Love Scatters, Hearts Break

Love Scatters, Hearts Break

Chapter 18

Samuel was in a rush, but getting the visa and flight ticket really took time. Three days passed before he finally landed in Verusa. With the help of the embassy and local police, he managed to track down where Emily was supposedly living. Knocking on the door, he called her name before attempting to barge in.

Lisa Ford, the landlady who had been doing some housekeeping, eyed him warily. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm looking for Emily," Samuel replied, then quickly added, "She's my wife. There's been some kind of misunderstanding between us, so I'm here to clear things up."

Lisa waved him off. "The person you’re looking for isn’t here."

"Her full name is Emily Anderson," he insisted.

"Well, my tenant’s name is Aria Skye. She’s not the person you’re looking for. You’ve got the wrong place," Lisa said firmly.

*Aria Skye?* Samuel froze.

"Are you sure you got the name right?" he asked.

"If you don’t believe me, that’s your business," Lisa replied coldly, beginning to shut the door.

Desperate not to lose the lead, Samuel quickly pulled out some cash. "Look—take this. Call it a cleaning fee I’m paying on her behalf. Can you tell me when she started renting from you? Has she been in touch with anyone recently?"

Lisa accepted the money, but she had no answers for him.

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Samuel walked away empty-handed, his voice heavy with despair. He remained in Verusa for a few more days. But once it became clear Emily had vanished without a trace, he returned home in defeat.

From that day on, Samuel stopped going to the office. Instead, he shut himself away in the house. When Luke called to provide updates on work, Samuel brushed him off and asked only one thing:

"Any news about Emily?"

"N-No, Mr. Porter. We’ve posted the missing person notice, just as you instructed, but there hasn’t been any response."

That notice was the only thing keeping Samuel going. After hearing there were still no leads, he didn’t get angry. He gave no further instructions. Instead, he replied in a strange, calm voice: "Alright. Got it." And then he ended the call.

Luke broke into a cold sweat. Something about Samuel’s tone didn’t sit right. Over the next few days, he continued calling to give daily updates. Samuel’s replies grew increasingly curt. At first, he gave short but complete responses. Eventually, all he could muster was a faint hum.

Alarmed, Luke reached out to Samuel’s parents—Fred Porter and Nora Brown—and pleaded with them to check on him.

Upon hearing what had happened, Fred and Nora rushed over immediately. The household staff was still fulfilling their duties as arranged before Emily’s departure. Everything seemed in order—except for one thing: Samuel was nowhere to be found.

Deeply concerned, Nora asked one of the maids, "Where’s Samuel? Why isn’t he coming out?" "In the past," she added, "he always greeted us personally when he knew we were coming."

The maid hesitated, then pointed upstairs. "Mr. Porter stays in the bedroom all day. He’s forbidden us from disturbing him."

Nora's heart sank. "He hasn’t come out at all?"

"No, ma'am. Not even once."

"What about meals? Have you tried bringing food to him?"

"He refuses to eat or drink anything. There’s nothing we can do. Anyone who knocks gets yelled at…"

Fred and Nora exchanged a worried glance. The situation was worse than they’d thought.

Even though Samuel hadn’t locked the bedroom door, he hadn’t responded to any of their knocking. After waiting a while, they finally pushed the door open. What they saw stunned them.

The entire floor was littered with scattered sheets of paper. There was barely enough room to walk. Samuel sat on the floor, scribbling furiously on yet another page. Though sunlight filled the room, a suffocating gloom clung to the air.

Fred bent down and picked up a few sheets, only to find the same sentence repeated over and over again:

**"I was wrong, Emily."**

Nora’s hair stood on end. She rushed over and checked on her son. His eyes were bloodshot. His hands trembled as he clutched the pen—but he kept writing, again and again, as if possessed.

Choking back tears, Nora asked, "What are you doing?"

Fred snatched the pen and paper from Samuel and snapped, "What’s the use of writing this? We heard what happened. How could you let it come to this?"

All along, Fred and Nora had believed Samuel and Emily shared a blissful marriage. Never had they imagined things would fall apart so badly.

Samuel looked up, his eyes empty but haunted. Cupping his face in his hands, he said hoarsely,

"It’s all my fault. I gave in to temptation. I betrayed her. I’ll fill every sheet of paper with my apology. Then I’ll show her how much I regret it all."