Page 189 of The Professor's Wife

I screamed at the sudden rage crawling up my throat. My hand tightened around the goblet as he pulled me to him, forcing me to spin in his direction. I gripped the goblet with both the rage and strength I had left. He swung my body to meet him, and I swung the goblet to meet him first. The weight of it collided with the side of his head. I felt the impact. Felt his hand immediately loosen. Heard the crack in the air like a lightning strike. I fell on my side, and he fell on his, but in the opposite direction. The second I landed on the floor I didn’t stop moving. I scooted away, unable to stop screaming, my eyes centered on his body. I waited for him to move. To grab at me again and haul me back up the stairs—

But he didn’t move.

Not at all.

Detached from my emotions, my body did all the work. I stumbled to my feet, staring only at him as I raced to find my pillowcase. One hand still clenched the goblet, the other searched for the cloth—

I found it and hurried to leave; my eyes still focused on him. I didn’t know if he was breathing. I couldn’t hear anything but my breaths as I hurried past him and to the front door. I slid into the heels I answered Louise in, whipped open the door, and the alarm went off. I looked over my shoulder, expecting him to get up, but he was still unmoving. I saw the puddle of blood around his head. So much blood—

I ran.

I didn’t stop running.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Officer Courtney led me away from the camper and out of earshot of Tristan. I glanced at him over my shoulder. His back was pressed against the camper, and his arms were crossed. His eyes were hard on the ground. Not one inch of him moved.

I blinked back tears and looked at the officer. My words felt strangled. “Am I in trouble, Officer?”

I stared at the old man’s face hard, trying to gauge how deep in shit I was. But the officer frowned. “Not necessarily.”

I still didn’t let my fears abate. “What does that mean?”

“Your husband has been searching for you. He’s made some frantic posts online, asking about your whereabouts, detailing your sudden disappearance three months ago. He said he woke up one morning, and you were gone. He filed a missing person’s report, and people have been on the lookout for you ever since.”

I felt dizzy.

He’s alive.

I hadn’t killed him. I thought of all that blood…I should have felt relief, but nothing came. Cold dread sank to the pit of my belly.

The officer watched me for some time. I didn’t offer an explanation. I couldn’t physically get the words out. This whole time he’d been hunting me down, and not the way I ever thoughthe would. I had to hand it to the bastard. He was good. Really fucking good.

“Are you alright?” Officer Courtney asked.

I cleared my throat, forcing a quiet, “Yeah.”

I saw him look back at Tristan, and this time I didn’t follow his gaze. How the hell was I going to face him? “Did you run away with this man?”

I bit my lower lip and shook my head. “I met him on the road.”

I could feel the old man judging me. “Your husband’s been worried sick about you.”

A flare of annoyance rushed through me. “I left him.”

“Does he know that?”

I narrowed my eyes on the old man. “He knows I’ve been wanting to leave. There was an altercation. I walked out in front of him. He knew I was going.”

But Courtney didn’t look like he believed me. His frown faded as he looked me over slowly, taking in Tristan’s shirt I was wearing, hiding my barely there shorts. “From what I hear, you worried your town to death.”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” I retorted. “He knew I was going.”

The doubt shone in the officer’s eyes. He had already marked me down as a liar. This was exactly what Oliver said would happen.

The idea of the whole town worrying about me was ridiculous. I swallowed down a scoff. No one had given two shits about me when I had a man as charming and loving as Oliver. The second I entered that relationship I had entered a losing war. They would forever take his side no matter what. The boisterous, funny, charismatic and handsome professor: that was what they saw him to be.

There would be no justice for people like me.