Chapter 126

Nova trotted down the stairs, arms out-stretched above her head as an all-consuming yawn bellowed out of her widened mouth. The house was uncannily silent for the time of morning. Or did she actually wake up too late? The infiltrating thought resulted in her eyes flaring past their limits, her stretch cut short as she ran down the remainder of the stairs and pushed through the kitchen door.

Abigail stood over the counter, a knife in hand but they weren’t employed in slicing the vegetables set before her. She stared down at the counter unseeingly, Nova’s presence going unnoticed.

“Did Skylar already leave for work?” Nova plopped down on a chair, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her palms in an attempt to swipe the remainder of sleep away. She blinked past the resulting blurriness, her attention focused on Abigail. The woman hadn’t said a word. There was no acknowledgement of Nova’s presence either.

“Abigail?” Nova cocked her head hoping to see past Abigail’s shoulders but the woman didn’t dare turn around. “Helloo,” Nova pressed forward in her seat to the point of her rising to her feet. She came up behind Abigail and tapped her on the shoulder. The woman’s body convulsed in shock, spinning around to gaze into started eyes.

“Oh dearest, you scared me.” She chuckled nervously, attempting to hide her face from Nova as quickly as possible. But one second was enough to note the darkened under eyes on a woman that was usually well rested. The lines in her face spoke of her age and that was never a good sign. Abigail had always been a woman that exuded more energy than should be possible at her age, but it kept her youthful. Her skin had always been plump and soft but today she looked tired.

“Are you alright?” Nova draped her arm around Abigail’s shoulder, leaning into her as the woman finally began chopping up a sweet pepper. The movements slow and inaccurate as if this were her first time using a sharp object. Nova’s eyes fixated on the movements.

“I am fine darling,” Abigail’s voice sounded strained, “Did you want something?”

“I was looking for Skylar,” Nova planned to have her sister-in-law get to the bottom of whatever was bothering Abigail. Yes, she was also squirming to have Skylar take her back to work with her today. The change of pace was refreshing, invigorating Nova with a new found sense of motivation. That had a lot to do with Paris. Having grown up in a wealthy family, Nova was handed every opportunity, nothing was a burden or a barrier in the way of her dreams and having been surrounded by people sharing her the same status as herself, Nova had lost sight of what she wanted. She’d lost the ability to fight for her own dreams and ambitions and being around

Skylar’s workplace and conversing with people from different walks of life had really opened her eyes to just how privileged her life was.

Nova had made the decision to focus on more important matters. Now the whole situation with her ex-boyfriend seemed trivial. Her sadness at losing him was stupid and she was now determined to become her own person.

But first, Abigail had to be dealt with. The woman was clearly in a state and Nova knew that it was impossible to leave her in that manner.

“Perhaps you should talk to Austin about that,” Abigail paused chopping away at the sweet pepper, only half of it parted out into visibly uneven strips. Shrugging Nova’s arm from around her, Abigail walked off to the kitchen sink to wash her hands.

“Why?” This caught Nova’s attention. “Is there something I don’t know?” She hated being treated casually, always the last one to be trusted with information or afforded courtesy. Was she not part of this family too?

“It’s not my place to say,” Abigail closed the faucet, wiping her hands away at her apron as she dashed past Nova and towards the exit. The lack of interest triggered Nova into snapping back, “since when have you observed any level of boundaries as it regards Austin?” she was right at Abigail’s heels.

Abigail sighed. Loudly, spinning to face the youngest member of their family. Nova had become extremely attached to Skylar. One didn’t need eyes to notice it. But she was not the only one to form an attachment and as much as Abigail wished she was able to talk about what happened last night, she didn’t trust herself.

“I understand you are frustrated but only Austin can answer you, I have no idea where Skylar is,” and that wasn’t entirely false. While Abigail begged Skylar to inform her where she’d be staying, Skylar hadn’t reached out. Who would blame her? The whole situation was a baffling mess. Abigail couldn’t understand what had transpired to leave the couple in this state.

“What do you mean you don’t know where she is?” Nova pronounced the words as if they were ridiculous. “Something happened didn’t it?” she was catching on, her chest heaving her brows furrowing.

“Nova, dear…” Abigail reached out but Nova swatted her hand away. “Do not patronise me, what happened? Is she hurt?” Nova could feel the swelling pain at the back of her eyes as her mind ran to the worst scenarios possible. What else was she to think if no one wanted to be honest with her?

“No, no. Not at all,” Abigail rushed to calm the sea of tears manifesting in those pure orbs of sunlight. “She’s fine,” As Abigail said the words she prayed that they were

true. “It’s just that…” her voice trailed off.

“Where is she?” Nova prompted over the crack in her voice. Her eyes intent, her heart waiting to know what was happening. All she did yesterday was go up to bed and fall asleep. How had things shifted in such a short space of time? Time that she wasn’t able to comprehend.

“She left.” Abigail and Nova shifted their attention to Austin entering the kitchen and heading straight for the microwave.

Nova quickly picked her jaw up off the floor to ask, “Left to go where? To work?” she swallowed past the frog in her throat, sniffling in conjunction.

Abigail had gone stark silent, unable to even gaze upon Austin’s silhouette. Since last night, she couldn’t find any words to address him. He’d allowed his wife to leave without so much as asking her to stay. Not even the bare minimum was given and Abigail didn’t know how she should feel. It was true that she was unaware of their issues but the lack of trying on Austin’s part had her disappointed and because of it she broke her promise to keep Catherine in the dark last night. They’d given her no choice.

“She’s left me and our marriage,” he paused as he set the microwave to reheat dinner from last night. The words causing the tip of his tongue to tingle. He didn’t understand how he’d found himself in the kitchen, he hadn’t much of an appetite and was certain any food he took with him would remain uneaten. The urge to get out of his office had been too potent that he was content move about without real intention or need.

“Why?” Nova couldn’t find it in her to mouth any other words. The notion of Skylar leaving Austin too unreal, too much like a lie. Austin turned to face his sister, “because we do not care about each other in the way a married couple should. It’s time the charade ended.” Nova winced at the words, his eyes dark and scary.

Nova shook her head as she noted Abigail storming out of the kitchen. This wasn’t something anyone who watched them all this time wanted to hear. “Are you crazy?” Nova spat. “Did you make her leave?” her level of disgust washed over Austin, his anger and indifference swirling into an unreadable expression.

“She left on her own,” he responded.

“But why?” Nova screamed at him, her throat burning in the aftermath.

“You’ll have to accept that the union is over.” He breathed with more calm than he possessed.

Nova scoffed, a light bulb turning in her head. “What changed?” she waited to see if he’d tell her anything, but as usual he treated her flippantly. She was always a child in his eyes.

“Me.” Austin responded. It was the truth. If he hadn’t loved her, they’d still be together. They’d last but he couldn’t accept half of her, not when she had all of him. Not when she couldn’t return it.

“If you allowed your mind to be poisoned, then yes I agree.” Nova shook her head, “you’ve changed into the very men you despise,” she growled, storming out of his sight before he had chance to counter.

Rage had always been an unfamiliar emotion for Nova but this time she knew exactly who it was directed at. There was only one person that was capable of causing such chaos and Nova was set to give her a piece of her mind.