SWNOVELS Chapter Billionaire My Husband 216
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The room felt like it had absorbed every ounce of hope we'd brought with us, leaving only the sterile chill of pale blue walls and a metal table that seemed too solid, too final. Laura sat beside me, her knuckles white as she clutched her phone, ending the call with my mother open.
We both tensed, our eyes flicking from each other back to the doorway. The official-a short man with eyes that seemed to hold nothing but indifference-walked in, his face unreadable, almost mask-like.
. For a long second, no one spoke. He glanced at a file in his
hands, his expression a shade too calm and controlled, and I could feel my stomach twisting into knots. A sliver of panic slithered down my spine, and I found myself clenching my hands together in my lap, my nails digging into my palms. I felt Laura's gaze dart toward me, I knew she was barely holding it together. The lines of exhaustion and desperation mirrored on her face.
The man finally closed the file with an air of finality that made my heart stop. He placed it on the table, looking down at us with something that might have been pity-or maybe it was just impatience.
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"Miss..." he began, his accent thick and his tone clipped, but I barely heard him over the rush of blood pounding in my ears. I braced myself, afraid to breathe, terrified of what he might say next.
"Is there any news?" Laura's voice broke through the silence, shaky and small. I saw her hands tremble as she held onto the edge of the table as if it were the only thing keeping her from falling apart. "Please...just tell us if you've found them."
The official's gaze flicked to her, and for a brief moment, something shifted in his eyes-a flicker of hesitation, quickly masked by a detached professionalism. He cleared his throat, flipping open the file again as if to consult notes he already knew by heart.
"We have...confirmed," he said slowly, his voice cold, almost clinical. "The aircraft did divert, but communications were lost, shortly after."
A hollow pit formed in my stomach, and I forced myself to ask, "And? Was there...any sign of them after that?"
He shook his head, an almost imperceptible motion, and I felt my heart sink. He hadn't even tried to soften it. No words of comfort, no effort to acknowledge the agony twisting through our minds.
"There was a storm, as you know. Severe turbulence, high winds...standard protocol would have had them seek the nearest safe landing. Unfortunately, we have no confirmed location of where the aircraft may have gone down. Our search radius is very large." I could feel my throat closing up, my breath coming in short,
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shallow gasps. They had no confirmed location. The words
echoed in my head, heavy and meaningless all at once. My mind was blank, a fog settling over everything, numbing the rising dread clawed at my chest.
Laura reached out, her hand finding mine in a desperate grip, but I couldn't bring myself to look at her. I couldn't face the tears I knew were pooling in her eyes, the helpless despair that was beginning to settle over both of us like a weight we could no longer carry. "But you're still searching, right?" I whispered, barely recognizing
my
own voice. It sounded small, weak, stripped of every ounce of strength I thought I'd had left. "There are islands... places they could've landed. You're looking, right?"
The official sighed, his tone almost weary, as if he were tired of our questions and us clinging to hope. "The search is ongoing, but understand this. After a certain period, resources become limited. Priority will shift if no substantial leads are found."
My vision blurred, and I felt a wave of nausea roll over me, my stomach twisting in protest at his words: resources. Priority. As if Josh and Luke were simply...an inconvenience, something to be brushed aside to make room for other problems, other people. I opened my mouth, trying to force words past the lump in my throat, but nothing came.
Laura's voice broke the silence, her tone sharp with desperation. "You're just...you're giving up, aren't you? You're not going to tell us that, but that's what this means, isn't it?"
The official's expression hardened, his eyes narrowing just
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slightly, and he glanced down at the file as if to avoid her gaze. "We are following the procedure, Miss," he said, his tone so detached it felt almost cruel. "Until there is concrete evidence, we cannot do anything more."
The words hung heavy in the air, final and unforgiving. A sob caught in my throat, and I could feel the sting of tears burning in my eyes, but I blinked them back, refusing to let them fall. I couldn't let myself break down, not here, not in front of him. Not when it felt like all we h With a curt nod, he closed the file and stood up, his movements efficient and unfeeling. He glanced at us one last time, his face expressionless, as if we were nothing more than another case he could file away and forget.
"If any new information arises, you will be contacted," he said, the words sounding hollow, rehearsed. And with that, he turned and left, the door clicking shut behind him, leaving us in a silence that felt louder than any storm.
Laura sat beside me, her face buried in her hands, shoulders shaking with silent sobs, and I reached out, wrapping my arms around her, drawing her close. I could feel her tears soaking through my shirt, and I fought to keep my own from falling.
Because if I let go now if I allowed myself to break, then the last piece of hope, however fragile, would shatter, too. And then... then there would be nothing left but the silence and the empty promise that somewhere out there, they might still be alive.