Mitchell rushed through every room of the house, searching frantically in every corner, but there was no sign of Heather anywhere.
“Heather… Please, Heather, don’t joke with me. We still have a wedding to finish…”
Mitchell repeated her name over and over, but each empty call only drained the hope from his heart. It all seemed to disappear with each unanswered cry.
He had already noticed something strange earlier–Heather’s belongings were gone. All the things that belonged to her–their couple’s items, the framed photos on the wall, the gifts they had exchanged over anniversaries, and all the little reminders that Heather had ever been there were all missing.
Last night, he had sensed something was off when he came home, but he hadn’t paid
attention to it.
On the dining table, two plates of spaghetti he had made the night before sat untouched. The photo of him and Heather, their first official picture together after they had become a couple, was carelessly thrown on the table. The photo had been ripped right down the middle, leaving only Mitchell’s half.
Mitchell felt as if his heart had been torn apart just like that photo, bleeding with the same intensity.
It was in that moment that Mitchell fully realized–Heather had really left him.
Yet he couldn’t understand why.
He wracked his brain, but he couldn’t come up with any reason for her sudden departure.
Just then, his phone rang. His hands shook as he tried to steady it, almost unable to hold it together in his anxious state.
When he finally managed to bring it to his ear, he was filled with hope, thinking it was Heather calling. But the name on the screen was Vanessa’s.
Mitchell’s breath caught in his chest. The emotional rollercoaster had left him dizzy and disoriented.
As soon as the call connected, Vanessa’s angry voice erupted from the phone.
