Chapter 14
Jul 18, 2025
Landon’s POV
I woke up with a pounding headache and the bitter aftertaste of whiskey still clinging to the back of my throat. My mouth was dry, my body sore, and my brain felt like it had been torn apart and stitched back together by someone who didn’t know what they were doing.
But even that kind of pain didn’t come close to the one that stayed buried in my chest, the ache of missing my wife. Emery had been gone for six weeks, and I still couldn’t breathe right without her.
The night before played back in flashes, snapping at the investigator, shouting at Marian, whispering Emery’s name into a room that had nothing left of her.
Every corner of the house felt colder now, stripped of warmth, hollow in places that used to hold life.
I didn’t bother with anything clean. I grabbed the first shirt I could find, left the buttons crooked, and forced myself down the stairs.
The house was already moving around me—dishes clinking in the kitchen, someone flipping the newspaper in the other room like it was just another morning.
When I walked into the dining room, I didn’t say a word. My mother was seated at the head of the table, drinking her coffee with the same calm expression she wore at every crisis she helped cause.
Lily sat next to her, thumbing through her phone like the world didn’t matter.
I pulled out a chair, sat down, and reached for a glass of water. My head throbbed like someone had driven nails through it.
“You should call Marian,” my mother said, not even bothering to look at me.
Lily chimed in without lifting her eyes. “She’s been asking about you.”
I kept my eyes on the glass in my hand. “Not interested.”
That made my mother look up, her tone going sharp. “Landon, at some point you’re going to have to move forward.”
I slammed the glass down hard enough to make the silverware jump. “I said I’m not interested.”
The silence that followed was instant and perfect. No one spoke, no one breathed. I stood up without another word and walked out, not bothering to explain myself.
Let them sit in their confusion for once. I was done playing politely.
Upstairs, I grabbed my phone off the charger, my pulse already racing. There was one missed call, no name. I hit redial without thinking, praying it wasn’t another dead end.
The line barely rang once.
“Mr. Remington,” the investigator said. “I’ve got something. Real this time.”
My heart stalled. “Go.”
“There’s an alias, Rose. Someone used it to fill a prenatal prescription at a pharmacy on the coast. Paid in cash, no ID, but the pharmacist remembered her. Said she had dark hair, kind eyes, and a slight accent. Looked exhausted but polite.”
I closed my eyes, swallowing hard. “Are you sure it’s her?”
“As sure as I’ve ever been,” he said. “I’m betting everything on it.”
He waited for a response. I didn’t speak right away. The name, the place, the description—it was too close. It had to be her.
“I can send someone ahead to-”
“No,” I cut in. “I’ll go myself.”
I hung up, already moving. I didn’t waste time changing. I shoved a few clothes into a small overnight bag, plain stuff, nothing that screamed CEO.
I tossed in my wallet, some cash, and my phone charger. No staff, no driver. I didn’t tell my mother, didn’t leave Lily a note.
Marian wouldn’t hear a word from me.
This wasn’t about any of them, this was about Emery, the woman I’d pushed too far. The woman I still loved. The one carrying the only piece of me I hadn’t managed to screw up completely.
I was halfway down the front steps when the butler met me at the door. “Sir, should I bring the car around?”
I shook my head. “I’m driving.”
The air hit me like a slap, cold and sharp, slicing through the fog in my head. I climbed into the driver’s seat, threw the bag on the passenger side, and started the engine.
I didn’t need directions. No GPS. I knew the coast, and now I had a name. Rose.
A pharmacy. Prenatal vitamins. A woman with kind eyes who looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks.
I tightened my grip on the wheel, the sound of the engine rising as I pulled away from the estate and headed toward something that finally felt real.
This time, I wouldn’t stop until I found her. And when I did, I wasn’t letting go.
