Chapter 7
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Sebastian drank his days away.
It wasn’t until a court summons arrived that he finally sobered up–his heart jolted when he saw that the plaintiff was Emma.
He immediately called his assistant, demanding a full investigation into any clues about her whereabouts.
But no matter how hard they searched, they came up empty. So, Sebastian decided to go to the courthouse himself, handing over his business card in hopes of getting Emma’s contact information.
“She’s suing for divorce,” the clerk said, eyeing him with suspicion and contempt. “She claims you caused her serious emotional harm. There’s no way we’re giving you her information.”
Sebastian has turned away without a shred of hope and left the courthouse feeling dejected.
Outside the doors, he passed by a couple snuggled close, sharing a single ice cream cone.
It suddenly brought back a memory–back when he pretended to have failed in his business and couldn’t afford a sin- gle thing, Emma never once complained.
She simply hugged him tightly, comforting him with her warmth.
She even bought his favorite chocolate ice cream, and the two of them ate it, sharing bites and laughter.
Her smile had been so sweet back then.
“As long as there’s love, who cares if we don’t have money? We’ll still make it through,” she had said.
But what happens when love is gone?
Sebastian wandered through the streets.
He didn’t even see the electric scooter speeding toward him until it slammed into him and sent him flying.
The sound of sirens blared, and as he drifted in and out of consciousness, he thought he saw Emma’s face, full of con-
cern.
He heard her whisper in his ear. “Honey, hang in there. Please don’t leave me… ”
I had just finished a night shift when the emergency center called.
Since moving to Nashville, I had taken another job, also as a censorship officer.
To be honest, I hadn’t planned on going back into this line of work. It brought back too many memories of Sebastian’s
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lies and the pain he caused me.
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But then my old boss told me that one of the videos I had reported helped the police crack a major human trafficking
case.
The traffickers had been forcing kidnapped women into the sex trade, filming the abuse, and selling the videos online.
One of the women we rescued had written me a shaky, handwritten letter thanking me from the bottom of her heart.
That letter gave me the strength to keep going.
Her trauma just couldn’t be undone–but if I could help save even one more woman from that nightmare, then maybe that was my way of healing.
So I joined the fight again.
The call from the emergency center said that Sebastian had been in an accident.
My first instinct was to ask, “Is it serious?”
“Not life–threatening,” the person on the other end replied. “But we do need a family member to handle some paper- work.”
With just that one question and answer, my emotions settled again.
I had seen all the headlines–Sebastian’s public declarations of love were everywhere. Anyone with internet access
had.
If it had been the old me, I might’ve been over the moon.
But now… My heart was numb. The wounds were too deep.
“I’ll give you his parents‘ contact info. Reach out to them instead,” I said.
I didn’t go to the hospital.
I just went back to work, like always.
One night, after a long shift, I was walking home exhausted.
Out of nowhere, a drunk man stumbled out of an alley and grabbed me roughly.
“I heard your job is watching dirty videos, right? I’ve had my eye on you for a while. C’mon, let me have a taste!”
After what happened with Jared, I was more than ready to handle scum like him.
Quietly, I reached into my bag and pulled out my pepper spray, aiming it straight into his eyes.
He screamed in pain, clutching his face, then lunged at me in rage.
Suddenly, a figure darted out of the shadows and landed a solid kick that sent the man flying several meters away.
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The man turned to me, eyes brimming with tears.
“Emma,” he said, voice shaking, “I finally found you.”
Chapter 8
