Shawn was stunned. “That can’t be possible. Noelle wouldn’t be so heartless! We were so deeply in love–is she really going to deny all of that and deny me because of one mistake?”
He chose to forget the things he’d done over the past six months, incl g his neglect of her.
The lawyer didn’t care what he thought. He merely said, “There’s no point asking me that, Mr. Pitt. That’s what the law dictates. If you think it’s unreasonable, you can take the law to court.”
Shawn knew very well that wasn’t a lawsuit he could win. Still, he stubbornly asked, “It should be okay if I find Noelle and reconcile with her before the two years are up, right?”
This time, the lawyer simply smiled without saying anything. As a divorce lawyer, he’d seen. too many unhappy couples. He could tell that Noelle was determined to get a divorce. Nothing Shawn did would change that.
Shawn and the lawyer were at a stalemate when the police called Shawn. “We’ve found the place where Ms. Anderson’s signal was last detected based on the clues you provided, Mr. Pitt. Is it convenient for you to come over?”
“I’ll be right there!” he cried.
The matter with the divorce agreement was set aside for the time being.
Shawn had never heard of the place the police sent to him. He keyed in the location to his satellite navigation system and sped off.
+25 BONUS
Chapter 13
He was greeted by the sight of empty land devoid of buildings, even dilapidated ones. There was only trash everywhere, and the police were searching for something.
The sight scared Shawn. Countless scenes from the–crime documentaries he’d watched in the past flashed in his mind. The agitation almost made him pass out.
A passing police officer supported him. “Calm down, Mr. Pitt.”
Shawn did his best to steady himself. He asked shakily, “Where is she? Did you find her?”
He thought Noelle had taken her life and looked like he could black out at any second. He was also filled with regret–he shouldn’t have talked about her possibly taking her life when making the police report. She’d only left him.
He said hoarsely, “It’s all my fault. She hasn’t anymore. I’m the one who did her wrong…”
He rambled on, looking like he’d lost his mind.
gone missing. She just doesn’t want to see me
The police officer holding him couldn’t make heads or tails of his rambling. He held up a bag and said, “We didn’t find Ms. Anderson’s phone, Mr. Pitt. All we found was a SIM card. You can check to see whether it’s hers.”
Only then did Shawn snap out of his reverie. He asked desperately, “Did you only find the SIM card? What about her phone?”
The police officer shook his head. “We’ve searched the area. It’s nowhere to be found.”
Shawn’s emotions had taken a roller–coaster ride in such a short time, leaving him looking pale. He took the bag from the police officer and asked, “Can I open it?”
After getting permission, he took Noelle’s SIM card from the evidence bag. He inserted it into his phone and turned it on. He was curious to know how Noelle had felt when throwing it away; he also wanted to see if she still had feelings for him.
His phone refused to turn on. The battery was flat.
Shawn almost broke down from that. He tried hard to retain the remaining sliver of his rationality as he asked the police officer for help. “Can I borrow a charger? I’ll charge my phone in the car and return it to you after.”
The police officer didn’t press him for information. Instead, he asked his colleagues for a charger, finally managing to borrow a power bank from a female officer. He handed it to Shawn and said, “See whether the SIM card still works. It’s been in the water for a while now.”
There was grass everywhere, and they reached a person’s hip. Even in the fall and winter, there was plenty of dew that formed puddles.
Shawn refused to think about the SIM card not working. As he charged his phone, he prayed to the heavens. Perhaps they heard his prayers and granted them–his phone lit up after being charged for a while.
2/3
Chapter 13
+25 BONUS
The first thing Shawn noticed was the long list of missed calls. Most of them were from him. Other than that, there were countless unread messages.
He went through them and was dumbstruck. They were from Jessica. He never would’ve expected them to be in contact!
The way Jessica spoke to Noelle in her messages was completely different from how she acted when she was with him.
