Ryan stomped his foot, furious, but before he could reply, Sophia seized her chance to fan the flames. She leaned forward, her voice dripping with fake innocence. "Oh my, Dr. Porter, you seem awfully concerned about Amelia. Could it be... you have a special relationship with her?"
Her words were a knife, twisting in the tension, but Daniel's reaction shocked even me. For the first time, he snapped at her.
"Sophia, stop with the baseless accusations! Amelia would never betray me, not even in death."
For a brief moment, the room fell into a stunned silence. His words yanked my thoughts back to the past, to that third year of our relationship. The car accident. I had thrown myself in harm’s way to shield him from the wreckage, nearly losing my own life. I still remembered the tears in his eyes as he scolded me, begging me to never be so reckless again.
"Why did you do it?" he had asked, broken and scared.
"Because I love you. I couldn’t stand to see you hurt."
And now, all that love had been taken for granted. Daniel knew I loved him more than life itself, and he had been testing my limits ever since. But today, he had gone too far.
The tension thickened as Daniel finally relented, standing up with a sneer. "Fine, I’ll call her! I’ll expose her lies for what they are. Ryan, you’ll see soon enough. She’ll be begging for forgiveness."
He dialed my number with confidence, fully expecting me to answer, but all he got was silence. Call after call, only the hollow sound of beeps echoed back at him.
Why would I answer? A minute ago, my soul had slipped from my body. He had wanted me gone. Now, I was dead. Satisfied, Daniel?
Yet something nagged at Daniel, though he couldn’t put his finger on it. I had never ignored his calls before, no matter how angry or hurt I was. But he brushed aside the unease, chalking it up to one of my "tantrums." Frustrated, he sent me a voice message, his tone filled with irritation.
"Amelia! How old are you? You think disappearing like this is fun? I don’t have time for your games! Show up soon if you have any sense."
As the message ended, the prayer beads on his wrist—a set I had lovingly blessed for his safety—snapped apart, scattering across the floor. Daniel glanced down, surprised, and for the first time, a shiver of dread crept up his spine. Those beads had been a token of my love, each one a silent prayer for his well-being.