Howard grimaced and apologized again. \u201cI really am sorry, Ms. Jameson. You walked over so suddenly. I honestly didn\u2019t see you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William strode out of the ward. The moment he was gone, Nicole\u2019s expression darkened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you\u2019re saying I threw myself in front of the car on purpose?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Howard waved his hands frantically. \u201cNo, that\u2019s not what I meant at all!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had only started the job recently. His driving skills were solid, but he was still young and may not be careful enough. With Lester off these past few days, this was his first time driving for William, and he had been extremely nervous.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Howard pulled out of Bova\u2019s parking garage, he failed to notice Nicole standing by the roadside. She had seen William\u2019s car and walked over to greet him, and Howard accidentally bumped into her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thankfully, he had not been driving fast. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William had immediately scooped her up, put her in the car, and rushed her to the hospital for a full checkup. Aside from a cut on her knee that needed stitches, she was fine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The incident wasn\u2019t exactly major, but it wasn\u2019t something to brush off either. Nicole was the eldest daughter of the Jameson family. Even a small injury was a big deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Howard had been on edge all evening, convinced he was about to lose his job.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William threw on his coat and headed out, dialing Scarlet as he went. She had been on the phone with Nicole less than ten minutes ago, but now she wasn\u2019t answering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His steps quickened, urgency growing with every stride. He reached the parking lot, yanked the car door open, started the engine, shifted into gear, and hit the gas. The speedometer needle jumped as the car surged forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neon lights from the city blurred past the windows, glinting off his calm, hardened features. Every intersection seemed timed against him\u2013he hit a red light at each one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William\u2019s calls to Scarlet kept going to voicemail. His frown deepened as he sped back to Wolke Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He jumped out of the car, slammed the door, and ran up the steps two at a time before pushing the front door open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The villa was pitch dark. Not a single light was on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Motion sensors kicked in from the foyer through the living room, flooding the space with light, but the silence was absolute.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The dinner was set on the table. William felt the tight knot in his chest ease slightly. He didn\u2019t know what he had been afraid of, but seeing those dishes made him breathe a little easier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She liked to put her phone on Do Not Disturb while sleeping. That would explain why she wasn\u2019t picking up. It was late, after\u00a0<\/p>\n
all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, something still felt wrong. William went upstairs. The master bedroom was pitch dark, not even the nightlight was\u00a0<\/p>\n
He flipped the switch by the door. The bed was perfectly made, the covers smooth without a single crease.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet wasn\u2019t home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He checked the walk\u2013in closet. It was still full, about the same as last time. Her clothes were all still there. She definitely hadn\u2019t left.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yet somehow, the room felt emptier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earn $100 Free\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 64\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
He wandered around, feeling like something was missing, though he couldn\u2019t tell what. That uneasy feeling made him restless. He went back downstairs and headed for the room where the cats stayed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet cared more about those little furballs than she did about him. She had raised them herself. There was no way she would leave them behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As long as the cats were still here\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
William pushed the door open. The room was empty. The climbing towers, litter boxes, automatic feeders, and toys that had once filled the space were all gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not a single trace remained. The room was spotless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The vast, hollow quiet of the night pressed in around him, a silence that made his chest tighten.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d always said those cats were trouble. They even knew how to disappear without a trace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William picked up his phone and dialed Scarlet\u2019s number for what felt like the hundredth time. The ringing dragged on, cold and mechanical, grating in its endlessness\u2013still no answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWas she trying to punish me by ignoring me on purpose?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet said she wanted to talk things through. They hadn\u2019t even talked yet. She couldn\u2019t have just run off like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Had she gone out drinking again, sulking by herself?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucy had been a terrible influence on her. Lately, she\u2019d been getting wild, hitting the bars every other night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William scrolled through his contacts, looking for Lucy\u2019s number. He couldn\u2019t remember if he\u2019d saved it. Using one hand to swipe the screen, the other yanked off his tie and tossed it onto the couch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His aim was off. The tie missed and fell to the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the same moment, his scrolling stopped. His eyes fell on the dining table. The food and the table set for two were untouched. William\u2019s gaze lingered on the spot where Scarlet usually sat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A platinum wedding band lay quietly on the wooden surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n
E\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earn $100 Free\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 65\u00a0<\/p>\n
Howard grimaced and apologized again. \u201cI really am sorry, Ms. Jameson. You walked over so suddenly. I honestly didn\u2019t see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-end-of-the-contractstart-of-his-obsession"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13541"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13579,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13541\/revisions\/13579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}