The words hung in the air, freezing both Sable and the staff in place.
The staff awkwardly smiled and quickly made up some excuse to leave.
Sable looked at Vincent gently, her voice soft. “What’s wrong, Vincent?”
Vincent didn’t even know himself. All he knew was–he needed to get out of there. He needed to
see me.
He stood up, brushing off her question. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
For the first time, he didn’t wait for Sable to follow him. She scurried behind, trying to keep up.
In the car, she kept snapping selfies of herself wearing the ring, flooding her social feed with pictures and updates. Every click of her phone made his skin crawl.
I used to do the same. When he gifted me a dress, I’d spend hours getting dolled up, taking dozens of photos to post online for days. If he gave me a simple charm, I’d attach it to my purse, showing it off everywhere I went, spamming my friends with posts.
He used to find it annoying. But he never blocked me.
Instinctively, he opened his phone and started scrolling through my feed.
Nothing.
Not one single post.
He frowned and clicked into my full profile. The familiar wisteria background was gone, replaced with a pitch–black night sky. The activity log was completely empty. But what truly caught his eye was the stark icon in the center – a severed link.
I had deleted him.
No. That couldn’t be right.
He jumped into our chat and tried sending a message:
[Andrea, you really deleted me? Have you lost your mind?!]
The message failed to send. A red exclamation mark glared back at him.
His fingers hovered in mid–air. The anxiety he thought he’d suppressed came roaring back.
Sable nudged closer. “Vincent, we’re home. What’s going on with you?”
He glanced up. The house was dark. Only the street lamps outside offered a faint glow.
Where was I?
He stepped out of the car.
Sable hurried after him, but he spun around, his tone sharp. “Go to Crystal Pointe.” Crystal Pointe -one of the luxury apartment complexes he owned.
Sable froze, blinking at him in confusion. “But it’s so late… why-?”
Vincent didn’t let her finish. With a flick of his hand, he signaled the driver to take her away.
Her eyes instantly welled with tears. “Vincent… did I do something wrong?”
No. She didn’t. He just couldn’t let me see her.
Chapter O
C
5
5:37 pm DDDX.
His gaze dropped to the antique ring still glittering on her finger. “Take it off.”
Sable gasped, clutching her hand protectively. “But you just bought this for me!”
“Don’t make me repeat myself,” he said, voice low and cold.
She bit her lip, holding back tears as she reluctantly slipped the ring off and placed it back in its box.
He took it without another word and walked into the house.
The living room was eerily silent. Even the nightlight I always left on for him was dark.
His gut twisted. He flicked on the light with a sharp click.
Empty.
I always waited up for him, no matter how late. If I was too tired, I’d fall asleep on the couch. His chest tightened.
“Andrea!” he called.
No answer.
This had never happened before. Normally, the moment he walked through that door, I’d come
running.
Heart pounding, he bolted upstairs, clutching the ring box like a lifeline.
Maybe I was just tired and went to bed. But the master bedroom was empty.
—
Not only that every trace of me was gone.
He suddenly remembered how, at Sable’s request, he’d moved me out of the master bedroom. Sc maybe… I moved everything into the guest room.
Yes. That had to be it.
He practically sprinted across the hall, flinging open the guest room door.
Empty. The bed hadn’t even been made.
He yanked open the closet. Nothing.
My luggage was gone. Even that silly little ornament I adored had vanished.
His breath came in sharp bursts. In the middle of the night, he summoned all the staff back to the house.
5:38 pm DDD X
