The Day I Walked Away My Empire Began novel Chapter 244

Maybe it didn’t even matter if she’d done it on purpose. At this point, none of that mattered to him. What mattered was that he was furious. The thought of her being with another man made his blood boil. He couldn’t stand it—she had to come back to him. Lover, confidante, whatever. She just couldn’t be with anyone else.

—

At the hot springs, Ruby woke up groggy and instantly panicked when she saw Lucie was gone. Her heart hammered in her chest as she rushed around looking for June, finally spotting her soaking with a bunch of male models.

“Ms. Swanson, Ms. Anderson is missing! Do you know where she went?” Ruby blurted out, voice shaking.

June barely glanced up. “She probably went to take a nap somewhere. Or maybe she ran off with that handsome guy from earlier.” She smirked and shrugged.

Ruby’s face turned white. “No way. Ms. Anderson isn’t like that. Something’s wrong. We need to ask the hotel staff for help!”

June just waved her hand dismissively. “Relax, this place is huge. What could possibly happen? She’s not a kid, you know. Calm down. She probably just went for a massage.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to a cute guy to distract you.”

Ruby wanted to cry. Realizing June wasn’t going to help, she took matters into her own hands, running from one pool to another, calling out as she went.

“Ms. Anderson? Ms. Anderson!” Her voice echoed off the steamy walls. What if Lucie had gotten drunk and slipped under the water? The thought made Ruby’s skin crawl. She ran around like a headless chicken, searching everywhere.

But Lucie was already gone. Steven had taken her.

The hot spring resort connected directly to a five-star hotel, and a lot of guests would head there to spend the night after their soak.

“Oh god, what do I do? Mr. Pitts made it so clear—we were supposed to look after Ms. Anderson.”

Before Elio left, he’d handed out fat bonuses to everyone, making it crystal clear: Lucie’s safety was the top priority. And now she’d vanished.

I have to talk to the staff and get them to check the security cameras.

—

In the presidential suite…

“Steven, please…” Lucie’s voice was barely more than a cracked whisper. She was completely drained, so weak she could barely keep her eyes open. She slipped into unconsciousness.

When they’d first gotten married, Steven had always been so careful with her. The smallest sign of pain or discomfort and he’d stop, gentle and considerate.

Now, it was like he wanted to scare her. He watched her drift off and finally let her be, getting up to light a cigarette, then another, then another, smoke curling through the room.

His head was a mess. Ever since Bria had woken up, he’d agonized over the choice. He loved Lucie, but in the end, he chose Bria. He couldn’t go back on his promises to her.

But something had changed. What they had felt stale, like leftovers that had gone bad. He loved Bria, he really did. She would always matter to him. But whatever spark they’d had was gone. He was willing to make it up to her in other ways, to spend the rest of his life with her if that’s what it took.

But he had one selfish condition. She had to accept Lucie’s presence in his life. He needed her to just let it go, to not stand in the way.

“Where is Ms. Anderson? Is she alright?” Ruby tried to peer around him into the suite.

“Lucie’s sleeping. And she’s not dressed. You really shouldn’t come in.”

Ruby clammed up, at a total loss.

The staff just apologized. “Sorry for disturbing you, sir.”

“My wife and I would like to rest now. Please don’t disturb us again.”

With that, Steven closed the door right in their faces.

Ruby looked helplessly at the staff. “What do we do now?”

One of them tried to reassure her. “Miss, they’re husband and wife. It’s normal for them to be together.”

“But… but they’re divorced!” Ruby protested weakly.

“So? There are plenty of divorced couples who still live together.”

Ruby’s chest felt tight. She didn’t know what to say. And she definitely wasn’t about to argue with Mr. Heath.