I Slept with My Boss and Ran Away

Little Lucky missed her mother dearly. She gazed at the sea, softly calling out for her mom as if whispering into her ear, in a tender, pleading manner. Azure heard Little Lucky’s voice and felt a sharp pain in her heart. She hugged Little Lucky tightly and kissed her forehead.

Stella assumed that Little Lucky was simply missing her mother, feeling a pang of sadness. “Such a young child, always clinging to her parents,” she sighed. Little Lucky, once the cherished princess of the Sterling family, had not received parental love in recent years. With Meredith absent and Terrence preoccupied, Little Lucky was left wanting.

Stella contacted Grandma Sterling and learned that everyone was at the hospital. Puzzled, Stella asked why they were all there, but Grandma Sterling couldn’t explain over the phone. “Don’t bring the child here yet; it might scare Rowan. Find a hotel first, and we’ll come to you,” she advised.

“Scare Rowan?” Stella was even more confused. “Mom, what’s going on?”

Grandma Sterling, speaking quietly from the hospital corridor, said, “It’s complicated. Just take the child to a hotel and send me the address.” Then she hung up.

Stella murmured to Azure, “Grandma wants us to stay at a hotel.”

“What are they doing at the hospital? Who’s admitted?” Azure had overheard part of the conversation.

“I don’t know; Terry’s grandma didn’t say,” Stella replied, glancing at Little Lucky. “Let’s find a hotel first and then get something for Rowan to eat.”

Azure agreed. They found a nearby hotel by the sea with the help of a taxi driver. After checking in, Azure left Little Lucky with Stella and went to the hospital to find out what was happening.

At the hospital, it was late at night. Terrence was alone in Audrey’s room; he had locked the door from inside, leaving family members and Spencer waiting outside. Pete worried that Terrence might harm Audrey and tried several times to break in, but Spencer held him back. “Your sister is already in this state; I doubt Terrence would do anything worse. Let’s wait and see.”

Pete reluctantly agreed. Even if he wanted to break in, Selene and Harvey would stop him.

After finishing her call, Grandma Sterling returned to sit in the corridor with everyone else, all waiting for Audrey to wake up. In her heart, Grandma Sterling hoped Terrence would accept Audrey as she was now because Little Lucky needed a complete family. Audrey had Meredith’s heart and looked like Meredith after surgery; she carried Meredith’s shadow.

Leaning on her cane, Grandma Sterling sat down as Harvey approached her. “Grandma, what do you think about this? If it were you, what would you do?”

“Rowan needs a mother,” Grandma Sterling said firmly.

Harvey shared her sentiment. “Yes, Rowan is too young. The best outcome is for Audrey to continue being Meredith so that this family can be whole.”

But everyone knew this required Terrence to sacrifice his love for Meredith-a cruel demand indeed.

Grandma Sterling sighed deeply.

Just then, Pete’s voice broke through: “Dad! Sis seems to be waking up.”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Peeking through the window, Pete saw Audrey opening her eyes on the bed. Memories of her injury flooded back as Audrey slowly regained consciousness.

Terrence sat beside her, watching as she woke up. His gaze turned icy cold when she opened her eyes-he looked at her as if she were an enemy. Yet this enemy who had taken his wife’s heart bore an identical face to his beloved wife, stirring both love and hatred within him.

Terrence struggled to maintain his composure as he waited for Audrey to wake up. Before she did, he had rechecked the birthmark on Audrey’s waist-now gone-realizing she had deceived him with some kind of paint before.

Audrey met Terrence’s cold stare as soon as she opened her eyes and felt a chill run through her body. In that instant, she knew she could no longer hide the truth.

Terrence had never looked at Meredith with such coldness-not even when Audrey had previously asked for a divorce or made him believe she had betrayed him; his eyes were always filled with love for Meredith.

“Terrence,” Audrey’s voice was hoarse and uncertain as fear gripped her heart.