Blizzard, First Love and a Wife Who Finally Snaps novel Chapter 168

*

Unable to find Adrian and Selena, Catherine immediately put the airports and shipping ports on lockdown. She suspected Adrian would try to get Selena out of the country, which would complicate matters immensely. But she had underestimated him. Adrian had been prepared for this, as if he had anticipated that Selena would eventually find herself in trouble.

Not only was Selena not a citizen, but Adrian had used a private jet belonging to a third party to fly her out. He had even gone with her.

Standing in the airport, Catherine couldn't help but curse under her breath.

Graham Holt sighed, gazing up at the sky. "Catherine, Adrian has always been so level-headed. Is he really that smitten with Selena?"

No one had ever seen Adrian lose his composure. Not even when Old Mrs. Blackwell was on the verge of death, needing a heart transplant. He had remained perfectly calm, coolly negotiating with Isabel, offering her a fortune but refusing to marry her. No matter the crisis, he had always been confident in his ability to handle it. Perhaps this was the one thing that could rattle a genius.

Graham had known the Blackwell family for years. He had watched Adrian grow and build his empire. It seemed even a genius was not immune to the follies of love.

But Catherine scoffed. She didn't believe a man with Adrian's temperament was capable of love. His dragging his feet on the divorce had been strange enough. He had never seemed particularly enthusiastic about Selena before. If he had truly been in love with her, the family would never have stood in their way. He was the one who had refused to marry her. And now, this obsessive need to protect her. She had a nagging feeling she was missing a key piece of the puzzle.

"Mr. Holt, I promise I will get you an explanation for this. Please, just give me a little more time."

Graham sighed again. "Catherine, I can only hold things off for one more week."

"Understood," Catherine replied.

*

Back at the police station, Amanda was furious when she heard that Selena had fled the country.

"Of course. If you accept these findings, you may take the body for burial. Our deepest condolences."

Amanda nodded. She called the funeral home to arrange for the body to be collected.

As Andrew drove, following the hearse, he asked, "Why did you suddenly back down from the investigation?"

Once they arrived at the funeral home and Andrew had parked the car, Amanda showed him her phone.

It was a text message: [I'm okay. I knew you'd figure it out. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, I had to play along. There was no time to tell you. I'm so sorry for making you worry.]

Andrew understood immediately. "This was Isabel's plan."