Chapter 34
Payson
It’s too quiet as I stir awake. The sound of Ledgar’s soft snores aren’t even there.
I stay still for a second, listening, sleepily, trying to hear something.
Anything. I reach beside me and find the space where he used to lay is empty.
Cold. Like he’s been gone for hours. Confused, my voice still thick with sleep, I call out his name.
“Ledgar?” No answer. That’s not unusual, he’s left early before but usually stops to give me a kiss goodbye.
I knew he had to return to work today after taking the week off.
Maybe he just didn’t want to wake me up.
I push myself up slowly, the sheet falling away as I look around the room.
All of his things are gone. Cleared out as if he was never here.
“Ledgar?” I call again, louder this time.
Still no answer. What is going on? Uneasiness settles low in my stomach.
He wouldn’t do this to me, I tell myself already thinking the worst. Maybe he stepped out to take a call. He does that.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed, my feet hitting the floor with a thud, like something might break if I move too fast. My thoughts stall as I walk into the bathroom.
Everything is gone. Something doesn’t feel right.
The penthouse is silent. “Ledgar?” I step into the main room, my gaze searching for any sign of him.
Nothing. The couch. Empty. The kitchen. My chest tightens.
Empty. The counter is clear. No glass. No dishes.
No trace of anything at all. My eyes move faster now, searching, noticing every small detail.
A cold feeling spreads through me, as tears start to form. “He didn’t...”
The words barely leave my lips as I start to feel like a complete idiot.
Why did I let myself get this close? Why did I trust he would be different?
My gaze snaps toward the entryway. His coat, gone.
I turn moving through the apartment. Everything, the closet, the bathroom, all cleared out.
How did I not hear him? It’s like he was never here at all, and I dreamed up this entire couple of weeks with him.
I press my hand against the counter, grounding myself and forcing myself to think.
Maybe he just went to his office. Though that doesn’t explain why there is no trace of him at all in here.
If something happened, some sort of explanation would be in his office.
There has to be. I mean he wouldn’t just leave. Would he?
I don’t remember getting dressed and coming downstairs as my mind tries to play catch-up.
The entire place feels different from a few weeks ago.
The receptionist doesn’t look up when I pass or even smile like she normally does.
She gives me an apologetic look. I don’t stop to ask what’s wrong, I just keep walking straight to his office.
The door is closed per usual but my hand hovers over the doorknob.
The thought of him not being in there aches at me.
Because when I open this door and he’s not in there, that means he really left.
The room is still and quiet when I walk in; the desk clear of papers, files, no trace of work onto it at all.
His bourbon he never moves from his desk.
Gone. Replaced with some sort of collage of books.
Something inside me cracks a little. “He wouldn’t just leave,” I whisper to myself.
He said this felt real. Us. My eyes move across the room, searching.
Tucked just under the edge of the desk is an envelope.
As I reach for it, I notice my name scribbled across the front in Ledger's handwriting. My vision blurs as I force myself to open it. There’s a piece of paper and a key.
A life untouched.
It’s what you wanted… It’s what you deserve.
The key slips from my hand, hitting the floor with a ding.
Tears blur my vision. He didn’t leave because he stopped caring.
This was real, otherwise, he wouldn’t have left a note only I could understand.
No…he left because something made him. I crumple the paper in my fist and pick up the key.
He’s protecting me. That much is clear. But next time… I won’t be the one left behind.