“With that much blood loss, she’s probably…”
“Sarah, Sarah…” I kept shaking my head. “She can’t be dead. I don’t believe it…”
I grabbed my assistant desperately. “Find her! Whatever it takes, find Sarah!”
I stumbled out of the police station, eventually finding myself at Sarah’s apartment.
The flowers on the balcony, the teacup on the table – traces of her were everywhere.
Then I saw her shoe cabinet.
+15 BONUS
Row after row of identical shoes neatly lined the shelves. My chest felt as if it were being crushed under the weight of my sorrow.
Why? Why hadn’t I noticed this before?
Eight whole years! Eight years of mindlessly giving her the same thing over and over again.
If only, yesterday, I had turned around when I heard her calling for me–would she still be sitting on the sofa, waiting for me
now?
Why didn’t I listen?
I slammed my fist against the wall, the regret suffocating me.
I sat numbly on her sofa, ignoring the calls from the office and even from Emma.
Only here could I still feel traces of Sarah’s presence. I didn’t want to leave.
“James? Why didn’t you pick me up from the hospital?” Emma suddenly appeared at the door.
I ignored her, sitting on the couch, staring at the photo of Sarah and me on the wall.
Would this be the only way I could see her face from now on?
The thought made my heart ache uncontrollably again.
Emma followed my gaze, then lost her temper.
“James, what are you still hung up about?” She tore the photo from the wall. “Sarah is probably dead!”
Chapter 7
“Shut up!”
I shoved her aside without thinking, clutching the photo to my chest as I shouted, “Sarah can’t be dead!”
“She’s not dead, she’s not dead…”
By the end, I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince her or myself.
“James, please pull yourself together…” Emma fell to the floor, looking up at me with tearful eyes.
But I cut her off mercilessly, “Tell me the truth, did Sarah really hire those men to attack you that night?”
She froze for a moment, then blinked rapidly as tears rolled down her cheeks, “Yes!”
“Didn’t those men say so themselves? She just wanted your attention!”
Emma’s voice softened as she gently embraced me.
“James, don’t be so sad. Maybe she’s just hiding to make you look for her.”
Those words reignited a flicker of hope in my shattered heart.
“Yes… yes, she’s not dead. She must be hiding…”
Emma stared at me in disbelief, her voice dropping to a murmur, “James, don’t tell me… you’re in love with her?”
Her question hit me like a thunderclap.
Me, in love with Sarah? Impossible!
“No,
how could I love her?” I denied automatically, yet something felt different in my heart.
What were my true feelings for Sarah…
