Chasing His Rejected Wife

He seemed taken aback by the hostility in my tone. "I do care that you go somewhere safe."

I scoffed and shook my head at the irony. "Safe? Look, it's fine Aiden, you no longer have to pretend to give a damn about me for appearances sake."

Thankfully, the door opened unto Aiden's private lobby, where a number of the other heads of department and their assistants stood.

I made to sweep out the lift in a fit of pique, but his hand caught my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.

"Wait." The quiet command had me baffled. I studied him, but couldn't get a clue as to what he wanted now.

"What is it now?" I tried to tug my arm free, highly conscious of the attention we were garnering.

Aiden's gaze swept through the room, a silent command in his expression that had the other people in the room hastily avert their gazes from us. A tall lanky blond man in a clean cut suit detached himself from the crowd and turned to address them

"Shall we go into the conference room, please." Aiden's executive assistant, Fletcher, cleared his throat and began ushering everyone out of the room. Within seconds, we were alone in the lobby, my wrist still in Aiden's grip.

I tried another futile attempt to break free and settled for glaring at him. "Can you please, let go of me now?"

"I care because despite everything that happened between us, you're still my wife and I have to make sure you're okay." He finally replied, letting go of my wrist.

I rubbed at my reddened wrist and scoffed. "You sure have a funny way of showing your concern. But it's not needed now. Anyway, I won't be your wife for much longer, in fact, if all goes to plan with the divorce proceedings, you'll be a free man by the end of the month."

He watched me for a beat, as though trying to wrap his mind around my reaction. Truth be told, underneath my embarrassment at admitting the truth about my feelings to Aiden, I felt resentment and that resentment had been stewing inside me while I had stopped by the courthouse to pick up the forms that would begin the process of ending our marriage.

I couldn't explain to anyone if asked, but that plate of sandwiches Aiden had offered me Friday night had been like a sort of sad 'eureka' moment for me. I had finally realized that I needed to let go of my feelings for Aiden if I wanted to move on with my life.

"You're right." He thrust his hands in pockets, his expression shut off once more. He strode past me into his office.

I took a deep, shaky breath to calm my nerves and headed towards the conference room. Taking another moment to steel myself for the attention I was sure to get after that scene in the elevator.

I pasted what I hoped could pass for a warm smile on my face and walked inside the conference room. As expected, most of the attention swung my way when I entered, but I ignored the curious looks and headed to a vacant seat.

I greeted my colleagues on each side and busied myself for the next few moments while we waited for the president to make an appearance and start the meeting by exchanging pleasantries and doing some last minute organising of my materials, trying to keep my mind from over analyzing Aiden's words.

Finally, the connecting door to his office swung open and Aiden came in, preceded by a bevy of staff that worked as his assistants.

The room fell silent as long fingers flicked open the buttons of his jacket, his gaze sweeping over the room. Goosebumps formed on my skin as that icy look passed over me even though I kept my head down, my senses were so alert to his presence that I could feel his eyes on me even though I wasn't looking.

My fingers curled tight around the pen in my right hand and I steeled myself and lifted my gaze to meet his boldly. The only visible reaction from him was a slight tick in his jaw as he took a seat at the head of the table, but he held my gaze firmly as we engaged in a silent battle of wills to see who would cave in and look away first.

The tension was palpable to everyone, and it was as though they collectively held their breaths, waiting for Aiden or me to break the silence. No one else dared speak first because of the black cloud that seemed to hang over Aiden and I. I may have some newfound boldness, but I caved first, unable to bear the intensity of that electrifying stare.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he broke the silence. His voice was low and clipped, but it cut through the tension like a knife.

If you're loving the book, nel5s.com is where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you! "Let's get down to business," he said, his eyes still fixed on mine. "We have a lot to discuss."

Everyone seemed to release the collective breath they'd been holding and the meeting began.

Still flustered, I struggled to focus on what was being discussed. My mind kept wandering to Aiden and several times, I caught myself staring at him and forced myself to look away. On his part, he seemed to have dismissed me from his mind, his attention fully on what the head of the HR department was talking about.

I tried to shake the distraction off, focusing on the task at hand, but the more I tried, the more my mind refused to cooperate. It was frustrating and took a toll on my mind in the form of what promised to be a raging headache. Surreptitiously, I rubbed at my temple, trying not to wince, at the stabbing pain that felt as though an arrow had pierced my skull.

"Ms. Brown." I looked up at the mention of my name, my eyes a bit glazed over from the pain.

"Yes?" I replied to Aiden, straightening and keeping my expression neutral.

"The status of the Brookridge hospital." He said, sounding as though he was repeating himself, which was very likely since I hadn't been paying attention. "Give us the report on that." "Oh...yes." My cheeks heated from being caught off guard and I hastily gathered my laptop and material and stood up.

Only to almost fall over as white hot pain lanced through my belly and my vision blurred for a second. It was a miracle I didn't cry out in pain, merely clutched at the edge of the table to steady myself, the pain already thankfully receding. "Are you alright?" Dawn, the head of operations who was seated beside me, leaned close to whisper, her brows furrowed in concern.

"Mmmhmm." I nodded, feeling better now the pain had vanished as though it was never there. "I just stood up too fast is all."

I made my way to the other end of the table where a large, white screen hung behind a podium and began my presentation, taking care to avoid glancing in Aiden's direction.

"And finally, once we're done finalizing the list of equipment that's ready," I added, finishing up with my report, "Supplies should begin by the start of -"

I broke off abruptly and doubled over as pain lanced through me again, so intense that I couldn't even cry out. When I straightened back up, I saw Aiden in the corner of my eye, already halfway out of his chair, his expression one of concern. "Are you okay? Ms. Brown?" Fletcher appeared by my side, equally worried. Another round of pain ripped through me and I felt hot liquid dripping down my legs.

"Oh my god! She's bleeding!" Someone exclaimed and I looked down at my feet to see trickles of blood flowing down my legs.

"Oh no, no no no, please...no!" Terror wrapped a vice around my heart when I realized what was happening. God! Not my baby, please don't let me lose my baby.

I was engulfed in a strong, warm embrace and Aiden barked out a command. "Call 911 and get me a car. Now!"

Terrified, I clutched at his lapel with one hand, the other draped protectively on my stomach. "Help me."

"I'm here. I've got you." He assured me. He bent down and I was lifted off my feet, cradled in his arms. My head felt so heavy, and I was barely clinging to consciousness at this point and I let my eyes drift shut.

"Stay with me, Jess, don't fall asleep now." Was it my imagination or did his voice hold a note of panic. I felt jostling and realized he was running with me in his arms. My lashes fluttered open and I saw him looking at me, and yes, he looked frazzled, on the edge of panic but his expression softened when he saw me open my eyes.

"That's it. Good girl." He praised me. "You'll be okay, I'll get you to the hospital, just stay with me, okay?"

I shook my head, too breathless to speak as yet another wave hit me. This one was like nothing I had ever felt before, shooting through me in waves of agony. I heard a scream, one of pure, visceral pain, someone shouting my name and then nothing but merciful darkness.