Chapter 12
After Angela left, Bryce collapsed onto the floor where she had
vanished, staring up at the ceiling, utterly motionless.
Two years ago, Angela had inexplicably disappeared right before
his eyes.
Back then, he could still lie to himself–if her body was never
found, maybe she wasn’t really gone.
But now, he knew. Angela was never coming back.
No matter how long he waited in this world, she would never
return to him.
He and Angela had spent eight long years together.
The best years of his life, he’d shared with her.
It was Angela’s arrival that made him believe in love again, that taught him, slowly, how to love with his whole heart.
He had once mapped out his entire future–marry Angela, have a child, live happily ever after.
He’d managed to achieve the first goal–he married Angela.
Chapter 12
But fate is often a cruel interruption. Sometimes, love stories
start a new chapter, only to never reach the ending you’ve
dreamed of.
All their happiness came to a halt in the third year of their
marriage.
It started when that ambitious young model pressed herself into
his life, and for reasons he still couldn’t explain, he’d asked her
name.
Karley. It sounded almost like Angela.
That night, he let her stay.
After that, he kept making choices he couldn’t even understand
himself.
By the time he came to his senses, there was no turning back for him and Angela.
He remembered -he and Angela had once been expecting a
child.
But before he could ever feel the joy of being a father, that child
was lost–because of his own betrayal.
Later, Karley told him he was going to be a father again.
Chapter 12
At first, he was excited, even a little overwhelmed.
The thrill of new life clouded his judgment to the point where he
actually believed Karley’s lie–that Angela had sent someone to
kill their unborn child.
It was in that brief, dizzying moment that Angela leaped from
the 19th floor, vanishing from his life for two whole years.
Eventually, he woke up from it all and learned the truth. It had all
been Karley’s lies, desperate to win his affection.
Panicked, he dragged Karley to the operating room himself,
forcing her to end the pregnancy–hoping, somehow, that
Angela could forgive him.
Afterward, Karley came to him more than once, sobbing,
accusing him of cruelty, of making sure she would never be a
mother.
He only looked down at her, a faint, cold smile on his lips.
“From the moment you chose to be my mistress, you should
have known this was how it would end.”
Everything he did was for atonement, hoping that somewhere
out there, Angela would see that he truly regretted it all.
But after two years of waiting, what he got wasn’t forgiveness-
に
Chapter 12
it was a final, devastating blow to his soul.
He didn’t know how much time had passed before he finally
pulled himself up from the floor and walked slowly to the open
window.
He looked down.
Nothing but darkness.
Like a bottomless abyss.
E
And yet, when Angela had jumped from here, her resolve had
been absolute.
Not a trace of hesitation.
He spread his arms, closed his eyes, and let the night wind rush
over him.
She had said, when she jumped, that she was finally going
home.
If he jumped, maybe–just maybe–he could see her again.
Without a second thought, he stepped off the ledge.
And ended his life at 26.
