Chapter 8

On the first day, when Evelyn sent a photo of Elias peeling shrimp for her, Adele prepared a fire pit and burned every photo she had ever taken with him.

On the second day, when Evelyn sent a picture of her kissing Elias under an oak tree, Adele hired workers to uproot every cherry tree Elias had planted in the villa’s backyard.

On the third day, Evelyn shared a compilation of Elias’ romantic declarations from her livestream. In response, Adele dug out the hundreds of love letters Elias had written to her over the years.

The letters had yellowed slightly with age, but his handwriting remained clear and bold.

She ran her fingers over the words one last time, then fed every single letter into the shredder without a hint of hesitation.

…

On the morning of her planned departure, Adele awoke to find Elias standing by the bed.

He was holding her phone, his expression dark and unreadable as his gaze met hers.

"Addie," he said quietly, "you just received a message saying something was successfully deactivated. What were you deactivating?"

Her heart skipped a beat.

She quickly took the phone back and unlocked the screen.

It was the confirmation message for her identity cancellation.

Thankfully, her phone was password-protected, and Elias had only seen a few words on the lock screen.

Feeling relieved, she kept her tone casual. "Oh, nothing important. One of my old social media accounts got hacked, so I recovered it and then deactivated it for safety."

Hearing this, Elias visibly relaxed and pulled her into his arms with a smile.

"Sweetheart, guess what I got for you?" he asked teasingly.

Adele froze for a moment before answering softly, "The sweet cream puffs from Eastland.”

Elias’ eyes lit up with surprise. "How did you know?"

How could she not know?

Back when they were dating, every time Elias made her angry, he would drive all the way across town to buy those sweet cream puffs as a peace offering.

The sweet, fragrant aroma always melted her resolve, no matter how upset she was.

She didn’t care for jewelry or luxury cars. That one bite of sweetness was all she needed to feel better.

Back then, he would laugh and say, "My Addie is so easy to please."

She would tap his forehead lightly a few times and reply, "It’s not that I’m easy to please. It’s because I still love you. That’s why I’m willing to forgive anything you do."

"But," she’d add, her tone turning serious, "if the day ever comes when I don’t love you anymore, not even killing yourself in front of me will change a thing."

The memory faded like a distant echo as Elias pulled a box of sweet cream puffs from behind his back, his smile filled with warmth. "As expected, I can never hide anything from you."

Adele gave a faint smile and said slowly, each word deliberate, "That’s right. You can’t hide anything from me."

For a moment, Elias’ heart skipped a beat, a vague sense of unease creeping in.

"Addie..." he murmured, his voice low.

But Adele didn’t respond. She simply got up and headed to the bathroom to freshen up.

When she returned, she saw Elias hurriedly leaving the villa.

She stood silently for a couple of seconds before following him outside.

The moment she reached the door, she froze.

Not far from the entrance, Evelyn was standing there, bold as day.

Adele’s surprise was nothing compared to Elias’. His expression darkened, and he stormed toward Evelyn, his grip tightening around her wrist.

"Are you out of your mind? Why are you here? I told you that when Addie’s home, you’re not allowed to show up!"

Evelyn flinched at his sharp tone, her entire body trembling as her eyes reddened with tears.

Reaching out, she tugged at the hem of his shirt, her voice breaking with feigned fragility.

"I can’t be away from you, not even for a moment. The baby can’t either," she said softly, guiding his hand to rest against her stomach.

Elias’ expression remained cold as he pulled his hand away. "Stop being ridiculous. I’ll have my assistant take you home. I’ll come to see you and the baby in a few days."

But Evelyn refused to leave, clutching his hand tightly as she pouted. "No, I don’t want to go with the assistant. I want you to take me!"

With that, she stood on her toes, tugging on his tie as she leaned in to kiss him.

Elias frowned, intending to push her away, but after a few moments of her persistence, he relented. With a rough motion, he grabbed her and deepened the kiss, pulling her tightly into his arms.

They stood in the garden, the kiss growing increasingly heated.

Just as his hand slid beneath her clothes, on the verge of losing all restraint, he abruptly stopped. Pushing her away, he said firmly, "You should leave."

Evelyn’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she clung to him, whispering something in his ear.

His expression shifted slightly, and after a moment of hesitation, he finally sighed. "Fine. I’ll spend today with you. Go wait in the car and I’ll join you soon."

Feeling satisfied, Evelyn beamed, her eyes crinkling with delight. She stroked her stomach and happily climbed into the car.

The moment Elias turned and began heading back to the villa, Adele swiftly turned away, retreating before he could see her.

A few moments later, Elias entered the house.

The first thing he said was, "Addie, I wanted to spend the day with you, but I just got a call about a work emergency. I have to leave. Be good and stay home. Once I’m done, I promise I’ll spend the whole day with you. Okay?"

He waited anxiously for her response, but Adele simply lifted her gaze and looked at him.

Her expression was unreadable.

Just one glance at her, and Elias froze.

When had his Addie lost the light in her eyes?

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he unconsciously murmured her name, "Addie…"

He wanted to say more, but Adele spoke first. Her lips curved faintly, and her voice was soft and calm, "Go ahead. Take care of your work."

Her tone was as gentle as ever, revealing nothing unusual.

Feeling relieved, Elias finally relaxed.

He smiled faintly, ruffled her hair affectionately, and turned to leave.

Moments later, the sound of his car starting echoed outside, fading away into the distance until it disappeared entirely.

The smile on Adele’s face vanished, replaced by silent tears that slid down her cheeks.

She wiped them away, her movements steady, and walked to the table. Without hesitation, she tossed the box of sweet cream puffs into the trash.

Then she went to her room to retrieve the suitcase she had packed long ago.

Standing in the living room, she gave the house one final look before pulling out her phone.

She sent Elias one last message.

"It’s been two weeks. You can open the anniversary gift I gave you now."

His reply came almost instantly.

"Sweetheart, I’ll be back soon. Let’s look at it together then."

Adele smiled faintly.

Together?

“Elias, it’ll only be you,” she replied to him in her thoughts. “For the rest of your life, you’ll be all alone.”

Without hesitation, Adele removed the SIM card from her phone. Then, as if discarding something insignificant, she tossed it into the trash.

Grabbing her suitcase, she stepped out the door.

The morning sun blazed brightly, casting the world in golden light.

From this day forward, no one, no matter where they searched, would ever find Adele again.