Divorce Me Before Death Takes Me, CEO novel Chapter 419

Chapter 419

Audrey’s POV

No one answered. They just stared at me with confused expressions, exchanging uncomfortable glances. My heart pounded harder with each passing second

of silence.

An elderly man with white hair finally stepped closer, squinting at my phone. He studied Astrid’s picture carefully, then shook his head.

“Don’t think it was her, but it all happened so fast,” he said. “Everything was chaos…”

I asked several more people, but got only shrugs and blank looks. Nobody could tell me anything useful.

The white-haired man thought for a moment, then pointed down the street. “The mortuary van went that way. Probably to the funeral home in Lower Manhattan. If you’re worried, you should head there now while you can.”

I bit my lip, thanked him, and hurried to flag down another taxi. Every second felt like eternity as I clutched Astrid’s bloodied necklace.

*Manhattan South Funeral Home,” I told the driver. “Hurry, please.”

Inside the taxi, my entire body shook. I gripped the necklace so hard my knuckles turned white, the metal digging into my palm. Sweat soaked my hands as panic swelled in my chest.

Astrid can’t die. She just can’t…

My heart felt like it was being roasted over an open flame. Even when I was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I hadn’t felt this desperate.

With trembling hands, I called Blake again.

‘Can you help me…” My voice broke.

“What’s happening?” Blake asked immediately.

‘I need you to check traffic cameras,” I managed. “I just found Astrid’s necklace in a pool of blood at an accident scene.”

I stared at the silver pendant, now smeared with drying blood.

*People said a girl died on the spot and was taken to a funeral home,” I continued, fighting to keep my voice steady. “I’m heading there now.”

“Can you check the cameras? I need to know if it was Astrid who…” I couldn’t finish.

“Try to stay calm, Blake said firmly. “Astrid’s tough. Which funeral home are you going to?”

“Lower Manhattan.”

I’ll check the footage and meet you there, okay?”

“Thanks,” I said quietly.

‘She doesn’t have enemies, Blake reassured me. ‘It won’t be her.”

“What was she doing when you last saw her?” he asked.

“Following your mom and sister,” I answered. “She wanted to see how broken up they’d be about your ‘death.”

Years ago, I took his voice as my everything. Every word he spoke made me feel safe.

1/3

Chapter 419

But since I stopped loving him, that feeling disappeared.

Yet now, hearing Blake’s calm assurance, I felt that security again, just slightly.

The taxi pulled up to the funeral home just as I ended the call. A black town car was already parked outside, and Felix was helping someone out of the back seat – a man in black clothes, hat and mask covering his face. I recognized Blake immediately.

Instead of a wheelchair, Felix’s assistant handed him crutches. Blake took them and made his way unsteadily toward the entrance.

When he spotted me, he stopped and balanced himself, raising one hand to wave me over.

“Let’s go,” he said simply.

I walked over, frowning as I looked him up and down. ‘No wheelchair?”

“Too obvious,” Blake replied. “Everyone knows Blake Parker as the guy in the wheelchair.”

He adjusted his grip. “Not many know I can actually stand with crutches.”

His mouth twitched. “Not even my mother, sister, or fiancée know.”

My expression hardened at the mention of Rebecca and Thalia. If Astrid had been following them and ended up dead…

Felix glanced between us. “Come on. The sooner we get in there, the sooner we’ll know.”

I pressed my lips together and nodded. Despite my dread, I had to know.

If it really is Astrid, Rebecca and Thalia have to be behind this!

I’m terrified of seeing her broken and lifeless…

Rachel already destroyed my world once. I can’t lose Astrid too…

As we walked down the corridor, I asked quietly, “Did you check the cameras?”

Blake frowned, concentrating on his crutches. “That section had cameras.”

“But?”

“Someone disabled them right when the accident happened,” he said. “We couldn’t find anything except the mortuary van leaving.”

He paused. “I still don’t think it was Astrid, or that my family was involved.”

‘How can you be so sure?” I asked.

“I know them,” Blake replied. “They don’t have the skills to delete surveillance footage. They don’t know anyone who could hack systems like that.”

I stopped walking and faced him, eyes cold. “Astrid was following your mother and sister. That’s a fact.”

“You think they’re innocent because they’re family,” I continued sharply. “Just like before our divorce, when you pretended they weren’t bullying me.”

I laughed bitterly. “Actually, that’s wrong. You knew exactly what they were doing. You just chose them over me because they were family and I was just an ‘outsider.”

Blake’s face went pale. “Audrey, I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” I shook my head. “What good is that now? Your apologies don’t erase what happened.”

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