Chapter 500 The Night She Disappeared

Chapter 500: Chapter 500 The Night She Disappeared

Those words made Diana’s blood run cold.

It felt as though something inside her were cracking, piece by piece, while a pain too deep to bear tore through her soul. Her limbs stiffened, leaving her unable to move.

But Sophie wasn’t finished.

She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and sneered.

"I’m going to have this baby. Liam will never be able to cut ties with me completely. He’ll be bound to me for the rest of his life because of this child. I’ll be a thorn in your side forever, and there’s nothing you can do about it. If you refuse to divorce him, you’ll have to put up with me and my child for the rest of your life."

Her words were venomous, leaving Diana not the slightest room to hold on to hope.

There was something desperate and almost manic about her determination to drag Diana down with her.

Diana’s ears rang. She could no longer make sense of what Sophie was saying.

Her vision turned white, and the world around her seemed unreal. It was as though the Liam she’d known and loved had never existed at all—as though he’d been nothing more than a beautiful illusion she’d created in her own mind.

She stopped listening.

Turning away, she hurried out of the room.

Then she ran.

She didn’t care where she was going or who might see her. She ran until her lungs burned and every breath hurt. Tears streamed down her face, soaking her cheeks.

She’d never imagined her life could become any more unbearable than it already was.

Sophie was carrying Liam’s child.

He’d gotten another woman pregnant.

Diana could barely breathe.

Suddenly, she doubled over beside a flower bed and began retching violently.

It felt as though something were twisting her stomach into knots. Her face drained of color as she struggled to catch her breath, but the nausea wouldn’t stop.

The acid burned her throat, leaving it raw, yet she continued to retch.

She couldn’t tell whether the pain was coming from her stomach or her heart.

All she knew was that it hurt too much to bear.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally pulled out her phone and called Rose.

Her hands shook so badly that she failed to place the call several times.

At last, Rose answered.

"Diana?"

Rose’s voice was the only thing that still felt real to her, the only lifeline she had left.

"Rose, I..."

Diana couldn’t finish the sentence. Her lungs ached, and her throat was so tight that she couldn’t even manage a proper sob.

Rose immediately sensed that something was terribly wrong.

"Where are you? I’ll come get you."

When Rose found her, Diana was sitting alone by the roadside, hugging her knees and staring blankly into space.

She looked like a broken doll, nothing like the lively, spirited woman she’d always been.

Rose’s breathing grew heavy as she hurried over and gathered Diana’s ice-cold body into her arms.

"I’m taking you home. Come on. Let’s go home."

Diana nodded numbly.

Rose was all she had left.

No one else loved her anymore.

Back at the apartment, Rose helped her inside and gently wiped the tears from her face with a warm towel.

She didn’t need to ask what had happened to know that something had pushed Diana past her breaking point.

It probably wasn’t Liam himself who’d confronted her. If Diana had argued with him, he would never have simply left her alone in that state.

There was only one other likely explanation.

"Did Sophie come to see you?"

Diana closed her eyes.

When she finally spoke, her voice was hoarse.

"Rose, I want to go to Loss Angeles."

She’d made up her mind.

She was going there. She refused to believe Liam could turn the entire world upside down just to find her.

She couldn’t stay here another moment.

She wanted to leave. To go somewhere far, far away.

She wanted a divorce. She wanted to sever every tie between herself and Liam.

Rose’s eyes reddened.

She understood Diana better than anyone.

To Diana, Liam had been her salvation, the person she’d built her emotional world around. Her love had always been wholehearted and uncomplicated. Once that love was poisoned by betrayal, it was enough to destroy her.

And Liam knew that better than anyone.

"All right," Rose said without hesitation. "I’ll have Ryan make the arrangements. He’ll find somewhere to hide you, somewhere no one can find you."

Diana had finally broken down. Until now, she’d somehow managed to keep herself together. But Sophie had shattered whatever remained of her strength.

Diana closed her eyes again.

"If I ask Liam for a divorce, he won’t let me go. Rose, I need a way to cut all ties with him. I want to make sure he never has any reason to hold on to me again."

She had nothing left to keep her here.

Her family wasn’t really her family, and the man she’d loved was no longer the person she’d believed him to be.

There was nothing left to hold her back.

She didn’t want to die inside from this pain. She wanted to save herself.

For once, she wanted to live for herself.

Looking at Diana’s expression, Rose suddenly understood what she was trying to say.

Her face changed.

In the end, though, she said nothing.

She simply tightened her arms around Diana, who was trembling uncontrollably.

"All right. I’ll help you. I’ll help you."

*****

Ding.

Liam had just returned from a meeting when a notification sounded on his phone.

He glanced at the screen, and a gentle smile immediately spread across his face.

It was a message from Diana.

She’d barely responded to him over the past few days. Seeing a message from her lifted his spirits almost instantly.

Diana: [When are you coming home? Let’s have dinner together. There’s something I want to tell you.]

Liam considered his reply, but before he could type anything, his executive assistant approached him.

"Mr. Mercer, there’s one thing regarding your schedule. You have an in-depth meeting with our German business partners at seven tonight. They’ve already arrived in New York, and the meeting can’t be postponed again."

His assistant knew Liam had been looking forward to going home for dinner with his wife.

Unfortunately, this meeting was too important to put off.

The entire business plan for the next two years depended on the outcome.

Liam furrowed his brow and considered the situation for a moment.

"Understood."

He returned to his office and checked the time before replying to Diana.

He told her he’d be home around nine.

He would do his best to wrap up the meeting with his distinguished guests from Germany as early as possible. With a little adjustment to the schedule, he should be able to make it home by then.

After a while, Diana replied.

Diana: [Got it.]

Liam stared at the brief message, an inexplicable feeling stirring inside him.

There was nothing obviously wrong with her response, yet a strange uneasiness lingered in his chest.

He sent another message.

Liam: [Are you upset with me?]

Diana: [No. Just focus on your work.]

"Mr. Mercer, it’s time to leave," his assistant reminded him.

Liam pressed his lips together as he looked at her reply, then rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"All right. Let’s go."

He’d already dealt with Sophie.

If he wanted to, he had the power to ensure she never appeared in public again. Diana would never have to see her, and eventually, the whole mess could be put behind them.

Diana would never need to know that Sophie had ever existed in their lives.

It would be just the two of them again.

Putting his phone away, Liam headed downstairs and got into his car.

The meeting proceeded smoothly.

Yet throughout the evening, he couldn’t shake the vague sense that something was wrong. He kept checking his watch, growing increasingly restless as the minutes passed.

By the time it was almost nine, the uneasiness had become so intense that he could no longer concentrate on the discussion.

He abruptly stood.

"I’m sorry, but something urgent has come up. My assistant will continue the discussion with you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly."

Without waiting for a response, Liam hurried out of the private meeting room.

As soon as he got into his car, he called Diana.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The line was busy.

Diana wasn’t answering.

Liam’s lips slowly lost their color.

He pressed down hard on the accelerator, his composure slipping away with every passing second. An unfamiliar anguish burned through his chest, so intense it felt as though something were tearing him apart from the inside.

The drive back to their home usually took nearly forty minutes.

He made it in twenty.

He didn’t even understand what was driving him so desperately. He only knew that he had to get back to Diana.

The moment Liam stepped out of the car, he broke into a run.

He rushed into the house.

The living room was empty.

On the dining table sat several dishes that had gone cold.

He recognized them immediately. Diana must have cooked them herself and waited for him to come home.

But work had kept him away.

"Diana?"

He called her name as he hurried through the house.

There was no answer.

"Diana? Where are you?"

Sweat gathered on his forehead as he rushed upstairs.

He kept calling her name, his voice growing more anxious with every unanswered question.

"I’m sorry. It’s my fault. Next time, I’ll come home right away and spend time with you, okay? Don’t be mad at me. Come out and see me. You can yell at me all you want, okay?"

Silence.

He pushed open the bedroom door.

The frantic pounding of his heart finally began to settle when he saw Diana lying on the bed.

Liam let out a long, heavy breath and slowly approached her.

"I was wrong," he murmured. "Please don’t ignore me, Diana."