70
When no one answered his calls, Lucas finally panicked.
He immediately dialed an old acquaintance. “Help me trace Zoe’s location–anything you can find!“>
As he waited anxiously, he scrolled through his unread messages and tapped on a new one.
It was a flight confirmation.§
Lucas stared at it, his brows knitting tightly.
A plane ticket? But… he never booked a flight.§
Suddenly, something clicked in his mind. A wave of dread surged through him.
“No…” he muttered under his breath, spinning on his heel and running out in a frenzy.”
By then, I had already boarded the plane.§
The aircraft had taken off and was climbing steadily into the sky.
I gazed out the window at the city I had spent ten years living in with Lucas. It once felt like the whole world. Now, it was just a shrinking landscape beneath the clouds. I turned my face away, not wanting to look back anymore.
Lucas hit the gas and sped down the highway like a madman, weaving through traffic in desperation.
And then–0
A thunderous explosion rocked the air above.
The radio in Lucas’s car suddenly blared with an emergency alert.”
The
“Breaking news! Flight ZY003 has crashed shortly after takeoff…“}
Lucas’s world stopped.}
His fingers trembled on the steering wheel. His vision blurred.§
That was the flight I was on.
His breathing grew erratic, as if something invisible had wrapped tightly around his chest.
His car jolted as he slammed the brakes, barely avoiding a collision with the vehicle in front.”
The cars behind him honked angrily, but he couldn’t hear them. He was trapped in shock, paralyzed.
A man from the car behind walked up, ready to yell–until he saw Lucas’s face.”
Eyes bloodshot, hands gripping his collar, struggling for breath.
Lucas looked devastated–like a man whose soul had been ripped from his body.”
Then, he broke.
He let out a heart–wrenching scream, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face.
“Zoe… how could you leave me like this?!“}
His wails echoed along the road, a raw sound of agony that silenced even the angriest drivers.
The stranger, moved by the moment, said nothing more. He simply turned and walked away in silence.
Lucas had never known sorrow like this.
We had been together for ten years. I wasn’t just his partner–I was family.”
I saved his life. I stood by him.”
Even after falling for Emily, he had believed I would always be there in the background.
Until now.
By the time the traffic police arrived, Lucas had passed out crying.
They shook him awake gently, but he ignored their questions.
He climbed back into his car like a zombie, hands on the wheel, expression blank.
He drove home.
In his dazed mind, the tragedy couldn’t be real.}
No, he told himself–this has to be a mistake.
I had been home all this time. Maybe I still was.
Maybe the report was wrong. Maybe I’d walk out of the kitchen any minute, annoyed that he’d interrupted my packing.
He rushed upstairs to the 20th floor and fumbled for the keys with trembling fingers.
“Zoe!”
The door swung open.
Wind blew through the curtains in the quiet apartment.§
Silence. No footsteps. No familiar voice.
“Zoe? Are you hiding from me again?” His voice cracked as he walked through the living room.
“I know you’re mad about Emily. I won’t force you anymore, I promise. Come out, please…“}]
8:57 AM
In the past, whenever we fought, I would hide until he coaxed me out.
But this time, there was no playful game of hide and seek.
Lucas checked every room–bedroom, kitchen, even the bathroom.
Each door he opened added weight to his chest.
Eventually, he staggered back to the living room. His knees gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor, clutching his head.“]
“Zoe… I’m sorry. I was wrong… I should never have asked that of you…”
His sobs echoed in the empty space.
And then he noticed something.}
A pillow had slipped off the couch, revealing a thick envelope beneath.
He reached out by shaking hands and opened it.
Inside were dozens of photos.
Photos of him and Emily.
In one, a young Emily was sitting in a fancy restaurant. Red wine had spilled down her collar, and he was leaning in to help her wipe it. Scrawled on the back in bold handwriting: Stay away from my man!}
Another photo showed Lucas in a hotel bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. The timestamp in the corner was unmistakable.§ That day…
That exact day, I had lost our third child.
I had begged him to come with me to the hospital, but he claimed he was on an urgent business trip.
I had sat alone in that sterile hospital room, crying in silence.}
And now, Lucas was looking at photographic proof of where he really was.
I had confronted him about Emily back then:
But every time, he’d spin the same gentle lies.
“Zoe, you don’t trust me? That was just a dinner we couldn’t cancel. Emily is just my secretary.“>
“Zoe, the client’s flight was delayed. Emily invited me, and I couldn’t refuse. It’s just business.“}
He always had the perfect tone. The perfect excuses.
And when those stopped working, he smothered me with affection, pretending to distance himself from Emily. He even sent her away on business trips just to reassure me.
And I…
I believed him. Again and again.”
Because I wanted to.
Then, the night before our wedding, Emily delivered one final blow.
She handed me a single piece of
paper.
An ultrasound report.
Proof of her pregnancy.
And from that moment on, everything changed.
8:59 AM
