That night,on the rooftop of the Aït Benhaddou kasbah,Nathan got down on one knee and pulled out a pink diamond ring,then proposed.
My whole body froze,my eyes reddened and I asked, “Nathan…are you kidding?I thought you said you didn’t believe in marriage?”
Nathan looked at me.His eyes were filled with the colors of the night and the mountain breeze and he said, “I believe in you.”
In that moment,he really wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Just him, without Alicia or the child.Just he and I,side by side,night and day,until we were old and grey.
However now?Why did things turn out this way?
Nathan covered his forehead and suddenly felt a bit suffocated.
He looked down,quickly flipped through the photos and saw a picture of us together when we went to the small town of South France.
I was leaning sideways against his shoulder,the wind ruffling my hair and he was looking down at me with a plate of macaroons with a rare tenderness on his face.
Those were the softest months of his life. He wasn’t tired of running around with too many
shadows then.
I was the brightest light in his world. He was willing to slow down for me,willing to go hot air balloon jumping with me,ride my bike,run in the rain and watch in an empty theater to watch Hayao Miyazaki, which I loved.
The moment I cried,his heart would melt. The moment I pouted,he would cave in.
However,somewhere along the way,he got used to me compromising on his demands. He grew numb to my tears. He even thought I would never leave.
I once asked him,“If I ever leave,would you chase after me?”
He had laughed.“You won’t leave.”
Now,Nathan wanted to slap his face hard.
He lowered his head,wiped the photos one by one,took them to the balcony and hung them up,even if it was late at night,even if his hands were freezing,he didn’t dare to slack off.
Since he knew I treated them like treasure and when I came back,I would check them.
At three in the morning,Nathan was still sitting in the living room. His phone screen lit up,but there were no new messages.
He opened WhatsApp,typed in Laurie’s name and tapped into the dialog box,only to find that the page was grayed out and the avatar no longer appeared.
He tried texting,emailing,sending direct message on Instagram and TikTok.Nathan even logged into her Discord, which Laurie rarely used,just to send her messages. However, nothing went through. He had been completely blocked.
Nathan stared at the gray message. [You are no longer friends with this contact)and slowly clenched his fist until his knuckles cracked.
Chantera
2/2 30.0%
4:25 pm DDDD
I had really made up my mind to leave.
The doorbell suddenly rang.It was his assistant,Gregg Moore. He was drenched from the rain and looked ugly.
“Mr.Campbell, we found out that Miss Smith…just appeared in that newly opened Japanese restaurant in the eastern suburbs,with a female colleague.”
Nathan shot to his feet.“Where is she now?”
Gregg’s voice went even lower.“Something happened…No,something almost happened. Her wine glass was drugged by someone, it should be premeditated and the person who did it was Leon Drakis’people.”
Nathan’s face turned stone cold as he whispered,“Alicia?”
“Yes.Leon booked a private room at that restaurant and Miss Smith’s colleague was delayed for a while because she went to the restroom and when she came back,she noticed that Miss Smith’s state wasn’t right and the waiter looked panicked at the time. Later,someone called the police and someone filmed Miss Smith being assisted by a strange man trying to help her leave.”
“Where is that man?“Nathan asked.
“When our team got there, Leon had already been beaten to a pulp. When he was carried out,blood covered her. His arms and legs were broken.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed dangerously.“Who did it?”
Gregg shook his head.“I don’t know. When we arrived, Leon had already been beaten like that anc left in the garage and Miss Smith…was missing.”
4:25 pm DDDD
Chapter 10
