Filed to story: My Husband Regrets Divorcing Me (Audrey & Cornell)
She had feelings for him. Nicole had confirmed it.
Desperate, he grasped her arms, pleading, “Audrey, you care for me.
Nicole said you once did. Please, don’t abandon our relationship so easily.”
Audrey gazed at his haggard but still charming face, managing a weak smile.
“Once, I foolishly cared for you, only to realize my mistake. I shouldn’t have fought with Cecilia for your affection. My punishment came swiftly. Losing my grandmother, then my baby. If this continues, I’ll lose my life next!”
Her words struck Cornell like a heavy blow, his body reeling with pain.
Ignoring her resistance, he enveloped her in a tight embrace, his voice rough with emotion.
“My feelings for Cecilia are mere responsibility, nothing romantic. You’re the one I can’t lose!”
But his remorse was too late.
Audrey’s heart had turned icy, beyond thawing.
She couldn’t fight him off, so she demanded angrily, “Let me go!”
“No! I won’t release you!” Cornell declared, his voice shaking.
Letting Audrey go meant possibly losing her forever.
“It’s all my fault. If you want a child, we’ll have another, as many as you wish.
I’ll take care of you all.”
Bowing her head, Audrey sank her teeth into his arm with a fierce tremor.
The audacity of his mentioning having another baby left her in disbelief.
With the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, she bit down harder, holding on until exhaustion overtook her determination, and finally, she released her bite.
Cornell’s shirt, once white, now bore the stark stain of blood, yet he seemed oblivious, his embrace unwavering.
In Audrey’s eyes, a storm of resentment brewed.
“Cornell, do you even deserve this?” she challenged.
Hatred laced every word she uttered.
Her accusations struck Cornell, not with the sting of hatred, but with a deep ache for her suffering.
In a voice heavy with sorrow, he declared, “Audrey, do what you will, but leaving me is not an option.”
The mere thought of her absence constricted his heart Like an unseen force, stealing his breath.
He resolved not to release her, ready to stoop to any low to keep her close.
Audrey, drained, didn’t bother to use another bite to break free from his embrace. She merely gazed blankly at his shoulder and firmly stated, “Cornell, a divorce is inevitable.”
“No! We won’t!” Cornell retorted, his response instinctive, without a hint of doubt.
His embrace softened as she leaned against him. Believing she had conceded, he whispered, “Audrey, please, stay by my side. You can do anything. Just don’t leave…”
Audrey remained silent, yet Cornell’s heart soared in hope, convinced time would sway her.
He couldn’t let go of Audrey. Never in this lifetime. With this thought in mind, he tightened his hold, only to feel dampness seep through his shirt, tainted with the sharp smell of rust.
Releasing her, he was confronted by his once white shirt, now marred with the red of Audrey’s reopened wound.
Time seemed to freeze.
His mind blanked, emptied of thought.
The next instant, panic overtook him.
“Doctor!” he cried, frantically pressing the call button, his voice edged with a loss of control.
Cornell pressed his hand against Audrey’s bleeding wound, and, with a fury that seemed almost lethal, he snarled, “Why won’t you tell me?”
Despite his outburst, Audrey remained stoic and expressionless. Then, she gave him a smile that held no warmth and sneered, “The pain is nothing compared to being with you.”
The hand Cornell had on her wound shook with unrestrained emotion, and his complexion turned deathly pale. It was as though he himself had been stabbed multiple times by a dagger.
He never expected Audrey would harm herself just to divorce him.
Cornell lifted his eyes and fixed them on her.
“Audrey, are you forcing me to make a decision?”
“It’s only because you pushed me first,” Audrey shot back, the corners of her mouth curled into a sneer.
Just then, the door burst open, and a flood of light spilled into the room.
A swarm of doctors and nurses rushed in for Audrey and began tending to her wound.
Audrey’s spleen surgery was evident in the suture on her left upper abdomen. Now, it had split open, revealing a mix of blood and flesh that was a gruesome sight.
Audrey, however, was uncooperative with the medical practitioners.
She extended her bloodstained hand toward Cornell and commanded with a voice heavy with revulsion, “Get him out.”
The attending doctor, a woman in her middle years, looked at Audrey, who reminded her of a shattered porcelain doll, and directed at Cornell with urgency, “Sir, you need to leave now!”
Her request was practical. It was to clear the room for treatment.
However, her voice carried an edge of contempt.
Audrey’s recent ordeal had been grueling: a miscarriage, a ruptured spleen, and head trauma. It had been a battle for the rescue team to stabilize her.
The patient’s recent altercation with this man must be the reason why her wound had reopened.
Despite Cornell’s good looks, he seemed to lack empathy.
As the doctor administered painkillers and began to stitch the wound, she could not help but advise Audrey, “Young lady, your body only belongs to yourself. Don’t hurt yourself for anything or anyone unworthy. You’ll only leave your family grieving…”
Her family? Audrey was in excruciating pain right now. But hearing the doctor’s words, a deeper pain gripped her, and she burst into tears.
Her grandmother, her only family, had passed away.
The baby she had carried was supposed to be her new family, but that too was a dream now lost…
She no longer had a family in this word.
To help her rest, the doctor prescribed a sleeping pill. Finally, after crying for a while, Audrey succumbed to sleep.
Cornell, on the other hand, had been waiting outside the ward the whole time. He was a neat freak to a fault, but he disregarded the blood staining his clothes.
His gaze stayed glued to the ward door, unblinking.
When the attending doctor emerged, Cornell approached her and asked with apparent concern, “How is she?”
“She’s stable now,” the doctor replied, her voice steady and professional.
“But the patient has been through a significant ordeal.
You must be more patient with her. No more stimulation to her. That case, her recovery will be smoother and easier.”
The doctor’s advice seemed to sap the strength right out of Cornell.
He understood that he was the very last person Audrey wanted to see at the moment.
In the next few days, Cornell kept his distance from the ward.
Still, he ensured Audrey’s care was constant. He arranged for four nurses, who worked in shifts, to tend to her around the clock.
These nurses did more than just provide care. They kept a close eye on Audrey and reported back to Cornell on everything from her fluid intake to her dietary habits.
In his office, Cornell stared at a photograph of Audrey’s sleeping face, which was secretly captured by one of the nurses. She looked so serene.
A pang of bitterness welled up in him as he realized she might never look that way with him.
When Matteo entered, he found Cornell near the window. Cornell Looked exhausted and lonely, and Matteo’s heart sank at the sight of this.
Cornell, without turning around, inquired, “How did the investigation go?”
“The kidnappers’ escape went awry,” Matteo answered.