He Thought I’d Never Leave Chapter 06
A week passed.
Ethan slowly began to sense that something wasn’t right.
In seven days, he hadn’t gotten a single message from me. Not one call.
Even my Instagram had gone still, like I’d vanished from the earth.
He couldn’t sit still anymore.
He left work early and drove to the gallery where I worked.
He parked at the curb, leaned against the car door, smoked, and watched the entrance.
At five-thirty, employees started filtering out in twos and threes.
At six, the light began to fade.
At seven, most of the lights in the building had gone dark.
I never came out.
Ethan walked into the gallery and went to the front desk.
The receptionist glanced up. Her expression flickered.
“Hi. I’m looking for Emily Carter.”
“Ms. Carter? She’s no longer with us.”
For a moment his mind went blank.
“No longer… when?”
“A week ago.”
She shrugged.
“Last Tuesday. She handed in her resignation out of nowhere, cleared everything out the same day. HR was pretty surprised too.”
Last Tuesday.
The day of the wedding.
Ethan stood there beside the counter and felt something lodge in his throat.
“Did she say where she was going?”
The receptionist shook her head.
“No. She left in a hurry. Didn’t even pack up her desk. We had to do it for her.”
Ethan turned and walked out of the gallery. A cold gust of wind hit him. He shivered.
He pulled out his phone and called my number. Not in service.
He sent a message.
A red exclamation mark.
He’d been blocked.
Ethan stood on that busy corner, the phone’s screen glowing on his face.
He stared at the little red mark for a long time.
Long enough for the screen to fade. Then he lit it up again.
He remembered the day I said the wedding is off, when he’d thought I was just throwing a fit.
He remembered these eight years, every time he’d left me somewhere and I’d walked back on my own.
But this time I’d walked away, and I wasn’t coming back.
His phone rang.
He picked up. Claire’s voice came through, thick with tears.
“Ethan… the baby won’t stop crying. I can’t get him to settle. Can you come over?”
Ethan held the phone to his ear. He didn’t move.
“Ethan?” Claire called out. “Did you hear me?”
“Emily’s gone.”
He finally spoke. His voice was raw.
“What?”
“She quit her job. Her phone’s off. She blocked me. She’s really gone.”
Silence for a beat on the other end. Then, quietly:
“Don’t panic yet. Maybe… maybe she just needs some space. In a few days—”
“She’s not coming back.”
He cut her off.
“I know her. This time she’s really gone.”
His voice was very quiet. Like he was saying it to himself.
Claire was silent for a long time. Finally:
“Then… do you still want to come see the baby?”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“No.”
He said.
“I’m going to find her.”