Page 127 of The Accidental Wife

“He will be. Please just calm down.” He assures me, and I shake my head.

“Stop telling me to calm down Josh. I can’t sit here anymore. I want to be out there looking for him.” I sniffle, and Josh shakes his head.

“He hasn’t left the country. His jet, his yacht, his helicopter, they’re all here, so it’s only a matter of time before someone sees him and reports it. Is there anywhere that you two went together that he might have gone? I checked that place by the river. He wasn’t there.”

I shake my head, unable to think of a place we shared. “No, I don’t think so,” I confess, closing my eyes. “Josh, I’m so scared,” I whisper, and he nods, taking my hands into his squeezing them supportively.

“He’ll be back, you’ll see.” He assures me, and I nod, an endless stream of tears running down my face. “You should get some rest; you look exhausted.” I shake my head, closing my eyes.

“I can’t, not until I know he’s okay.” Josh nods and presses a kiss to my forehead, and hugs me. I lay my head on his shoulder and sob. Josh sat by my side the entire time the police came over to ask me questions. Another twenty-four hours go by, and the pain in my chest grows tenfold. Where was he? How could he do this to me? I wanted to be at his apartment if he came back, but I couldn’t, because his parents and Sophie were there, and I didn’t dare to face them. I was going out of my mind with worry, pacing the house, waiting and praying for some news that he’s okay. But nothing came. The evening of the second night, there was a knock on the door, once again, I rush to the door thinking it was Cole, but I come face to face with a distraught Sophie. Oh God, have they heard something? Did they find him? Was he hurt?

“Sophie?” I whisper, and she glares at me with those icy blue eyes of hers.

“What did you do to him?” She rasps, walking into my apartment. I watch her and close the door. “For him to up and disappear like this, what did you do to him, Shayla?!” She shouts angrily, and I just look at her. “You were the last person to see him. He was with you before he vanished.”

I drop my gaze shaking my head. “Sophie. I’m so sorry, I truly am. I—” I gasp when I feel her hand connect with my cheek.

“Hey! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Aimee comes rushing over, ready to fight her, and I hold my arm out to stop her.

“Aimee, don’t!” I shout, keeping her back.

“Who the fuck do you think you are! How dare you lay a hand on her!” Aimee screams, fighting in my hold. Sophie backs away as I pull a livid Aimee away from her. “I’ll fucking hurt you, bitch!”

“Aimee, stop! She’s pregnant.” I tell her looking at her pleadingly, and she simmers, glaring menacingly at Sophie.

“I don’t give a shit! What the fuck do you both want from her, huh?! Haven’t you both caused her enough pain? Just leave her alone!” Aimee shouts angrily, and I sob.

“Aimee, please, stop.” I plead, sobbing, and she looks at me, her blue eyes softening.

“No, Shayla, I’ve had it with everyone thinking they can hurt you! You’re not everyone’s punching bag; you don’t deserve this.”

“She drove him away! Whatever she did to him, he took off without a word!” Sophie wails, and I turn to look at her.

“You know what I told him, Sophie? I told him to go home to you and your baby. I told him I didn’t want to be with him, and I was dating Josh.” I tell her, and Sophie sobs into her hand. “I didn’t know he would react like this. I didn’t!”

“Why can’t you just leave us alone? What is it going to take for you to disappear for good? Can’t you see what having you in his life is doing to him? We’re getting married in less than a week, and my fiancé, the father of my child, is missing, probably dead in a ditch somewhere, and it’s all your fault!”

I shake my head. “Don’t say that; he’s not dead!”

“Then where is he?!” She screams hotly, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. “If anything happens to him…”

“Don’t say that,” I whisper, backing up against a wall, shaking my head. “He’s not dead.”

“You need to leave him alone. I don’t want you anywhere near my husband! We’re having a baby Shayla! Get off of his back already!”

“I’m trying!” I scream at her. “I don’t know what else I have to do, Sophie!”

“Leave! Get the hell out of our lives forever, so he can get back to his old self again and focus on his family. I don’t know what the hell you’ve done to him because this isn’t Tristan. He would never do something like this. Ever since he met you, his life has spiralled out of control.” She explains, raking her fingers through her hair and pacing the living room. “You think I don’t know that he’s still in love with you? And that he’s only marrying me because I’m pregnant with his child?” She cries, and I look at her woefully. “Do you have any idea how hard it is loving someone who is in love with someone else? He doesn’t look at me the way he looks at you. He won’t even touch me or let me touch him, but I’m trying to hold onto him for the sake of our child, but I can’t do it if you’re still in his life Shayla. He will never be happy if you don’t let him go.”

“Why does she have to fucking leave? Every time she has tried walking away, Cole found her and brought her back. He’s the one chasing her, not the other way around!”

“I know that!” She cries, picking up my mother’s vase and smashing it on the floor. “But I can’t walk away. I love him!”

“So does she!” Aimee screams back. “It’s even harder for them because they love each other, Sophie. If it’s so fucking easy, why don’t you back off and let them be happy? It’s clear Cole is in love with Shayla and not you. Why are you holding on so tightly to someone who doesn’t love you?”

“I’m having his baby!” Sophie cries, shaking her head. “I can’t leave him. We’re going to have a child together. We’re going to be a family.”

I sink to the floor, sobbing while they continue to argue. “Stop it, please just stop.”

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