The CEO's Regret: His Lost Wife's Secret Twins novel Chapter 18

Chapter 18

ARIA

The lawyer’s office was everything I expected from Morgan money. Marble floors. Dark wood panels. Windows overlooking Central Park. Cold and expensive, just the family that owned half of Manhattan.

I sat in the waiting area, my hands clasped tight in my lap. 1:30 PM. I’d arrived early because being late to

your own divorce felt wrong somehow.

I pressed my hand to my stomach, where a tiny life was growing.

Dad, just wait a little longer. Once this divorce is done, I’ll move out of Hampton Estate.

We can live together. I’ll take care of you. And when the baby comes, you’ll be the grandfather you were

always meant to be.

The receptionist’s phone rang. She answered with a crisp “Whitmore and Associates.”

I checked my watch. 1:45. Blake would be here soon. My stomach churned at the thought of facing him again. Those cold eyes. That voice that used to make me melt, now just made me feel small.

My phone rang.

Richard Grant’s name flashed on the screen. Emma’s father, head of the Grant family. His wife Elaine had

always been close to me-warm and gentle. She had always been a light in my life.

Why would he be calling me now?

“Hello?”

“Aria.” His voice shook. “Elaine’s been in an accident. A car accident. They just called me from the hospital

and it sounds bad. Really bad.”

The world stopped.

“What?”

7

78

1/5

11:28 Wed, Jun 10

Chapter 18

AG 78

“I’m in Chicago for a conference. I’m getting the first flight back but it’ll be hours. Can you go? Please? I

need someone there.”

“Of course. Which hospital?”

“Redwood Medical Center. Aria, they said- His voice broke. “They said it’s serious. Multiple injuries.

Surgery.”

My hands started shaking. “I’m on my way.”

I was already moving toward the door when I remembered. Blake. The divorce papers. The appointment.

But Elaine.

Elaine, who wasn’t my mother by blood but felt more genuine than Christine ever had. Elaine, who’d pulled

me aside at Emma’s eighth birthday party and said “You’re brilliant, sweetheart. Don’t let anyone make you forget that.” Elaine, who’d paid for my dance lessons when Christine said we couldn’t afford them. Who’d driven me to Yale orientation because Christine was “too busy.” Who’d sent care packages during finals week

with homemade cookies and notes that said “I’m proud of you.”

Emma’s mother. But in so many ways, mine too.

The Grant family had money, old money that came from real estate and investments. Richard ran the business side while Elaine focused on charity work and art patronage. They could have looked down on me, the housekeeper’s daughter. Instead, they’d treated me with more kindness than my own mother ever had.

I thought about Christine, who’d told me I was ungrateful when I got into Yale. Who’d said “Don’t get ideas above your station” when I was accepted into the dance company. Who’d looked at me with something close

to disgust when I told her I was marrying Blake.

Elaine had cried happy tears at my wedding. Christine hadn’t even smiled.

And now Elaine was hurt.

I turned back to the receptionist. “I need to leave a message for Blake Morgan. Tell him I’m sorry. There’s an

emergency.”

“Mrs. Morgan, your appointment-”

2/5

11:28 Wed, Jun 10

Chapter 18

“Tell him I’m sorry.”

Then I ran.

78

The taxi ride to Redwood Medical Center took twenty minutes that felt endless. I kept calling Richard back

but he was on another line, probably trying to book flights.

Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay.

The words became a prayer, a mantra, the only thing keeping me from falling apart completely.

I thought about the last time I’d seen Elaine, three weeks ago at the Morgan family’s charity gala. She’d

pulled me aside in the powder room.

“You look thin, honey. Are you eating enough?”

I’d lied and said I was fine. She’d seen right through it.

“That boy doesn’t deserve you,” she’d said quietly. “I know he’s Blake Morgan and half the city would die for a chance with him. But you deserve someone who looks at you the way Richard looks at me. After thirty

years, he still brings me coffee in bed every morning.”

I’d almost cried then. Almost told her everything. How empty my marriage was. How Blake barely touched

1. How I felt invisible in my own home.

But I’d just hugged her instead. Held on maybe a little too long.

“Thank you for always being so kind to me.”

She’d cupped my face in her hands. “You’re easy to be kind to, sweetheart. You’re going to do amazing

things. I can feel it.”

Now she might be dying.

The taxi stopped. I threw money at the driver and ran into the hospital.

The emergency room was chaos. Nurses rushing. Monitors beeping. Someone crying in a corner. The sharp

smell of disinfectant mixed with something else. Something metallic.

3/5

11:28 Wed, Jun 10

Chapter 18

Blood.

78

“I’m looking for Elaine Grant,” I gasped at the front desk. “She was in a car accident.”

The nurse’s face went carefully blank. That professional mask they wear when the news is bad.

“Are you family?”

“No.” The truth came out quietly. “I’m the daughter of one of her housekeepers.”

Though I wish she were my mother, that’s not the reality.

“Let me check.” She turned to her computer, typing slowly. Too slowly.

Behind her, two orderlies pushed a gurney through the hallway. A white sheet covered the body. Completely

covered. Head to toe.

My blood turned to ice.

“Miss?” A doctor appeared at my elbow. Young, tired-looking. “I’m sorry, but the patient from the car

accident just-”

“No.”

‘I’m so sorry. We did everything we could.”

My knees gave out. Someone caught me before I hit the floor.

Not Elaine. Please not Elaine.

“The impact was severe,” the doctor continued. “Multiple trauma. By the time the ambulance arrived-”

“Stop.” I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. “Stop talking.”

Elaine was dead. Kind, warm, wonderful Elaine who’d been more of a mother to me than Christine ever was.

Who’d believed in me. Who’d loved me when my own mother couldn’t.

And I hadn’t been there. I’d been sitting in a lawyer’s office, waiting to sign divorce papers, while she died

4/5

11:28 Wed, Jun 10

Chapter 18

alone.

78

The guilt crashed over me in waves. I should have been there. Should have held her hand. Should have told

her how much she meant to me.

“Where is she?” My voice didn’t sound right. Too high, too thin. “I need to see her.”

“Miss, I don’t think-”

“Where is she?”

The doctor hesitated, then nodded toward a set of doors. “Room 3. But please, prepare yourself.”

I walked toward the room. Everything felt slow and distant. Unreal.

This couldn’t be happening. Not Elaine. Not now.

I pushed open the door.

And stopped dead.

Comments

4

Write Comments

(

SHARE

5/5

11:28 Wed, Jun 10

The CEO’s Regret: His Lost Wife’s Secret Twins