Chapter 267 - 267

Ellie felt the note fall out of her hands as the tears brewed fresh in the corners of her eyes. She wanted to scream as the full meaning of what he had done hit her like she had her heart excised and he had taken it with him off to some unknown place. It couldn't be true so she pulled the paper out from her crossed slack legs and tried to make sense of what he was trying to say. It was already done. There was no double meaning to his words. It was exactly as Henry Wong had told her numerous times. He was gone . . .

She stood slowly and got up shakily. She placed the wet paper on her nightstand and went over to the divider door between their rooms. She clutched at the doorknob and turned it hoping to find that it had all been some sort of sick joke to throw her off the scent. She wanted to protest but there was no one to hear. 

She let the door fly open to the other room and what she saw instantly made her heart sink. It was worse. Everything that Rightley had told her was the exact truth. The place had been thoroughly cleaned to make it ready for the next guest. The usual pile of skincare and cologne that was uniquely Henry was gone from the bathroom sink as the nameless local varieties had been placed in their absence. 

She had like a naive little girl placed her trust in a immature boy.  Ellie touched her quivering shoulders as she thought of all the demonstrations of how he had proved to her that he was wise beyond his years.  As she collapsed onto the bathroom floor she realized the floor was still wet as if he had just come and showered recently. She knew it was all an illusion as there was probably just a dip in the floor where some extra moisture had pooled. But of course Henry had already gone hours before. The man who had shown such passion for her last night whom she had thought held such a bone deep regard for her had been false. 

From the ajar bathroom door, she gazed at the empty room. Rightley had not been kidding when he had said that the room had been swept clean.  There really was no sign that Henry had ever stayed here for weeks and weeks. She narrowed her eyes and could see that there was a crumpled up piece of paper that was shoved under the bed that the maids had obviously forgotten about.  The paper was wedged between two boards under the bed. It was such a strange place for something to be that as she crawled towards it, her curiosity overrode her sadness. She hoped that it was something that would explain why Henry had gone off in such a hurry.  What would cause him to do something like this?

Ellie reached her hand closer and paused for a moment as she tried to consider whether this was a good idea at all.  She almost ripped the paper as she pulled it free. She finally decided that she didn't care even if the information destroyed her, Ellie wanted to know everything. She changed the paper to the right side up position and then moved over to where there was better lighting. Wow, she couldn't believe it. This was a lawyer letter from the Wong family witch, Dorota.

It was confusing as she had thought that Henry had been able to solve this already on his own. Why was Dorota still trying to get to Henry?  Wasn't the will's conditions already filled? There was no way that something had missed their notice. Several lawyers had looked over the documents. 

As the questions all bubbled to the surface now that she had this tiny piece of information. As she had always been one of two in this relationship, she immediately wondered if it was the other whom had bid him to come to his mistress.  She could feel anger rising in her as she considered the possibility of some ruthless second woman taking advantage of his weaknesses. Ellie wondered how Henry could come to a conclusion where he would want to stay married to her after vehemently denying it for months.  That didn't make any sense at all. Maybe it was having consummated their relationship that he could use that act in court to maintain his position at the company? She remember vaguely a clause about children which made her feel mildly sick as she remembered the mistake they'd made last night.  Ellie was godly thankful that she had an implant in so she didn't have to worry about taking pregnancy tests anymore.

Well--but Henry--blundering about wherever he was would have no way of knowing that.  Henry had seen she knew some of her medical records, but that still didn't give him a solid case to leave.  He might have decided to go off to his other woman as a married man instead of a single bachelor. Maybe that girl preferred that sort of thing.  Why not indulge in the perfect circumstance to woo his lover if his wife was going to disappear in a couple months? Henry had the perfect storm here where he could have everything that he wanted all at once.  Ellie had been an unwilling participant, but now her wayward husband could snatch his lady dearest as a spurned husband--the acting didn't even have to be that believable if the lady needed only that.

Still, Ellie knew Henry a bit too well to even be able to get a clear picture of such a man.  He couldn't be so calculated in anything apart from his own business and even then Henry was always personable and true to his intentions.  Maybe it had just been a whim of the moment where since the two of them had been alone together for so long that he just wanted to try her out for size.  Maybe he wanted to have her on his arm like one of his models, like a fun accessory that he would change with a new season. Perhaps then he had bolted because of her genuine feelings for him?