**Audrey's POV**

The surveillance video ended with Blake's car racing away from NYU.black SUVs chasing close behind. The screen went black. leaving us in silence.

William leaned forward, eyes fixed on the dark screen. "That's it? Nothing more?"

"We left the campus. and the cameras couldn't follow." Isaid with a slight shrug.

William let out a sigh. "You couldn't have taken a few more laps around campus? Give me something more to watch."

"Grandfather!" Blake cut in, shooting me a glance. "If we'd stayed longer,she might not be here now."

"I'm not that fragile," I said, rolling my eyes at him.

If not for yesterday's accident, Blake might have already discovered my illness. If he'd convinced William that I needed to go to the hospital, my cancer would be impossible to hide.

With that worry in mind, I quickly shifted the focus away from my health."William, the campuis cameras don't show everything. But there's more about what happened after we left NYU."

I clicked away from the surveillance footage and pulled up a news article.The headline was bold and dramatic: "Coastal Highway Closed After Major

Accident -2 Dead. 12 Injured!"

Below it sat a photo of Blake's mangled sedan on the beach, alongside burned-out SUVs.

William's eyes widened as he stood up. "This accident... was you two?"

He immediately was at my side.grabbing my hands and checking me for injuries. "Audrey. are you okay? Were you hurt?"

His genuine concern touched me. In three years of marriage to Blake.William had given me more family feeling than the Sinclairs ever had.

"I'm fine," I smiled. "But Blake was injured protecting me." I glanced toward Blake. "He has a head wound and - ”

"Blake darling!" Laurel cut me off, inserting herself between us. She stood on tiptoes, fingers hovering near the bandage on his forehead. "You're hurt!Why didn't you tell me?"

She continued her performance, voice dripping with concern. "Is this from the accident? Looks serious! You should've protected yourself better!"

Blake tensed at her touch before relaxing. "It's nothing." he said quietly.

He glanced my way before turning back to Laurel. "If Audrey hadn't mentioned it. I wouldn't even remember being injured last night."

The smile he gave her made my chest tighten. "Don't worry about it."

"How can I not?" Laurel's lip trembled.

She bit her lip and leaned closer, whispering something I couldn't hear.

Their private exchange felt like a show staged for my benefit.

I rubbed my temples. *Just another day watching Laurel manipulate her way out of trouble. And Blake falling for it.*

I'd come to expose Laurel's attacks against me and Ethan. but somehow she'd twisted it into an intimate moment with Blake.

William apparently shared my frustration. With surprising agility, he rose from his wheelchair and stormed over. pulling Laurel away from Blake to examine his wound himself.

"Look what you've done." William snapped. voice thick with emotion. "If you hadn't divorced Audrey, none of this would've happened. No smear campaign, no Ethan posting evidence, no car crash while trying to help him."

He turned on Laurel. "And you! Pretending to care? Weren't thoseyour men who crashed into them? Your men hurt Blake, and here you are with fake tears!"

Laurel's eyes went wide as tears streamed down. "Mr. Parker, you've got it wrong.I had nothing to do with Ethan or the crash..."

Her face transformed into a mask of innocence. "If I'd arranged it, wouldn'

t I have known Blake was hurt? I'd have been at his side immediately...But I only just found out."

She dabbed at her eyes. "How can you accuse me? No matter what you think of me. I'd never harm the person I care about most..."

William's frown deepened as he stared at her,momentarily at a loss. Her argument made sense, even to me. If Laurel had planned the attack, she'd have known Blake was in the car and would never have risked hurting him.

Haven't you lied enough?"

Laurel straightened, meeting her gaze. "You have no real proof. It's your word against mine."

"Need me to repeat the evidence?" Audrey advanced. "Every troll attacking me traced back to Parker-Rose Studio. I have all the chat logs between your studio managers and those trolls."

Despite her slim frame. Audrey radiated an authority that filled the room-something I'd never witnessed before.

I stared, stunned.

The Audrey I thought I knew wore pastel dresses like some decorative fixture in our home. She never competed, never confronted, never complained.

She'd seemed so bland that talking to her felt like wasted energy.

Yet this woman before me overturned every judgment I'd ever made.

Laurel backed up before catching herself. "Chat logs mean nothing," she countered."Anyone can fake those."

Audrey stopped directly in front of her, a cold smile forming. "What about the bank transfers? Were you clever or foolish,Miss Rose?"

"You were smart enough to use public opinion against me. label me a homewrecker,force me to hide at my new job," Audrey said evenly."But dumb enough to pay those trolls from the Parker-Rose Studio account."

She held Laurel's gaze. "Parker-Rose Studio. Without even thinking, I knew that name connected to you and Blake."

Laurel's face went ash-white.