Chapter 5
Chapter 05
David pulled up to the house.
From the garage to the seventeenth floor, he was too impatient to wait for the elevator, so he took the stairs instead.
He slipped the key into the lock, and the door swung open.
The living room was quiet.
He rushed straight to the bedroom.
The closet was open, and her side was missing some clothes.
There was a key sitting on top of the shoe rack.
Her toothbrush and cup were gone from the bathroom sink.
There was no note on the coffee table.
He pulled out his phone and called her again.
"Sorry, the number you dialed has been switched off," the automated message said.
Four times. Five times. Six times.
Every time, her phone was still off.
He called Laura.
One ring. Two rings.
"What's up?" Laura answered.
"Laura, is Emily with you?" David asked.
There was a brief silence on the other end.
"No," Laura said.
"Where did she go? Her phone's off, and she's taken some stuff from home. You know where she is, don't you?" David pressed.
Laura's voice turned cold.
"David, did you get your package?" Laura asked, her tone icy.
His breath caught.
"The baby. She never told me," he said.
"She wanted to tell you," Laura said, her voice as flat as if she were talking about the weather. "When did you ever give her a chance?"
"Tell me where she is, Laura," David demanded.
"I don't know," Laura replied.
"You're not telling me the truth," David said.
"Believe it or not, that's your call. I've got things to do, so I'm hanging up," Laura said.
The line went dead.
David stood alone in the empty living room, his phone damp from his sweaty grip.
He called the airport.
"I need to check a passenger's flight info," he said.
"Sir, we can't give out passenger details," the operator replied.
"She's my wife," David said.
"Sorry, sir, we can't help you with that," the operator said.
He hung up and called a cab, heading straight for the airport.
He arrived at the terminal at 4:30 PM.
He rushed over to the domestic departures board.
The screen was crammed with flight info, he had no idea where she went or which flight she took.
All the flights between 1 PM and 3 PM already said "Departed."
Every single one was gone.
David stood in front of the departures board, passengers bustling past him.
His phone still showed the same message.
"Sorry, the number you dialed has been switched off," the message read.
He had no idea how long he'd been standing there.
The airport's announcement system was calling for the next flight's boarding.
David tuned it all out, none of it registered with him.
The next day.
The atmosphere at the design firm felt tense.
David's workstation sat empty. The coffee stains had been cleaned up, but the manila envelope was still there.
The receptionist and the intern were chatting in the break room.
"You think that package for Mr. Carter was really divorce papers?" the intern asked.
"Not just that. I heard there was a medical certificate in there, too," the receptionist replied.
"What kind of medical certificate?" the intern asked.
The receptionist hesitated, then lowered her voice.
"It's a miscarriage certificate," she whispered.
The intern's mouth dropped open.
"No way. I thought Mr. Carter and his wife were doing fine," the intern said.
The receptionist rolled her eyes.
"How long have you even been here? Don't you know who Mr. Carter's been giving rides to every single day?" she asked.
"Sophie? But isn't she just his college junior?" the intern asked.
"Junior," the receptionist echoed, her voice dripping with meaning.
Victor walked into the break room with a cup in hand. The two girls immediately fell silent.
Victor poured himself a glass of water, not even glancing at them.
But his brow stayed furrowed.
After David stormed out yesterday, Victor was the one who helped clean up his desk.
He'd seen the date on that medical certificate with his own eyes.
It was the exact same day as the landslide during the company retreat.
He remembered that day clearly, the moment the rocks came crashing down, David threw himself toward the passenger seat.
Sophie was in the passenger seat.
Emily was in the back seat.
Victor finished his water in one gulp and headed back to his desk.
His eyes swept over Sophie's desk.
It was empty. She hadn't shown up today, either.
At ten o'clock, David finally showed up.
He looked awful, his face was pale, and the bags under his eyes were so dark it was like someone had taken a marker to his face. He'd changed his jacket, but he was still wearing the same shirt as yesterday.
He slumped into his chair and powered on his computer.
The screen glowed for ten minutes, but he just sat there, not typing a single word.
At lunchtime, Victor walked by his desk.
"David, want to grab lunch together?" Victor asked.
David shook his head.
"About your wife." Victor hesitated. "Any news from her?"
David's fingers froze over the keyboard.
"No," he said.
Victor nodded and didn't press further.