Chapter 12

Those who truly wished to leave never made a scene.

They simply pull on a coat one ordinary morning, push open the door, and never return, just like a fallen leaf carried away by the wind.

No goodbyes.

Not even a single farewell.

That, too, would be a waste.

Jan covered his face and broke into sobs.

He should have seen this coming.

He had the feeling all along.

It had started when he saw Selena burning every last photo of them.

That day, she had sat in the courtyard as usual, but her gaze was empty and devoid of light.

If only he had talked to her then, maybe things wouldn’t have come to this.

No, perhaps it was already too late even then.

From the moment he stood with the Carter family and forced Selena to give up her patent, she had already been thoroughly disappointed.

This wasn’t a sudden decision.

It was the final breath of someone whose hopes had been crushed, again and again, until there was nothing left.

“No, I have to find her.” Tan staggered to his feet.

The fractured glass reflected his shattered self, but even the pain of his skin tearing against peach tree branches barely registered.

When he reached the living room, he ran straight into the returning Carter family.

Upon hearing of Selena’s departure, Zachary scoffed.

” Running away? What a pathetic act. Let her starve like a stray dog. She’ll come crawling back soon enough.”

“She should’ve left ages ago,” Ryan sneered, clapping his hands.

“If it weren’t for her, Vanessa wouldn’t be this sick. ”

Vanessa stepped forward.

“Ian, I’ll go with you” But the moment her fingers brushed Ian’s hand, she froze.

His gaze was cold.

Without a word, Ian turned and walked out of the house.

The roar of the engine swallowed the silence.

In the rearview mirror, the Carter family’s house twisted like a grotesque beast, its crimson tongue flickering in mockery of his desperation.

At the airport, the flickering flight schedules stung his eyes.

He searched every face and counted every departure.

Each glowing screen replayed fragments of the past, including scenes of laughter and whispered promises.

It wasn’t until security stopped him this dazed, frantic man screaming ‘Selena’ in the terminal that he realized his voice had gone completely hoarse.

When the search at the airport turned up nothing, he chased the last traces of her across the city.

He wandered through every place she might have gone, clinging to a fragile hope that he’d spot her on some quiet street corner.

If he found her, he would run to her, hold her tight, and beg for forgiveness.