The Mafia's Backup Bride - Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Blake's knuckles turned white as he clenched the phone.
The words "divorce papers" echoed in his skull like a gunshot.
He never saw this coming. Not from me. Not after how completely I'd loved him - I would've walked through fire for that man.
"Say that again."
His voice came out dangerously calm, each word measured like a death sentence.
Zachary was practically trembling on the other end. "Blake, I swear I can't reach Caroline. Some lawyer just showed up with divorce papers. There's a whole property settlement too - even mentions that offshore company you set up for Ms. Foster."
A beat of silence. Then Zachary's voice cracked. "You think she figured out you've been using her? Five years by your side, man. She knows everything. If she decides to talk—"
"Enough!"
Rage crashed through Blake like a tidal wave.
"Keep your mouth shut. I'll deal with this when I get back."
"Blake? What's wrong?" Megan's manicured hand tugged at his sleeve.
He forced his temper down, fingers flying across his phone screen. "Caroline's gone missing. Someone's taking you to the hotel."
Megan's eyes lit up for half a second before she melted against him. "She's just a decoy, baby. I'm the one who's hurting here. Let your guys handle it. Stay with me?"
At 2:23 PM, Blake's expression turned to ice. "Don't be childish."
He motioned to his security team, who promptly dragged a stunned Megan from the passenger seat.
Her mouth hung open in disbelief. Since when did her pouty lips and batting eyelashes fail to get her way? When I'd been bleeding out in that hospital bed, Blake had dropped everything to fly to her. Now I'd merely disappeared, and suddenly she was disposable.
"You married her to protect me!" Megan shrieked as they hauled her away. "How can you choose her over me now?"
The car door slammed. Blake punched the steering wheel hard enough to bruise, then floored the accelerator.
Wind howled through the open windows as he chanted to himself: "Just a mark. A sacrificial lamb. You're only worried she'll talk."
But when he threw open the villa door, his body locked up like the place had been electrified.
Every trace of me had been erased.
Only by the doorway sat a neat stack - all his gifts to me, and that damn diary, left wide open.
His hands shook as he picked it up, his breath catching in his throat.
"Blake..." Zachary appeared behind him, clutching legal documents.
Page after damning page - divorce terms, evidence of his affair, records of every lavish gift Megan had received. And at the bottom, my final statement: I was walking away with nothing.
Each document was a slap in the face to their sham marriage.
Seeing the pathetic trinkets he'd given me compared to Megan's jewels, Blake raked both hands through his hair. Memories flooded him - my laugh, my touch, the way I'd looked at him like he hung the moon.
The usually unshakable Blake Carter dropped his head into his hands, his breathing ragged.
Zachary cleared his throat. "I warned you, man. You were gonna regret treating Caroline like this. Everyone knows you've been crazy about her for years - everyone but you."
He hesitated before adding, "If you'd just come clean, apologized—"
Blake's head snapped up, eyes burning.
"How did Caroline know the password?" He shook the diary like it held all life's answers, voice raw with suspicion. Had someone tipped me off? Was this some setup?
It wasn't until Zachary reminded him about my cryptography degree - the graduation he'd halfheartedly attended - that Blake's face twisted with something like pain.
The realization hit him like a bullet: He'd never really seen me. And I'd finally stopped letting him look through me.
"Find her." Blake's voice cracked. "I don't care what it takes. Bring Caroline home."
Zachary didn't move. "She left because you broke her, man."
"FIND HER!" Blake's roar could've shattered glass.