Divorce Me Before Death Takes Me, CEO novel Chapter 439

Chapter 439

Audrey’s POV

Henry stared at Rebecca’s crumpled form on the floor. ‘How could she not know who fathered her child?”

I glanced down at the once-formidable woman now reduced to muttering incoherently. Against my better judgment, I felt a flicker of pity.

“Maybe she didn’t know herself,” I said. “Leo never cared for her. Their marriage was empty. That one night she got pregnant was probably their only time together.’

I watched Rebecca rock back and forth. “Now our DNA tests prove Thalia has zero Parker blood. Leo wasn’t her father.”

Henry’s eyebrows shot up.

“And that’s not all I told her,” I added. “When Leo took Blake on that cruise five years ago, he was meeting someone from Leonora Sterling’s family. He’d received a letter from the Australian Parkers.”

Henry studied me with fresh interest. “So beating Thalia was revenge on her, and breaking Rebecca’s mind was revenge on her?”

I nodded with a small smile. “Three years living with them taught me exactly where to aim.”

“You’re nothing like your sister,” Henry remarked.

My smile remained, but my eyes fixed on the wall ahead. “I used to be.”

Down the hall, Charles spoke quietly to a teary-faced Elizabeth while Henry and I stood in silence broken only by Rebecca’s muttering.

“What now?” Henry asked. “Staying to help with arrangements or going to see Blake?”

I hesitated, glancing toward William’s room before sighing. “With my current identity, I shouldn’t stay.”

“I’m officially the adopted daughter of Leonora Sterling’s sister,” I explained.

Henry let out a dry laugh. “Good point. William tore them apart and drove your adoptive parents out of New York. Your presence at his funeral would start talk that wouldn’t help anyone.”

“Exactly,” I said, trying to mask the bitterness in my voice.

‘Ill say goodbye to Mr. Parker,” Henry said. ‘Wait for me – we’ll visit Blake together.”

I nodded and leaned against the wall as Henry walked into William’s room. I pulled out my phone to text the driver, then sorted through work emails. Even with me gone from Sydney, my sister’s company Q-elegant kept running, and my inbox was flooded with things needing my attention.

Mrs. Knox.

I looked up to find Elizabeth standing before me, Rebecca was gone, the guards had left, and we were alone in the hallway.

Elizabeth studied my face, “Are you Audrey Sinclair?

I stared at her, caught off guard. “You…”

“There’s no one else here,” she said, glancing around. “Everyone’s gone.”

She faced me directly. “William’s body has been taken away. Henry’s inside with Charles planning the funeral. We’re alone. Tell me the truth.”

1/3

Chapter 439

‘I’ve always thought… if you were just Audrey’s sister, you wouldn’t know everything about her past so perfectly. You wouldn’t understand all her relationships so clearly.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “William once told me and Audrey that we were the two young people he cared about most. He wanted me to never treat Audrey like Rebecca did.”

“I promised him I wouldn’t,” she continued. “All these years, I kept that promise. I never came after Audrey myself. Sometimes I couldn’t control Olivia when she followed Thalia around, but I never started anything.”

Her eyes held mine. “That’s why you left me and Olivia alone today, right?”

I raised an eyebrow, took a deep breath, and put my phone away. “Kind of weird, isn’t it? Finding out dead people can come back?”

Elizabeth stared at me for several seconds before her face relaxed with understanding. “So staying neutral paid off.”

She pressed her lips together. “After the funeral, I’ll make Olivia apologize properly for the crap she pulled with Thalia…”

I waved dismissively. “Don’t bother. I already dealt with Olivia before.”

“If you’re really sorry, just give William a proper funeral,” I said. “Make sure he gets the send-off he deserves.”

I glanced past her toward William’s room. “You done in there?”

*Yeah, we’re finished,” Henry said, appearing behind Elizabeth. “Let’s go.”

I nodded and walked past Elizabeth without another glance, following Henry to the elevator.

As we passed, Henry offered Elizabeth a quiet “Goodbye” but kept his focus forward, quickly catching up to walk beside me.

Five years ago, that shipwreck took her only brother. After Leo died, Elizabeth dropped twenty pounds from grief and couldn’t eat for a month. Since then, she’s kept her distance from everyone except her daughter and husband.

William once said if his family only cared about his money, he’d cling to life with his last breath just to spite them. So whenever he got sick, Elizabeth would immediately start fighting with Rebecca over his assets. Childish, but it worked for her – because every time, he pulled through.

But this time… even if she threatened to blow his fortune on crap, he wouldn’t get up to argue with her. It was finally over.

“Thanks,” I said, closing the car door. “If you hadn’t shown up today, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.”

Henry leaned back in his seat, expression neutral. “Don’t thank me. I only came because Astrid called.”

He turned to me. ‘Did William say anything before he died?”

I shook my head. ‘He couldn’t talk anymore.”

“But… I pulled the notepad from my purse. “This is what William wrote at the end.”

Henry frowned as he took it, examining the shaky writing.

After hesitating, I asked what had been bothering me. “Henry, you said after the shipwreck, my sister saved you without thinking twice, then helped you look

for Blake on the beach… Did she know who Blake was then?”

Henry frowned. “She knew. She went to that cruise specifically to find Blake and his father.”

“But she wasn’t from New York, so getting on board took some work. By the time she made it to the ballroom, the party was ending.”

His brow deepened. “She hadn’t even gotten to talk to Blake and his father when everything went to hell.”

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