Chapter 19 All Vows Are Lies
On the way back, Edric leaned back in the back seat with his eyes closed. It seemed that he was resting, yet only he knew that he wasn't resting at all. His mind was a complete mess.
It had been three years. The person who disappeared for three years suddenly came back. But instead of being surprised, he was deeply troubled by it, "Where did she go in the past three years?" How did she and Jordan get together? He had always thought that she was with Nathan for the past three years. It seemed that the situation was different from what he expected.
In a trance, he couldn't help but think of that day three years ago.
Three years ago, he found the house eerily quiet when he opened the door of the villa in the morning. He stood in the living room for a moment and stomped upstairs. To his surprise, there was no one inside when he opened the bedroom door.
He figured that she must have gone to shop for groceries, so he went in and sat on the bed, quietly waiting for her to come back.
Two hours went by before he realized something was wrong. There was a supermarket nearby and it wouldn't take so long for her to do grocery shopping. He took out the phone and dialed her number. The cell phone rang in the drawer of the nightstand. He was stunned for a moment, then stepped out of the bedroom and went straight to the study. There was no one in the study. He went to check all the guest rooms yet didn't find her either.
Edric panicked. He ran up and down inside of the house, and finally returned to the bedroom. He opened the door of the wardrobe and saw that it was neatly packed with clothes.
Edric took out all the clothes in the wardrobe and threw them on the ground. He found that a red ensemble was missing. Thomas bought that ensemble for Irene when they got married. At that time, Edric thought the style was outdated and didn't let Irene wear it. It had been neatly kept in the wardrobe ever since.
It was the only set of clothes missing in the wardrobe. What did it mean? He rushed to the nightstand and opened the drawer. Everything was there except for Irene's ID.
Sweat dripped down Edric's head. He looked around blankly, hoping that he was not dreaming. Suddenly, he saw two pieces of paper sitting on the vanity. He rushed over and picked them up. It turned out the lists of jewelry items in delicate handwriting, and there was a line at the bottom of the page, "All the jewelry items are returned to the owner. Please check. In addition, please send the divorce certificate and the ring I bought for you back to Thomas Nelson at your convenience. Thank you!"
The familiar handwriting seemed so ironic in Edric's eyes. He pulled open the drawer of the vanity and saw all kinds of boxes neatly placed in it.
He recognized those boxes well. They were filled with the jewelry he thoughtfully selected for her. He could remember all the styles and the specific dates when he gave them to her.
In a daze, Edric opened the jewelry box at the top and found that it was the wedding ring he bought for her. They bought each other's wedding rings. She once said that she would use the wedding ring she bought with her savings to tie him tight and never let him go for the rest of their lives.
He remembered what she said at that time. "You can't take it off once you put it on! You have to wear it for life!"
The vows of the past seemed to be lingering in his ear still. They would be together forever!
Ah! It turned out that all the vows were lies. Their love had come to an end in just three years. Edric jumped up in a frenzy and threw all the jewelry boxes in the drawer on the ground.
Nothing else in the villa was missing, not even underwear or jewelry. Irene wore the red dress Thomas bought for her and left without a sound. She indeed surrendered all assets to him and left with nothing. She was so ruthless!
His heart cracked open, and blood gushed out from it.