Chapter 9
The moment those words left his mouth, even Lorian himself was shocked.
He never imagined he’d torch his own wedding over news about Sylvia.
But with emotions boiling over, nothing else seemed to matter.
Ewan sighed deeply, knocking on the car window. As the glass lowered, he leaned in.
“Is revenge really all you feel for Sylvia? Lorian, you’re too close to see it, but what you feel for her stopped being about revenge a long time ago.”
“Think about it–the first time you blew off your friends because she called, how you completely lost it when she got sick, how you’re falling apart now that she’s in trouble–your feelings changed without you
even noticing.”
“Be honest with yourself–if Sylvia had shown up today wearing that dress you picked out, would you really have played those videos?”
“You’ve been using Jocelyn as a shield, trying to convince yourself you’re not falling for Sylvia. You might fool everyone else, but you can’t fool yourself.”
“As your friend, one last piece of advice: don’t let hate make you blind. Only your father knows what really happened back then. Just ask him directly.”
With that, Ewan stepped back, giving him room to leave.
Lorian floored it, the car shooting forward.
But the conversation bounced around his skull like a pinball.
He asked himself the hard question–if Sylvia had shown up at the wedding, could he have really gone through with humiliating her?
The answer had always been there.
He’d just been too consumed by hatred to see clearly.
Unable to see clearly.
His growing feelings for Sylvia felt like betraying his mother’s memory.
He refused to let himself love her.
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Chapter 9
Refused to acknowledge any real feelings.
But hearts don’t follow rules or plans, and his was no exception.
By the time he realized the truth, everything had fallen apart.
Stopped at a red light, he fired off dozens of messages to Sylvia. Pouring out years of suppressed feelings and confessing every wrong he’d done to her.
But after sending message after desperate message, all he got were red exclamation points.
Sylvia had blocked him. Completely cut him out of her life.
Lorian frantically contacted every rescue team he could find, desperately searching for any news about Sylvia.
But nothing came back.
The rescue coordinator gently explained that Sylvia wasn’t the only missing passenger–many bodies
hadn’t been recovered.
They advised him to prepare for the worst–to start planning Sylvia’s funeral.
The flight information felt like it was burning a hole through his hand.
Painful to hold, painful to put down.
He returned to the empty house, pushing open Sylvia’s bedroom door.
Everything belonging to her had vanished without a trace.
This room where he’d spent countless nights with Sylvia for six years–every corner once filled with her laughter and warmth–now felt as hollow as if she’d never existed at all.
He slumped on the edge of her bed, lighting one cigarette after another until butts littered the floor.
His phone rang with his father’s ringtone.
At the same moment, a video started playing on his screen–footage from the wedding venue.
It showed every intimate night he’d spent with Sylvia.
In the images, Sylvia curled trustingly against him like a sleepy kitten.
He hit answer, and his father’s thunderous voice boomed through:
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Chapter 9
“Lorian, explain this video to me RIGHT NOW! What the hell does this mean?”
“What have you been doing to Sylvia all these years? Is her disappearance connected to you? ANSWER
ME!”
“How could I have raised a son like you? You’re worse than an animal!”
In the background, the outraged voices of wedding guests hurled accusations.
Lorian’s mind went blank with panic.
He had stopped the video from playing–how was this happening?
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