All This Time… He Was Waiting for HER - Chapter 7: Chapter 7

It had never happened before. In three years of marriage, they'd barely even raised their voices at each other—and now Winona was gone without a trace. Corey had no idea how to coax her back, let alone handle this kind of devastation. The relentless beeping of her unanswered call echoed in his ears, sharpening the dread coiling in his chest.
When he pushed open the door, his breath caught. The wall where their wedding photo once hung was bare. Every trace of her—of them—had been erased.
His vision blurred as he bolted to the bedroom, wrenching open the closet doors. Only his suits remained, hanging like ghosts in the empty space.
He tore through the house, searching for any sign of her, but all he found was a single sheet of paper on the table—divorce papers. His fingers trembled as he flipped through them. The property division clause glared back at him: "Leaving with nothing."
The words burned. Corey collapsed onto the couch, crushing the agreement in his grip, chain-smoking until the ashtray overflowed.
Memories of the last three years flooded him—laughter, quiet mornings, her hand in his—each one a knife twisting deeper. The phone kept ringing, dialing her number on loop, but no one picked up.
Finally, he snapped out of it. He fired off a text to his secretary:
[Find her. No matter what it takes. Find Winona.]
That night, he didn't stay home. He marched straight to the company lawyer's office, slamming the divorce papers onto the desk. The lawyer skimmed them and sighed. "She's made her choice. If she hasn't dragged you to court already, she's being merciful. Let it go. Push her further, and you might lose the company too."
Corey slumped into the chair, hollow. "I won't stop. If I find her, I'll take whatever she wants—prison, ruin, anything. Just… let me see her."
The lawyer stared, taken aback by the desperation in his voice. After a heavy silence, he said, "I warned you. Using marriage to secure that letter of understanding was a gamble. You knew from the start your relationship with Mrs. Zettel could never be simple."
"This is the best outcome. Why chase her now? To apologize? Admit you used her name to free the person responsible for her mother's death? Beg forgiveness for tricking her into marrying you?"
Corey flinched, his face draining of color. "Jennie was innocent. This whole mess—"
The lawyer cut him off coldly. "Mr. Gail, as your counsel, let me be blunt: emotions don't matter in court. A judge won't care how you feel. The evidence in that car accident case pointed straight at Jennie."
"How did she end up there? Who gave her that defective car? How did she know Mrs. Zettel's mother would be landing at that exact time? Why was she the one picking her up?"
Corey had no answers. He slid to the floor, pressing his palms to his eyes.
"And whose idea was it to issue that letter in the family's name?" The lawyer leaned in, voice low. "You're a smart man. I'll say this once: the only truly innocent one in all of this is Mrs. Zettel. Your love shouldn't be built on her mother's grave."
The words hit like a slap. Corey didn't move. Didn't breathe.
For the first time, he wondered if some wounds never heal.