Chapter 6%
Seeing how deeply grief–stricken she had become, the police didn’t dare argue with Isabella.
But once she returned home, sleep eluded her. Every night, nightmares haunted her, visions of my lifeless body drifting in the cold sea, sometimes nibbling at the remnants of fish and shrimp.
Each time she jolted awake, drenched in sweat, she would frantically grab her phone and dial my number, only to be met with the dreaded “phone tumed off” message, a cruel reminder of her helplessness.
Watching her deteriorate, Samantha finally kept her word. She asked Dash to look after Isabella.
But when Isabella saw Dash, there was no relief in her eyes, no sign of joy. Instead, she coldly ordered him to leave.”
Dash, bewildered, never imagined that the sister who once adored him would now treat him this way, all for a man she wouldn’t even let him touch.
“Why? Isabella, didn’t you used to love me more than anyone? Why are you turning your back on me now?“>
Isabella didn’t have an answer.
She had always believed she never cared for me, yet now that I was gone, she felt like life had become unbearable. Every breath seemed like an effort and the thought of continuing without me weighed her down like an anchor.
She thought she loved her brother more than anyone. Still, now, every time she saw Dash, the haunting image of me being swallowed by the waves overwhelmed her, making it hard to breathe, let alone speak.
She couldn’t bring herself to answer him. With a hollow expression, she shut the door and shut Dash out as if she could escape the suffocating grief.”
Half a month passed and the missing person posters were scattered across every corner, yet there was still no trace of me.”
Isabella missed me more than ever and sleep had become a stranger to her. The only escape she found was in the numbing haze of alcohol.
Finally, Dash exploded. His fury broke through the tension and he hired a locksmith to enter her home. In a fit of rage, he destroyed my entire wardrobe.
Isabella snapped. She hit him harder than she ever thought she could.
In the frenzy of red–eyed rage, she nearly strangled Dash. It was only when Samantha intervened, pulling Dash from her grip, that the madness paused. Seeing her daughter so broken, Samantha realized it was time to tell Isabella the truth.
She told her about the deal between me and the Moore Family, about my plans to leave and the staged accident at sea.}
Isabella stared at her mother in disbelief.
“So his eagerness to marry me was all fake?”
Samantha pressed her lips together, nodding silently.
“Yes. He never loved you. Sweetheart, don’t dwell on him anymore.”
Isabella laughed, a hollow, trembling laugh that nearly broke her.
“You’re wrong. He cared for me. He cherished every gift I gave him; I could feel it. He never even took off the wedding ring we exchanged when we married.”
“You mean this one?”
Before she could finish, Dash tossed my wedding ring at her.
Isabella froze, staring at it in shock.
“Why do you have it?“>
Dash rubbed his neck, his voice dripping with anger.
“River mailed it to me. There was a note, too. He wrote, ‘Returning this to its rightful owner.”
“So he knew everything.”}
Isabella’s face drained of color and then went even paler. A tight knot of panic and confusion twisted in her chest.
She didn’t know what to do. Reaching for the ring, her fingers trembled so violently that it slipped from her grasp.
In the end, she crumpled to the floor, her cries raw and heart–wrenching.
As her sobs wracked her body, she began to strike herself.”
When Dash and Samantha moved to stop her, she grabbed her mother’s arm, her tears flowing freely.
“Mom, didn’t you say the fall into the sea was just a setup? Then tell me where River is. Please. I need to find him. I need to beg for his forgiveness. Please, tell me where you’re hiding him!”
Samantha couldn’t bring herself to meet Isabella’s desperate gaze. She mumbled, barely above a whisper, “It was a setup, but something unexpected happened that day.“}
“What unexpected thing? How could there be an accident? Didn’t you say everything was already arranged?“}
“Isabella, how would I know? That day, before we even reached the spot, both River and Dash fell into the sea. The people we had arranged to help were too far away; they couldn’t get there in time, okay?”
tabells from staring at it in shock E
“Why do you have it?”
Dash rubbed his neck, his voice dripping with anger.
“Rive maled it to me. There was a note, too. He wrote, ‘Returning this to its rightful owner.*%
“So he knew everything”
Isabella’s face drained of color and then went even paler. A tight knot of panic and confusion twisted in her chest.
She didn’t know what to do. Reaching for the ring, her fingers trembled so violently that it slipped from her grasp.
In the end, she crumpled to the floor, her cries raw and heart–wrenching.
As her sobs wracked her body, she began to strike herself.
When Dash and Samantha moved to stop her, she grabbed her mother’s arm, her tears flowing freely.
“Mom, didn’t you say the fall into the sea was just a setup? Then tell me where River is. Please. I need to find him. I need to beg for his forgiveness. Please, tell me where you’re hiding him!”
Samantha couldn’t bring herself to meet Isabella’s desperate gaze. She mumbled, barely above a whisper, “It was a setup, but something unexpected happened that day.”
“What unexpected thing? How could there be an accident? Didn’t you say everything was already arranged?”
“Isabella, how would I know? That day, before we even reached the spot, both River and Dash fell into the sea. The people we had arranged to help were too far away, they couldn’t get there in time, okay?”
