Nathan mobilized every contact he had.
He offered a big reward for any information of Claire.
But days passed.
Nothing.
No leads. No sightings.
It was like she had vanished from the world completely.
By the fourth day, Nathan collapsed inward.
He shut himself in a small room on the top floor of the estate and surrounded himself with liquor
bottles.
He
drank until he couldn’t see straight.
Until her voice blurred into the walls.
Three days later, his assistant burst in, breathless and pale.
“Sir! We just got word from the local police. They found a female body… washed up in the South
River.”
“They’re saying… they believe it’s Ms. Brown.”
דן
For a split second, Nathan thought he’d misheard.
But the moment hope had flickered-
It was crushed.
He lunged forward, grabbed his assistant by the shoulders, and shook him violently.
“What did you say?! Claire can’t be dead! She’s my wife! I haven’t even apologized to her yet!” “How could she be gone already?!”
He flung a bottle across the room, glass shattering everywhere.
Tears streamed down his face.
“Claire… how
ould you die before I had the chance to tell you…I love you…”
7.845
At first, he refused to belleve it.
Only when the death certificate finally reached his hands did he slowly, painfully surrender to the cruel truth.
He bought me a headstone and placed it by the sea-
The place where they’d first met.
It was where we’d once promised to grow old together, to walk hand–in–hand until the end.
Now it was the place where he whispered apologies into the wind.
He visited often.
Brought my favorite fruits.
Sometimes stayed for entire nights, kneeling before the grave until dawn.
When he returned to the now–empty estate, he drowned his sorrows in liquor.
The lights stayed off.
The piano stayed silent.
The world had gone gray.
Until Delilah showed up with a suitcase.
She stood in the doorway, watching his ruined state with a strange mix of detachment and pity.
“I’m leaving.”
Nathan barely blinked. His eyes were flat, lifeless.
Delilah stepped forward and placed a sheet of paper on the coffee table.
“My test came back. I’m not pregnant. Let’s just end this cleanly.”
She paused, her voice softening just slightly.
“But before I go, there’s something you should know.”
“You lost someone who loved you very much, Nathan.”
“This… was hers.”
She slid another document across the table.
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“A pregnancy report. I found it by accident–when I picked up my own results at the hospital
“It had Claire’s name on it.”
Delilah turned away without another word.
And for the first time, Nathan looked shaken.
He crawled to the table, hands trembling as he picked up the paper..
His eyes landed on the name-
Claire Sterling
He blinked, Once. Twice.
Then the meaning hit him like a thunderclap.
She was pregnant.
With his child.
For a brief, cruel second, joy surged through him-
Only to be obliterated by what followed.
He remembered-
The kick.
The white dress stained in blood.
His words. His rage. His betrayal.
His v
His hand tightened around the paper until it crumpled in his grip.
The grief hit him like a tidal wave.
He collapsed onto the floor, his body shaking, a raw scream tearing from his throat.
In the blackened silence of the night, only his sobs remained.
“Claire…” he whispered.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…
“I love you…please… forgive me….
Chanter R
But there was no one left to answer
