It was

finally over.

“Thanks,” | said, closing the car door. “If you hadn’t shown up today, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly.”

Henry leaned back in his seat, expression neutral. “Don’t thank me. | only cbecause Astrid called.”

He turned to me. ‘Did William say anything before he died?”

| shook my head. ‘He couldn't talk anymore.”

“But... | pulled the notepad from my purse. “This is what William wrote at the end.”

Henry frowned as he took it, examining the shaky writing.

After hesitating, | asked what had been bothering me. “Henry, you said after the shipwreck, my sister saved you

without thinking twice, then helped you look

for Blake on the beach... Did she know who Blake was then?”

Henry frowned. “She knew. She went to that cruise specifically to find Blake and his father.”

“But she wasn’t from New York, so getting on board took swork. By the tshe made it to the ballroom,

the party was ending.”

His brow deepened. “She hadn't even gotten to talk to Blake and his father when everything went to hell.”

2/3

Chapter 439

*Her savingmight've been a mistake, but she jumped in the water fast. She had diving gear with her, almost

like she knew something bad was going to happen...”

Henry sighed heavily.

My breath caught in my throat. Leo boarded that cruise with Blake because of news about Leonora. My sister

went there alone, somehow knowing disaster was coming, and immediately saved a man she thought was

Blake...

My hands clenched tight. | was starting to see what happened that day.

After seeing Henry off, | stood outside the hospital, getting sfresh air. I'd just sent Ethan back to look after

Blake when my phone rang. Seeing Mrs. Wilson's number, | took a moment to compose myself before answering.

“Mrs. Wilson,” I answered.

“Mrs. Par Knox, cAstrid’s mother’s nervous voice. “Is this a good tto talk?”

| smiled despite myself. “It’s fine. Just callAudrey - ‘Mrs. Knox’ feels weird.”

“Oh good, good!” Her relief was obvious. “Astrid toldabout your fake death and new identity. She said not to

call unless it’s an emergency, and to call you Mrs. Knox to keep your secret...”

| smiled more genuinely. “Don’t need to worry so much anymore.”

Chapter Comments

LIKE

POST COMMENT NOW

SHARE

DivorceBefore Death Takes Me, CEO