Chasing His Rejected Wife

I barely restrained myself from driving like a mad woman back to Skye manor in my haste to search for the box. I still hadn't come up with a plan yet, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. If push came to shove, I would sneak into Aiden's bedroom. The mere thought alone had me in a white knuckled grip on the wheel. If Aiden should catch me snooping around his room, I didn't want to think about the consequences. Still, I had an advantage since he was still at the hospital and would most likely be there for a while.

I pulled into the garage and hurried out of the car, hoping I wouldn't encounter anyone to delay me. I took the bar entrance and slipped inside the manor undiscovered. Holding my breath, I snuck down the hallway to Aiden's room. Muttering a prayer, I opened the door, relieved to find it unlocked and quickly entered, shutting the door behind me. I took a moment to get my bearings and began my search. I moved towards the bed where I had dropped it the last time, but of course, the box was not there after all this time. Aiden may have moved it somewhere else, but I was hopeful it was still somewhere inside the room.

"C'mon, c'mon...where did you keep it?" I muttered under my breath as I crossed to his dresser and began carefully rummaging through the neatly folded clothes. With a sigh of frustration, I moved elsewhere, my search turning frantic with every passing moment.

Finally, with a cry of triumph, I spotted it in one of the drawers of his desk.

"Now, I just need the key." I rummaged through the rest of the drawers but found nothing. I didn't want to risk being caught by lingering too long, so after carefully making sure nothing was out of place, I left the room.

Few steps away from the room, I ran into Aiden's grandmother, coming my way. I tucked the box safely out of sight and pasted a smile on my face, which she did not return.

Sarah cast a critical look over me. "What are you doing here?"

"I forgot some important papers in my room so I came back for it." I lied. I'd canceled my trip to Winsconsin after the accident and had returned back to my home while Aiden remained in Skye Manor to be close to the hospital. She nodded. "Have you gone to the hospital yet? If you haven't, I have some packed food for her since the food there is not fit for humans."

"I just came back from there." I responded. She frowned as though it was my fault for going too early. "But it's not a problem, I can swing by on my way home and drop it off."

She grunted and turned away. "Come, then, the food is in the kitchen."

In the kitchen, she handed me a picnic basket packed with delicious smelling food. "I made enough for Aiden as well. Make sure he eats it, it's the least you can do."

I flushed, feeling guilty even though I knew there was nothing to feel guilty about. Sarah had been very vocal in her disapproval of Julian forcing Aiden to marry me, and like her grandson, she believed I was involved in the scheme with Julian and had treated me coldly since then.

"I'll try my best." I assured her, taking the heavy basket.

Minutes later, a basket of food in one hand and a metal box in the other, I drove out of the manor and headed back to the hospital. Contrary to Sarah's wishes, I dropped off the food at the nurses station with instructions then headed out again, this time though, I set a course for downtown Manhattan.

Opening the box without a key was impossible, so I was going to do the next best thing.

****

"We're not open until five." A female voice called out as I stepped into the dimly lit interior of the bar, the bells above the door jingling to signal my arrival. I looked in the direction the voice came from, my eyes struggling in the almost non existent light.

I could just make out the form hunched over a laptop in the far corner and began weaving through tables with chairs stacked upside down on their surfaces, almost losing my balance on a patch of wet floor, a mop and bucket lying discarded nearby.

"I said we're closed. Get lost." The person called out again, irritation lacing their tone. "If you can't wait to get a start on damaging your liver with alcohol, then try that fancy place on 10th street."

"That place has got no character to speak of." I replied, a wide grin on my face. "And their craft beer tastes like shit."

At the sound of my voice, the person looked up from the computer screen, brown eyes wide in surprise and I got a clearer view of my friend.

Short, and with pink hair in a pixie cut that framed deceptively delicate looks, full sleeve of tattoos that contrasted with brightly colored clothing, Anna looked like if bubble gum pop and grunge goth got together and had had a baby. "Jess! You bitch!" She popped to her feet and hugged me, then pulled back to run her eyes over me. "So, you're still alive eh? I thought you'd dropped off the face of the earth since that night we got wasted together." "Yep, still alive." I grinned, my dull mood lightening as I hugged her once more. "I'm glad to see you, again. How are you?"

"Hungover, but okay." She shrugged. "How about you? You looked exhausted, the funeral kicked your ass, huh?"

"That's not the only thing kicking my ass." I grimaced and took a seat, my back was killing me. "I feel like life's just been having fun tossing all sorts of shit my way."

"Uh uh. Sounds like you need a drink. Matter of fact, I do too, and you can tell me all about what's been happening."

Gods! I would sell my unborn child for a drink right now. I gazed longingly at the bar, wishing I could take just one sip then sighed and shook my head, declining her offer.

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"I can't drink." I said mournfully. "I'll just have some sparkling water, please."

"Sparkling water? Girl, this isn't Orange," she said, naming the high end bar a few blocks from here with derision. "Is this because you're driving? No worries, you can call that fancy ass driver of yours to come get you later or call for a rideshare. C'mon, I'll fix your favorite poison."

"I'm pregnant, Anna." I blurted out. "So, yeah..."

There was a stunned silence between us and I waited for the barrage of questions to start.

"What?" Her shriek threatened to cause irreparable damage to my eardrums. "How?"

I raised a brow. "Umm..didn't your dad give you the birds and bees talk yet?"

Anna rolled her eyes, still in shock. "Of course I know about sex, but I thought you weren't getting any? Last time, that's all you would talk about, how you wished Aiden would fuck you at least once."

My face heated in embarrassment. "Geez, do you have to be so explicit?"

"I'm only repeating what came out of your own mouth." Anna grinned, then quickly sobered up. "So, what happened? Did he finally do you or did you do it with someone else?"

"I didn't cheat on my husband." I replied, then added miserably. "But he definitely cheated on me on the same night he had sex with me and now she's pregnant too." Anna's eyes looked like they would fall off their sockets. "Explain. Now."