Chapter 130
She didn’t even bother asking how he had found her.
Frederick was always like this.
She could run, she could hide, she could desperately try to disappear from his radar.
But the second he actually wanted to find her, it was always effortlessly easy.
Maeve stared at the clearly intoxicated man, inching her way along the wall toward her door.
She could barely handle a sober Frederick.
A drunk Frederick was completely unpredictable, and she didn’t have the strength to fight him off.
Her only option was to run.
But surprisingly, Frederick didn’t lunge forward to grab her aggressively like he usually did. Instead, he stood frozen in place, looking at her with deeply wounded eyes.
“I didn’t mean to bother you… I just… I really needed to see you p>
Maeve said nothing, just stared back at him with icy calm.
For so long, she had waited for him, day in and day out, in the agonizing loneliness of Wisteria Cove.
She had given him countless opportunities, and he hadn’t bothered to take a single one.
Yet she hadn’t even been gone a full day, and here he was, rushing to track her down as if he couldn’t survive without her.
Suddenly he had all the free time in the world. Suddenly Zoe didn’t need his constant, undivided attention.
But if Frederick actually cared, he wouldn’t have turned a blind eye to her suffering. He wouldn’t have stood by coldly when she desperately needed a husband.
She had seen his absolute indifference with crystal clarity.
His presence here tonight was nothing more than bruised male ego.
He threw her away when he had her, and now that she was gone, he wanted her back.
She had no energy left to play his twisted games.
Stung by Maeve’s freezing apathy, Frederick took a half-step forward. But seeing her pressed defensively against the wall, treating him like a predator, he awkwardly pulled his foot back and stood rigidly in place.
“I saw you and Jonathan at The Skyline Club p>
Maeve’s expression hardened into stone.
“You were following me p>
“No, Sebastian and I were having dinner there. We just happened to see you two,” Frederick said, his voice heavy as he forced out the next words.
“I saw him tying your shoe p>
Maeve’s face paled. She didn’t know what kind of deranged accusation he was about to hurl at her.
Then, Frederick continued.
“But I didn’t act on impulse this time… it just hurt p>
He slowly uncurled his fist and held his palm out toward her.
The center of his hand was blistered, swollen, and raw.
Maeve stared at him in utter disbelief.
“Frederick… what on earth are you doing p>
Frederick held her gaze steadily.
“I burned it with a cigarette. I haven’t cleaned it yet. Help me p>
Maeve pressed her lips into a tight line, staring at him for two long seconds before all the fight drained out of her. She looked away, refusing to even glance at his wound.
“Why do this to yourself, Frederick p>
He took a step closer.
“Look at me, Maeve. I’m trying to change p>
He extended his hand a little further.
“My hand is hurt p>
Maeve gave it a single passing glance before looking up to meet his eyes, her voice absolute.
“Stop doing these meaningless things, Frederick p>
With that, she turned to the apartment door, pressed her thumb againstthe biometric lock, and pushed it open. Before Frederick could react, she slipped inside and slammed the door shut in his face.
Finally safe in her own space, Maeve leaned back against the heavy door, gasping for air.
A man who could locate her on a whim, who watched her every move Frederick was a ticking time bomb. She had no idea when he would detonate and obliterate her and her family.
She needed to send that evidence to Jonathan immediately.
This divorce couldn’t wait another day.
Every day she delayed was another day of living in terror, completely robbed of peace.
Frederick ultimately drove back to Wisteria Cove alone.
When he pushed the door open and flicked on the lights, the massive house echoed with nothing but his own footsteps.
It was quiet.
Suffocatingly quiet.
He looked around. The furniture was exactly the same. Nothing had been moved.
Yet, somehow, it felt entirely empty.