Chapter 2
My slippers were neatly lined up in front of the shoe cabinet.
My usual coat was hanging on the rack.
Edward glanced toward the bedroom.
The lights were off in there too.
He didn't worry right away.
He just loosened his tie and tossed it onto the couch.
"Still sulking?" Edward muttered.
I stood right in front of him.
I wanted to say, "I'm not sulking."
"I'm right here."
But my hand went straight through him.
There was no warmth at all.
No sign I was ever there.
Edward walked into the kitchen.
The fridge still had the fruit I'd sliced that morning.
The cream was halfway whipped.
There was still a box of strawberries on the top shelf, not yet used up.
He took a look inside, then closed the fridge.
Then he pulled out his phone and sent me a message. [I'm home.]
Half a minute later, he sent another message. [If you want to talk, just come back. No need to disappear on purpose.]
But there was never any reply in the chat.
My phone was still abandoned in that alley.
Its screen was shattered.
Dried blood was caked along the edges.
Of course, there was no way I could reply to him.
Edward waited for a while.
His expression turned grim.
He called me.
My phone was off.
He called again.
Still off.
I thought he'd finally realize something was wrong.
But he just scoffed. "Her temper's getting worse."
With that, he tossed his phone onto the nightstand.
I sat at the edge of the bed, watching as he closed his eyes.
He didn't sleep well that night.
At 2 a.m., he woke up.
He fumbled for his phone and glanced at the screen.
At 4 a.m., he woke up again.
Still no message from me on the screen.
He rolled over in frustration.
But he still didn't call my dad Samuel Evans.
He didn't go to the studio to look for me either.
Because every time we fought, I was always the one to give in first.
The longest I ever held out was until the next morning.
I'd make him breakfast.
I'd lay out his clothes for the day.
I'd pretend nothing had happened and ask if he was coming home for dinner.
Over time, even Edward stopped noticing.
It wasn't like I couldn't have walked away.
I just couldn't bring myself to let go.
The next morning, the alarm went off at seven.
When Edward got up, he instinctively glanced toward the kitchen.
The dining table was empty.
There was no breakfast.
No note from me, either.
He paused for a moment.
But then he just went about his business like nothing was wrong.
He washed up and got dressed.
Before heading out, he caught sight of the flowers I'd bought just yesterday.
Left unopened all night, their petals had already begun to droop.
He didn't bother with them.
The law firm was hosting a belated celebration for him this afternoon.
He had a conference call in the morning, so he went to the office as usual.
When he arrived at the law firm, his colleagues all congratulated him.
Someone asked with a grin, "Edward, where's Claire's cake? Didn't you say she was baking it herself last night?"
Edward flipped through his files, barely looking up.
"Something came up, that's all," he said.
One of the lawyers grinned at him, "You two had a fight, huh?"
He chuckled.
"You left right after the ceremony to take Olivia home. Can you blame Claire for being upset?"
Edward paused with his pen in hand.
"She's not a kid. She'll sort it out herself," he said.
I stood by the table.
Suddenly, I couldn't help but feel like laughing.
I'd heard all this before.
"Claire's not a kid."
"Claire should understand."
"Claire can handle it herself."
"Claire will figure it out in the end."
Everyone else was allowed to fall apart.
But I was always the one who had to be sensible.
Someone knocked on the office door.
His secretary Mia came in with a bouquet of flowers.
It wasn't from me.
Olivia's name was written on the card.
[Congrats, and thanks for staying with me last night.]
The people nearby started cracking jokes.
Edward's face darkened.
"Cut it out," he said.
But he didn't send the flowers back.
He didn't ask Mia to get rid of them either.
He just told her to place them by the window.
Ten minutes later, Olivia posted a photo on her social media.
It was a shot taken inside Edward's car.
All one could see was a bit of a black suit sleeve and the blurry lights outside the window.
She wrote: [When I was scared, there was still someone who brought me home.]
Edward saw it.
His thumb hovered over the screen for a few seconds.
He didn't like it.
He didn't tell her to take it down, either.
I knew what he was waiting for.
He was waiting for me to see it.
Waiting for me to get mad.
Waiting for me to call him out.
So he could turn around and say, once again, that I was just being dramatic.
But I wasn't going to call him out anymore.
At ten in the morning, Samuel called Edward.
Edward had just finished a conference call.
When he saw who was calling, he frowned.
"Samuel," Edward said.
Samuel sounded tired. "Edward, is Claire with you?"
Edward glanced at his phone.
Still no reply from me.
"Yes, she's here," Edward replied without hesitation.
I was stunned.
Samuel let out a sigh of relief.
"That's good," he said.
"I've been calling her since last night, but I just can't get through.
"She promised to go with me to the hospital for my check-up today. I thought maybe she'd forgotten."
Edward was silent for a moment.
His gaze fell on the bouquet Olivia had sent, sitting by the window.
"She stayed up late last night," Edward said. "Her phone probably died."
"I see," Samuel said.
He chuckled.
"Then don't wake her up. Let her sleep in a bit. I can go by myself. I can go by myself."
The call ended.
Edward held onto his phone, not putting it down right away.
He finally tried calling me again.
Still off.
This time, his frown didn't ease up.
Just then, Mia walked in.
"Mr. Thompson, is Ms. Evans coming to the celebration this afternoon?" Mia asked. "The bakery just called. Should I cancel the cake?"
Edward looked up.
"What bakery?" he asked.
Mia looked a bit surprised.
"It's not Ms. Evans's studio," she said.
"Her shop hasn't opened all day, and no one's picking up the phone. So we had to scramble and order a cake from somewhere else at the last minute."
Edward's fingers slowly tightened around his phone.
"She didn't go to the studio?" he asked.
"No," Mia replied.
She hesitated, then added, "The folks next door said Ms. Evans left last night and never came back."
The office fell silent.
I watched Edward.
He finally got up, almost in a rush.
His movements were abrupt, betraying his anxiety.
The chair scraped backward across the floor.
Just then, his phone rang again.
It was Samuel.
Edward picked up right away.
"Samuel," Edward said.
On the other end, Samuel was breathing heavily.
"Edward, were you lying to me just now?" Samuel asked, his voice tense with worry.
"I'm at your place right now.
"Claire's not here.
"Her coat, her bags, her ID, everything's still here.
"Where did she go last night?"
Edward didn't answer.
Samuel's voice started to shake.
"Tell me," he said, his voice trembling.
"Where's my daughter?"