The Billionaire Wins the Game(51)

She got on the road again and continued driving further south. After a couple more hours, she was in Springfield, next to Eugene. She’d always wanted to visit there, so she took the next exit that would take her downtown.

She pulled off the freeway, into the business district, and started to look around for a cheap hotel. She passed the Hilton and shook her head. That was beyond her price range at the moment. Finally, she found a little dive of a place and pulled in.

She walked inside, so tired she could barely hold her head up. The man behind the counter was leering at her in a way that really frightened her, especially with the smell of alcohol seeping from him.

“I’d like a room for the night, please,” she asked quietly.

“Do you have a credit card,” he hacked at her.

“No, I have cash,” she responded, not wanting to use her credit card, and not trusting the man to have her information.

“Well, we normally require a credit card, in case you steal anything...” He leered again.

“Oh, then I guess I’ll have to find another place,” she stated calmly, even though she felt as if she was going to fall over at any moment.

“I guess we can do it on cash this time,” he said a bit desperately. She wasn’t going to stay in the place if there wasn’t a double lock on the door. She didn’t trust the guy.

“Thank you,” Amy responded and filled out the small card he handed her, then received her key. She grabbed her car and drove to the parking spot in front of her door.

She wearily got out of the rig, grabbed her suitcase and opened the motel room door. She gasped at the horrid smell of cigarettes and stale beer – feeling her stomach turn. She sighed and stepped inside. She was too scared to even open a window, as the neighborhood she was in didn’t seem the safest. She wasn’t going to be Mrs. Anderson anymore and would have to get used to life like it had been before her marriage.

She didn’t really care about the room; she was just so empty from the betrayal of her husband cheating. She’d been in his arms the night before, and then he was in the arms of another just a few short hours later. Thank goodness for her exhaustion because she fell into a restless sleep almost immediately.





“Then where the hell did she go,” Lucas shouted to his cook, Rosa. He knew it wasn’t her fault Amy was gone, but he had no one else to take his fear and anger out on.

He’d come home, anticipating holding his wife and telling her how he felt. The roses were clutched to his chest. He’d opened the door and called out to her. When there was no answer, he hadn’t felt panic, just headed up the stairs, where he figured she was taking a nap.

She’d been far more tired lately and he’d been worried about her health, as well as that of his son or daughter.

He quietly stepped into their bedroom and looked around. He frowned slightly when she wasn’t there, but figured she was in the bathroom. He walked over to the door and she wasn’t there either.

He was turning to walk back out and ask Rosa where she was, when he happened to glance over and saw her ring sitting on the table, atop a piece of paper. Instantly, he was furious. She’d left him. He felt it. She’d told him she loved him, and still she walked out on him. He’d drag her back no matter where she’d gone.

She wasn’t going to make him into a fool and leave him standing alone and vulnerable. She’d lied to him. She told him she loved him and then she walked out on him. He was sure she had taken all she could get her greedy hands on, in the process. The whole time she’d just played him.

He slowly walked over to the paper and looked down at it, not wanting to know what she’d written, but unable to stop himself.





Lucas,

I’m sorry you weren’t able to love me. I can’t help how much I have fallen in love with you, even though that was never the arrangement between us. I can no longer live here with you, while you’re leaving me to be in the arms of another woman. I know you love our child and I won’t try to keep her from you, but I have to get away for the sake of my own health. I’ll contact you after the baby is born and we can arrange something then. I’ll return the car to you just as soon as I can get things worked out. I’m not trying to take it; I just had no other way to leave.

Amy





He read the note about ten times, not understanding what was going on. He wasn’t cheating on her. Why would she think he was? He went from anger to confusion in the space of a heartbeat.

He calmed down and re-read the note once more. He needed to find out what was going on and not just jump to conclusions.

He slowly walked down the stairs, almost as if he was in a trance. He walked into the kitchen where Rosa was cooking. “Hello, Mr. Anderson, you’re home early,” she said as if nothing was wrong. This attitude made his temper come to the front again.