Chapter 10
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city. Alexander stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows with his whiskey glass nearly empty.
“Alexander,” Lucille whispered in a honeyed voice as she embraced him from behind. “Stop waiting. She’s not coming.”
The crystal glass let out a stressed creak under his grip. He had been waiting for Vanessa to show up ever since the night of the party. She had never disobeyed him before, but this time, not only had she skipped the event, she had vanished for days without a trace.
His phone screen was still lit, displaying the last message Vanessa sent. “I’m not coming. I’m going to find the one I love.”
He had replayed those words over and over in his mind, and each time, it felt like a stone pressing down on his chest.
The one she loved? Who else could it possibly be besides him?
Alexander couldn’t help but wonder if this was just another one of her mind games.
“Alexander.” Lucille pouted, clearly annoyed by his silence. She stood on tiptoe and tried to kiss him, but he turned his head away.
“I need to smoke,” he said. Then, he set the glass down and walked out to the balcony without looking back.
The night breeze was cool. Alexander lit a cigarette, but he simply held it between his fingers and let it burn. Through the swirling smoke, he remembered Vanessa’s expression the day she
fell into the lake.
She had seemed so calm that it was unsettling.
At the time, he thought she was acting again. However, looking back now, that despair seemed genuine.
His phone buzzed with a message from his assistant, Adrian Barnes. “Mr. Hawke, I’ve checked all the hotels, and there were no registration records for Ms. York.”
Frowning, Alexander replied, “Keep looking.”
“Who are you texting?” Lucille appeared behind him, reaching for his phone.
He quickly locked the screen, and the gesture made them both freeze.
Then, he explained stiffly, “Sorry, Lucille. It’s company confidential.”
Lucille forced a smile, but her eyes darkened. “Alexander, you’ve finished that last task, and I’ve already agreed to be with you. Aren’t you happy?”
He stubbed out the cigarette and said, “Of course, I’m happy. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Yet, the words came out flat, and the air between them turned uncomfortably awkward. Just then, his phone screen lit up again. Whatever the person on the other end said made his expression change immediately, and he ignored Lucille completely as he strode away.
When Alexander arrived at the police station and saw that familiar phone, his heart sank. It was Vanessa’s because he recognized the scratch on the case. Last year, when she shielded him from a bottle, her phone had slipped from her pocket and gotten damaged.
“Where did you find this?” His voice was hoarse.
“By the river,” the officer said as he pointed to the map. “It was here. We pulled surveillance footage and confirmed a woman jumped from the bridge, but we haven’t found anything yet from the downstream searches.”
Alexander clenched the phone so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He suddenly remembered Vanessa’s last message and realized it hadn’t been a trick but a goodbye text.
“Alexander!” Lucille arrived shortly after, her eyes flickering when she saw the phone in his
hand.
She quickly composed herself. “What did the police say?”
He stayed quiet for a long moment before finally answering, “They think she might—’
“No!” Lucille cut him off and held his hand. “Nessa is strong. She wouldn’t do something that reckless, so maybe she just lost her phone. She could be off somewhere, clearing her head.”
Alexander didn’t respond. Instead, he stared at the phone’s lock screen, a picture of Vanessa and another man. The man had his head bent, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. His profile looked eerily similar to Alexander’s. However, the look in his eyes was far softer than his.
At first glance, Alexander had thought it was a younger version of himself. He stared at it for a long time, but he couldn’t recall ever taking that photo or ever showing such an expression.
“This is…” He frowned.
Lucille took one look and said quickly, “It’s probably edited. She adored you, so maybe she edited your face onto someone else’s.”
Alexander said nothing. He slipped the phone into his pocket and walked toward the exit. “I’m going to the river.”
“I’m coming with you,” Lucille called out, following close behind. However, her voice carried
Chapter 10
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a faint trace of frustration. “Just remember, we have that charity auction tomorrow night—”
“Enough!” he snapped, suddenly turning on her. “Vanessa might be dead, and all you care about is a stupid auction?”
Lucille blinked in shock. Her eyes welled with tears as she whimpered, “That’s not what I meant… Alexander, I’m just worried about you…”
Alexander took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. “Sorry. I’m just not in the right headspace. Go home for now. I need to be alone.”
He watched her leave. Then, he got in his car and drove toward the riverbank.
The sun was setting, casting a reddish glow across the water that shimmered like blood. He stood at the edge and stared at the spot where Vanessa might have fallen, a tight ache building
in his chest.
For an entire week, his mind kept replaying everything Vanessa had done for him. She had taken a bullet, drank poisoned liquor meant for him, stayed in freezing water so long she lost her ability to conceive, and nearly died on a snow-covered mountain just to save him.
He had once thought these sacrifices were natural. But now, with the woman who had always silently protected him gone, he felt a massive hole open up inside him.
“Vanessa…” he muttered to the river, but only the wind answered back.
