Avery POV:

The elevator dinged at 2:00 AM.

The sound was sharp, slicing through the stillness of our Manhattan penthouse. I hadn't moved from the sofa. I was still in my damp black dress from the cemetery, though it had dried stiff and uncomfortable against my skin.

I heard the heavy tread of Blake's footsteps. He was moving slowly, dragging his feet.

The living room lights flared on, blindingly bright. I blinked, shielding my eyes.

Blake stood in the entryway, loosening his tie. His custom suit jacket was slung over one arm. The NHL's golden boy, the untouchable captain, looked exhausted. His perfectly styled hair was slightly mussed, his blue eyes bloodshot. When he saw me sitting there in the dark, he flinched.

"Avery," he said, his voice rough. "You're awake."

"I am," I said. My voice was flat. Dead.

"I tried to call," he started, walking toward me. "The meeting... it was a nightmare. The franchise owners were breathing down my neck about the upcoming season, and the PR crisis—"

"Don't," I said.

Before I could say more, a movement behind him caught my eye.

Claire Hayes stepped out of the elevator.

America's Sweetheart was wearing a white dress—a stark, blinding white that felt like a physical slap in the face on the day I buried my mother. She looked pale, her hand pressed to her forehead as if she might faint.

"Blake?" Claire's voice was a soft, trembling mewl. "I feel dizzy again."

Blake turned immediately, his posture shifting from defensive husband to protective hero. He dropped his jacket and reached out to steady her. "Easy. I've got you."

I watched them. The way his hand naturally found the small of her back. The way Claire leaned into him, her weight entirely supported by his athletic frame.

"What is she doing here?" I asked. I didn't stand up. I didn't have the energy.

Blake looked at me, exasperation tightening his jaw. "She had a panic attack at the charity gala. Hyperventilated. She couldn't be alone tonight, Avery. Her parents are in Europe."

"So you brought her here," I said. "To our home. On the night of my mother's funeral."

"It was a medical emergency," Blake snapped, his unyielding authority flaring up. "Don't start this. Not tonight. I'm exhausted."

Then, the smell hit me.

As they moved closer, the scent of Claire's perfume drifted across the room. It was heavy, floral—gardenias and musk. It was cloying. It filled my nose, coating the back of my throat, making me gag.

It was the exact same scent that had been lingering on Blake's shirts for months. The scent I had told myself was just from overzealous fans at meet-and-greets, or crowded VIP lounges.

"I'm sorry, Avery," Claire whispered, looking at me with wide, watery eyes. "It's my fault. I ruined the night. Don't blame Blake."

Claire shifted, the white dress slipping slightly off her shoulder. "I... I think I left my shawl in the car. I was so cold earlier, Blake gave me his jacket."

My eyes dropped to Blake's white dress shirt.

There, on the collar. A smudge.

It was small. Red. The exact shade of lipstick Claire was wearing right now.

The world stopped spinning. The noise in my head—the grief, the thunder, the pathetic excuses—silenced instantly.

It wasn't a suspicion anymore. It was a fact, printed in red wax on high-thread-count cotton.

I stood up. My legs felt surprisingly steady.

I walked past the shattered vase on the floor. I walked past the Tiffany box on the table.

I walked right up to Blake. He looked down at me, expecting a fight, expecting tears.

"Do you know what day it was?" I asked. My voice was so quiet he had to lean in to hear me.

Blake frowned. "It was Tuesday. Avery, look, I know I missed the service, and I'll make it up to you, but—"

"It was the day you buried your marriage," I said.

I stepped around him. I didn't look at Claire. I didn't acknowledge her existence.

Blake reached out and grabbed my arm. His grip was firm, familiar. The same hands that gripped a hockey stick and hoisted trophies. "We need to talk. You're being unreasonable. You're hysterical because of your mother."

I looked down at his hand on my arm. Then I looked up into his eyes.

"Don't touch me with those hands," I hissed. The venom in my voice startled him. He let go as if he'd been burned.

I walked to the guest bedroom down the hall. I went inside and locked the door. The click of the lock was the loudest sound in the universe.

"Avery!" Blake banged on the door once. "Open this door. Stop acting like a child!"

I didn't answer.

After a moment, I heard him sigh. "Fine. Pout. I'll sleep in the master."

"Blake?" Claire's voice drifted from the living room. "I think I need some water."

"Coming," Blake said. His footsteps retreated.

Inside the guest room, I slid down the door until I hit the floor. I pulled my knees up, wrapping my arms around them, trying to stop the shaking.

I touched my belly.

"He doesn't deserve us," I whispered. "He doesn't get to be your father."

I reached under the bed and pulled out a small duffel bag I had stashed there weeks ago, back when the suspicion had first started to rot my gut. Inside was a burner phone and a stack of cash I had withdrawn slowly over the last month.

I turned on the phone. My hands were shaking, but my mind was crystal clear.

I dialed a number I had memorized. A private clinic in New Jersey, one that specialized in discreet procedures for the wealthy and desperate.

"Horizon Medical," a voice answered.

"I need an appointment," I said. "Tomorrow morning. Under the name Avery Montgomery. For a consultation."

"We have an opening at 7:00 AM."

"I'll take it."

I hung up. I began to pack. Not clothes—I didn't want anything his NHL millions had bought me. Just my documents. My mother's old ring. The cash.

From the living room, I heard the low murmur of voices. Then, a soft laugh. Blake was laughing.

On the night of my mother's funeral. With his mistress in our house.

That laughter was the fuel I needed. It burned away the fear. It burned away the hesitation.

I sat at the small desk and pulled out a folder. Inside were the divorce papers I had drafted myself, finding templates online to avoid alerting his sports agency or the Montgomery family lawyers.

I uncapped a pen.

I didn't cry. Tears were for people who had hope.

I signed my name. Avery Montgomery. Not Knight. Never again Knight.

I left the papers on the desk.

I lay down on the bed, fully clothed, clutching the bag to my chest. I wouldn't sleep. I would just wait for the sun to rise so I could disappear into it.

Blake POV:

The morning light hit my penthouse's floor-to-ceiling windows with a cruel brilliance. I woke up on the sofa in my study, my neck stiff, a sour taste coating my mouth.

I sat up, rubbing my face. The events of the night before came rushing back. The funeral for Avery's mother. Claire. The massive fight Avery and I had.

Guilt, heavy and cold, settled in my stomach. I had messed up. I knew I had messed up. I shouldn't have brought Claire here, but she had been so fragile, threatening to swallow a bottle of pills if I left her alone.

I stood up and walked into the hallway. The apartment was dead silent.

"Avery?" I called out.

No answer.

I walked to the guest bedroom door. I knocked. "Aves? Are you up? I ordered breakfast."

Silence.

I tried the handle. Locked.

"Avery, stop this. Open the door."

Nothing.

Panic began to prick at the back of my neck. I went to the master bedroom, grabbed the emergency key from my safe, and returned to the guest room.

I shoved the key in and turned it. The lock clicked. I pushed the door open.

The room was empty.

The bed was made. Not just made—it was pristine, the sheets pulled tight, the pillows fluffed. It looked like no one had slept in it.

The closet door was open. Empty.

"Avery?"

I pulled out my phone and dialed her number.

Beep-beep-beep. "The number you have dialed is disconnected or no longer in service."

I stared at the phone. Disconnected? Overnight?

I immediately dialed Leo.

"Find her," I barked the moment my assistant answered. "Track her phone. Check the credit cards. Now."

"Boss? What's wrong?"

"She's gone. Just find her!"

I didn't wait. I grabbed my keys and ran to the elevator, but not for the driver's seat. I slid into the back of the Maybach, slamming the door. "Go," I snarled at my driver. "Her favorite places. Central Park. The Met. The library. And get the NYPD commissioner on the phone." As the car tore through the morning traffic of Manhattan, I was already mobilizing every resource my hockey franchise and personal empire could afford, my voice a low growl as I issued rapid-fire orders to Leo over the car's speakerphone.

My phone buzzed. It was Leo.

"Boss, we got a hit on a black car service. Picked up from your building at 5:00 AM. Drop off was at a clinic in New Jersey. Horizon Women's Health."

My blood ran cold. I knew that clinic. It was whispered about in the league's locker rooms and elite circles. It was where high-profile problems went to disappear.

"Send me the address," I said, my voice shaking.

The Maybach executed a screeching U-turn, ignoring the blare of horns. I gripped the leather seat, my knuckles white, as we sped toward the Holland Tunnel. We pulled up to the nondescript brick building an hour later.

I stormed past the receptionist. "Avery Montgomery. Where is she?"

"Sir, you can't be back here!" a security guard stepped in front of me.

"I am Blake Knight! My wife is in this building!" I shoved my Black Card and my franchise ID into the guard's face. "Get out of my way!"

A nurse in scrubs appeared, looking calm but stern. "Mr. Knight? Please, lower your voice."

"Where is she?" I demanded, my chest heaving.

"Ms. Montgomery left about thirty minutes ago," the nurse said quietly.

"Ms. Montgomery?" The use of her maiden name stung. "What did she do? Why was she here?"

"I cannot discuss patient details due to privacy laws," the nurse said. "But she left this for you. She said you might come."

She handed me a thick manila envelope.

I took it. My hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped it. I ripped the seal open right there in the lobby.

Three things fell out.

First, the divorce papers. Signed. Dated yesterday.

Second, a medical file. The header read Termination of Pregnancy - 12 Weeks. Emergency Procedure.

Third, a sonogram photo. It was grainy, black and white. A deliberately blurred image, the kind produced by older machines, just clear enough to show a developing fetus but too indistinct for detailed analysis.

The photo was torn in half.

I felt the air leave the room. My knees buckled, and I collapsed into one of the plastic waiting room chairs.

I read the medical file. The words swam before my eyes. Patient distress... non-viable... termination complete. The paperwork was terrifyingly thorough, impeccably detailed—a masterpiece of forgery I could only appreciate in my horror.

I looked at the torn photo.

"She was pregnant?" I whispered. The sound was strangled.

I hadn't known. I had been so busy with the Stanley Cup playoffs, with Claire's endless drama, with the team's charity gala... I hadn't noticed. I hadn't even noticed my own wife was three months pregnant.

And now...

I looked at the sticky note attached to the file. Avery's handwriting.

You were absent. Now we are too.

A roar built up in my chest, a sound of pure, animalistic agony. I stood up and punched the wall next to me. The plaster cracked under my fist. Pain shot up my arm, but it was nothing compared to the hole that had just been blasted through my soul.

"Find her!" I screamed at Leo, who had just run into the lobby, panting. "Shut down the airports! Close the ports! Find her!"

But it was too late.

Days turned into weeks. Private investigators combed the city, the state, the country. They found a trail that led to JFK, to a ticket bought with cash under a fake name, to a flight bound for a country with no extradition treaty.

And then, the trail went cold.

One month later, I stood in the nursery I had secretly started building in the penthouse's east wing. It was empty, just framed walls and sawdust.

I walked to the center of the room and fell to my knees. I clutched the torn sonogram photo to my chest and sobbed. Dry, racking sobs that tore at my throat.

I had killed them. My neglect, my arrogance, my blindness. I had driven her to this.

"I will find you," I whispered to the empty room. "If it takes a lifetime, Avery. I will find you."