Chapter 253

Over the past few days, everyone at the company could tell their boss, Lucas , was in a foul mood. During meetings, no one dared to even breathe too loudly. Every employee walked in on edge, nerves stretched thin. Even Desmond , who had just returned from Fortline, kept his mouth shut in front of Lucas. For all his authority as a special assistant, he knew exactly where the lines were drawn. And with a temper like Lucas’, it was obvious his sudden mood swings had everything to do with Aurora.

Still, watching Lucas bury himself in work without saying a word, Desmond didn’t dare bring it up. When it came to marital problems, no one could step in—it was up to the couple to sort it out themselves. And just as Desmond had guessed, though Lucas looked focused on the documents in front of him, his mind kept drifting far from the office. What was Aurora doing right now? His grip on the file tightened at the thought. His jaw clenched, brows drawn. His mind was a mess, a tangle of frustration and uncertainty. That woman really was heartless. All this time, and she hadn’t once thought about coming home. With her gone, and only Wendy left in the house, he’d stopped going back altogether.

Now, after days of silence, Lucas couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t want this cold war dragging on. It was already putting a strain on a relationship that hadn’t been strong to begin with. After wrestling with it for a while, Lucas finally picked up his phone. His finger hovered over Aurora’s contact for a long, long time. In the end, he tapped open their chat window.

“Are you coming home tonight?”

Lucas considered sending a second message, typed a few lines, deleted them, then started again, only to erase it all and leave it at that.

What he didn’t know was that Aurora, watching the surveillance feed, saw everything. She hadn’t expected Lucas to speak in such a soft tone. In the past, his expression was always tight, his demeanor unreadable. And to be fair, Lucas’ face held more value than money in certain circles—that much Aurora was well aware of. She was in the middle of work when his message came through. One glance at the screen, and she instantly understood what was going on. Clearly, the man was getting restless. Why else would he suddenly think of her?

Aurora hesitated for a while but ultimately didn’t reply. She didn’t know what to say, nor how to deal with everything that had piled up between them.

Back at his office, Lucas stared at the message thread, waiting for a response that never came. Anxiety started to creep in. He hadn’t been too worried about Aurora before, but now that he’d reached out and still got nothing back, the silence was starting to sting. And for the first time, he truly felt the bitterness of being shut out.

Whatever crossed his mind, the man ended up going home that night. Wendy had been alone in the house for days. With no one around to even argue with, boredom had started to wear her down. So, when she heard the door open and realized Lucas had come back, she was genuinely surprised and a little thrilled. She stood up quickly to greet him. “Lukey, I knew it was you.”

Without even looking her way, Lucas replied flatly, “Alright. Go do your own thing.” And with that, he walked right past her, heading straight for the kitchen.

Wendy blinked, stunned, taking a moment to register what had just happened.