Chapter 5

Cole's POV

A week later, Sophia was finally discharged.

"I want to bring Livy back too," Cole said as he helped her toward the car. "She went through surgery as well."

Sophia smiled. "Of course. I need to thank her properly."

For just a second, jealousy flashed in her eyes. Cole didn't notice.

Cole went back to the hospital. The nurse at the desk shook her head.

"Miss Morrison checked out days ago, sir."

"Days ago?" Cole's chest tightened. "Where did she go?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have that information."

Cole got back in the car looking lost. Sophia asked where Livy was. He said he didn't know. Sophia comforted him, saying maybe Livy had gone home already.

Cole thought she was right. He drove straight back to the estate. He told Sophia to go rest in her room, then went to find Livy in hers. But her room was empty. His panic grew.

He drove to Livy's mother's beach house. The gate was locked. Every window was dark. The whole place looked abandoned.

Cole walked up to the security booth. "Has the owner been here recently?"

The guard flipped through his log. "That lady left a long time ago, sir. Haven't seen her come back."

"How long ago?"

"About a week maybe? She loaded up her car and left. Never returned."

Cole stood there staring at the dark house.

Where did she go?

He tried calling her number. Disconnected.

His heart started racing. This wasn't right. Livy wouldn't just vanish. She always came back. She always waited for him.

When Cole got back to the estate, Sophia was in the living room arranging flowers, waiting for him.

"Did you find her?" Her voice was light and casual.

"No." Cole collapsed onto the couch. His mind went blank.

The doorbell rang. A courier with a package.

Sophia signed for it and tore it open. She couldn't help but gasp at what was inside.

"It's divorce papers!"

Cole's head snapped up. He crossed the room in two steps and grabbed the documents from her hands.

Divorce petition. Filed and signed. His signature at the bottom of every page. Livy's signature right above his.

He suddenly remembered those "compensation documents." That's what they actually were. She'd buried the divorce papers in the middle of that stack. He'd signed everything without even reading the first page.

"Find out where she went," Cole said on the phone to his assistant. "Check everything. Flights, hotels, everything."

Sophia clutched his arm, bouncing slightly. "She finally agreed to divorce! Cole, this is wonderful! You can marry me now!"

Cole looked at her. Her face full of joy. Her eyes flashing with triumph.

"I'll give you a big engagement party," he said quietly. "A public one."

She threw her arms around him. "Really? Oh Cole, I'm so happy!"

He stood there stiffly as she hugged him.

His mind was full of one thought. Livy still loved him. She had to. This divorce was just another game. When she saw the engagement announcement, she'd come back.

One week later, Cole threw an engagement party at the Long Island beach estate.

Everything was too rushed, but he'd still contacted every media outlet in New York. Every newspaper, every website would run the story. Livy would definitely see it.

Sophia looked radiant in her white cocktail dress. She kept squeezing his hand, chattering nonstop about wedding plans.

Cole barely heard her. His eyes kept drifting to the entrance, half-expecting to see Livy walk through the door.

Halfway through the reception, the crowd suddenly parted.

His parents stood in the doorway.

His mother marched straight toward him. Her face twisted with rage Cole had never seen before.

The slap echoed across the entire hall.

"Where is Livy?" Lillian's voice shook. "What did you do to her? Why the hell are you marrying this woman?"

Cole's cheek burned. Every guest was staring. Camera flashes went off everywhere.

"Mom, please." He kept his voice low. "Go home. I'll explain everything later."

"Explain what?" His father Richard's voice cut like ice. "That you threw away the girl your mother and I raised? The girl we treated like our own daughter?"

"I'll explain when I get home—"

"We don't want your explanations." Lillian looked at him with disgust. "We don't even want to see you right now."

She turned and walked away. Richard followed without a word.

Every guest watched them leave. Whispers filled the room.

Sophia grabbed Cole's hand and squeezed. "Don't worry about them. They'll understand once they calm down."

Cole pulled his hand away and headed for the bar.

Twenty minutes later, they were back inside for the ring exchange.

Cole and Sophia stood on a small stage at the front of the ballroom. An officiant began talking about love and commitment.

Cole's mind was somewhere else entirely. He kept scanning the crowd for Livy's face.

Suddenly the sound system crackled with feedback.

Then a voice filled the room.

"Just do exactly what I tell you and you'll get fifty thousand dollars."

Sophia's voice.

Cole's blood turned to ice.

"Fake the leukemia diagnosis. Make it look severe. Stage four, terminal. That way no one will ever know the truth."

A man's voice, hesitant. "Miss Vanderbilt, this is fraud. If anyone finds out, I'll lose my medical license—"

"They won't find out. Just do it and take the money."

The ballroom erupted. Camera flashes went off like lightning everywhere.

Sophia's face went white. "That's not real! Someone faked that recording! It's fake!"

She grabbed Cole's arm. "Cole, you have to believe me—"

Cole's assistant suddenly appeared and shoved a thick folder into his hands.

"Sir, you need to see this."

Cole opened it with shaking hands.

The first page was a medical record from New York Presbyterian. Patient: Olivia Morrison. The date was exactly the day Cole was kidnapped.

Diagnosis: Severe head trauma, broken ribs, internal bleeding. Patient jumped from cliff to draw away armed assailants. Currently in medically induced coma.

There was a photo attached. Livy unconscious in a hospital bed, covered in bandages, hooked up to machines.

She was the one who saved him. Not Sophia.

Cole's hands started shaking so hard he almost dropped the folder.

He flipped to the next document. Several photos showing that night he'd entered Livy's room. Livy had left before he woke up, and then Sophia had gone in.

The baby Livy lost was his. That night when he'd been drugged, when he couldn't remember anything.

The third document was Sophia's real medical records from three different hospitals.

Every single test was negative. Everything had been fabricated. She was never sick.

The papers slipped from Cole's hands.

"Cole, please—" Sophia reached for him, tears streaming down her face.

"Don't." His voice broke. "Don't touch me."

The cameras kept flashing. Reporters shouted questions. Security tried to push people back but no one was leaving.

Cole stood alone on the stage, completely cut off from the world.

Livy had saved his life and he'd accused her of abandoning him.

Livy had carried his child and he'd accused her of cheating.

Livy had given him everything and he'd given her nothing but pain.

He'd destroyed Livy.