Chapter 13
Hayes bolted from the wedding venue without looking back, not even stopping to change out of his tuxedo as he raced toward Lennox’s apartment.
He had to find Lennox and get answers. Why would she give up their engagement?
He drove like a maniac, running several red lights before screeching to a stop outside her building. He rushed upstairs, only to find her door standing
open.
“Len…”
He pushed inside, the word dying in his throat.
Lennox wasn’t there. Just her best friend Suri and some stranger.
Hayes frowned. “What are you doing here? Where’s Len?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting married today? What are you doing here?”
Suri shot back, her tone sharp.
The two voices collided, freezing the air between them.
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Suri recovered first, turning to the man and saying quietly, “Sorry, let’s call it a day.” After he left and closed the door, she finally looked back at Hayes.
“Len asked me to sell this apartment. I was showing it to a buyer.”
“Sell it?”
Hayes went pale. Lennox had given away their engagement, and now she was selling the apartment too.
So where was she going?
He fumbled for his phone with shaking hands, dialing Lennox’s number,
“Ring… ring…”
Before the third ring, a cold automated voice cut through: “The number you have dialed is no longer in service…”
Hayes‘ grip on the phone tightened..
Impossible!
He tried two more times, but got the same emotionless message.
Finally realizing something was seriously wrong, he looked up at Suri sharply. “Why is she selling the apartment? Where the hell is she now?”
Suri shook her head. “I don’t know where she went. Len didn’t say. As for the apartment…” She paused. “She said she’s never coming back, so she wanted me to sell it.”
E
His heart felt like it was being crushed by an invisible fist, the pain making his vision blur and his limbs go numb.
Never coming back…
From the moment she gave up their engagement, had she already decided not to leave him any way back to her?
Suri watched his devastated expression, remembering the hollow look in Lennox’s eyes before she left. She finally couldn’t hold back her frown:
15:19
A Billion–Dollar Goodbye: Too Late for Second Chances. Mr. Ex
9.6%
Chapter 13
“Mr. Montgomery, you’re standing here in your wedding tuxedo after marrying someone else, and you’re asking about Len? What’s the point?”
“I didn’t!” Hayes protested. “I had no idea the bride would be Raina! The only person I ever wanted to marry was Len!”
His lips were white as paper. “I don’t understand why she left… why she gave up our engagement…”
A flash of surprise crossed Suri’s eyes.
So he really didn’t know? She’d assumed this whole mess was something they’d planned together.
She pressed her lips together, her tone growing colder: “Mr. Montgomery, I’ve known Len for over ten years. She’s not the type to do something like this without reason.”
“If you hadn’t done something to completely break her heart, how could she have left so decisively?”
“Before she left, she was nothing but skin and bones.”
Suri looked at him with pity in her eyes. “Did you ever see her like that? Someone who used to be so vibrant and bold, standing there like frost–killed grass with no light left in her eyes.”
“Since you could hurt her that badly, why put on this act now like you can’t live without her?”
Suri’s words hit him like needles, piercing his heart over and over.
“I… I didn’t do anything…” Hayes felt genuinely confused.
He thought about how Lennox had changed lately, seemingly starting from that dress fitting day. The earthquake, when he’d abandoned Lennox to get
Raina out first.
Then he’d lied about being busy that day, and immediately after, Lennox had sold everything he’d given her.
Later, because of Raina, he’d had Lennox locked up for three days. But that was just to teach her some restraint, to make her less impulsive.
And there was that time he’d stood up her mother’s memorial service to be with Raina.
The more he thought about it, the more horrified he became.
He suddenly remembered what his secretary had said: “If you don’t like Miss Raina, then don’t be so good to her–it’s breaking Miss Lennox’s heart…”
So Lennox had known about all his lies, had known everything he’d done for Raina.
In her eyes, did she think he’d fallen for Raina too?
Hayes dug his nails into his palms until they broke skin, the sharp pain making him flinch. But that physical pain was nothing compared to what was tearing through his chest.
What the hell had he done?
All the strength drained from his body at once. Hayes looked at Suri, his eyes desperate:
“Please. Tell me where she went?!”
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