Chapter 10
He drove at breakneck speed the entire way.
All the little details about Celia from recent months came flooding back.
How her eyes no longer held any love when she looked at him. How she’d stopped reacting violently to his and Silas’s torment. How she’d coughed up blood in the hospital, even from the smallest impact.
The painkillers she always carried. The words the doctor had said at the hospital that they hadn’t bothered to listen to properly–it all became crystal clear now.
When all these details replayed in his mind, Aurelian realized there had been signs all along.
The car stopped in front of the police station.
Staring at those doors, Aurelian found he didn’t have the courage to open them.
He stood there for a long time until his limbs went stiff, then finally forced himself to push through.
An officer approached and led them to an office.
The policeman handed them a small bag.
“These are Miss Fairborne’s personal effects.”
Inside was a medical report and a flash drive.
Aurelian opened the report, his eyes falling on the results at the bottom.
STAGE 4 GASTRIC CANCER
Those four words pierced his heart like a sword. Unable to handle the shock, he swayed unsteadily, the thin piece of paper trembling in his uncontrolled grip.
He didn’t know what was on the flash drive, so he just slipped it into his pocket.
“Where… where is Celia?”
After a long pause, Aurelian managed to croak out the question.
The officer led them to the medical examiner’s room.
“She had no vital signs when we arrived. According to surveillance footage, Miss Fairborne jumped around 8 PM. Her body wasn’t discovered until 11, when a local fisherman found her.”
Looking at Celia lying on the cold examination table covered by a white sheet, Aurelian felt like someone was constantly pulling and cutting at a nerve in his brain, causing unbearable pain.
He stood by the table but couldn’t find the courage to lift the sheet.
He desperately prayed that it wasn’t Celia lying there, that they’d made a mistake.
But the dress peeking out from under the white cloth cruelly confirmed the truth.
This was Celia.
23:58
Killed Me for Your Precious Angel? Now Pray She Can Save You from Hell
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Chapter 10
She’d worn the dress they’d personally chosen for her and jumped into the river without a trace of hesitation.
After what felt like forever, Aurelian finally pulled back the sheet.
Celia was soaked through, her face ashen gray.
Any last shred of hope in Aurelian’s heart shattered completely.
Celia was truly gone. She wasn’t lying, this wasn’t some cruel joke.
The girl who’d grown up with him, whom he’d watched go from toddling steps to graceful young woman, whom he’d always treasured–she was really
gone.
Aurelian couldn’t take it anymore. He collapsed against the table, clutching her cold hands and breaking down in sobs.
“I’m sorry, Celia. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Please wake up, okay? I’ll take you to get treatment. I’ll take you to the best hospitals with the best doctors.”
“When you get better, we’ll get married, okay?”
Silas also dropped to his knees beside the table, his eyes filled with disbelief and anguish.
“Celia, your brother was wrong. So wrong.”
These were all the words Celia had been desperate to hear for so long, but now she lay there lifeless, unable to give them even the smallest response.
The staff member had seen this scene many times before. When the crying finally subsided, he pushed a box of tissues toward them.
“Did she leave any message for me?”
“I’m sorry, we didn’t find any other personal effects at the scene. As for…”
The officer paused before continuing. “Miss Fairborne’s last phone call was to you. She didn’t leave you any final words?”
Nothing.
Aurelian clutched his head in agony.
She’d left him nothing, said nothing to him.
Did she hate him that much?
Hate him so much she wouldn’t spare him a single word, only leaving him a cold corpse and calling it a “surprise.”
Hate him enough to throw away all those years of shared feelings.
Hate him enough to want no further connection with him whatsoever.
Aurelian didn’t know how he managed to complete the paperwork at the station or how he brought her ashes home.
He sat slumped on the couch, staring at the urn.
When his phone rang, it jolted him back to reality.
“Hello, is this Mr. Graves? I’m from the cemetery management. Miss Fairborne reserved a burial plot with us and listed you as the contact. She asked me to call you today to have her ashes placed in the plot she selected.”
Aurelian hung up but didn’t move.
23:58
Killed Me for Your Precious Angel? Now Pray She Can Save You from Hell
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Chapter 10
He looked around the room filled with their shared memories and realized how frighteningly empty it felt now.
All the photos of them together that used to sit on the table and shelves were long gone. The throw pillows they’d picked out together for the couch had been thrown away. Every trace of Celia had vanished from this house.
Aurelian opened his phone, wanting to see a picture of Celia one more time, but scrolling through his entire photo gallery, he couldn’t find a single photo of them together.
His camera roll used to be filled with pictures of Celia–all different sides of her. But at some point, the person recorded in his phone had changed to Mireya.
The only photo left was from five years ago–one he’d taken of her during a hospital visit while she was in her coma.
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