Chapter 10
Five days later, James returned from Sunderton He immediately noticed something off with the villa. Gone was Colette, who’d always run up to welcome him home.
He changed into his home slippers and walked into the living room. It was too quiet.
Suddenly, he recalled how silent Colette had been in the past five days. She did not call or provide any updates.
Sophie muttered, “Where’s Colette? Is she still angry at your no–show that night? Well, it’s not like you did it on purpose; you had work! She’s acting like a child. You need to talk to her later.”
Her words stoked his anger. He growled, “Colette is no kid. She’s almost a college student. Why is she making a scene? I will ignore her this time. No one shall entertain her. Let’s see how long it takes for her to leave her bedroom!”
Sophie hid her smugness when she heard his angry remark. She comforted him
disingenuously before returning to their bedroom. The longer James and Colette fought, the
better.
James did not immediately head to the bedroom or the study. Instead, he checked out the dining room. He was appalled at the stench when he stepped into the space.
Frowning, he scanned his surroundings. His gaze fell on the waste bin. Flies crowded around it.
It didn’t take him long to connect the dots. He was enraged. Did Colette really have to throw such a tantrum at him over this? What was she trying to achieve by leaving the trash around?
He immediately thought of confronting Colette in her room, but his wandering gaze noticed the phone she left on the dining chair. He picked it up and saw the photo she used as her
screensaver.
Colette was smiling brightly in the photo. James worked in the background. It was a photo she stealthily took of him; a photo he saw on the day she took it.
He didn’t know she had used it as a screensaver all along.
Feeling conflicted, he turned off Colette’s phone instead of unlocking it. He called someone to get rid of the rotting trash before heading upstairs.
Colette did not lock her bedroom door. James gave it a slight push, and it creaked open. He walked into the room and saw nothing but the sealed closet. The gifts he bought her were gone. She had once excitedly announced that she would display them in the most prominent
area within her room.
He felt a hollow emptiness inside. Soon, he realized something was wrong. Colette had gone missing. Her belongings had disappeared, yet she hadn’t taken her phone. She vanished before
Chapter 10
college orientation, which was something unprecedented.
James grabbed his phone and called his assistant “Please look into Colette’s whereabouts.” After the call, he turned his anxious attention to the odd–looking, sealed closet. He peeled off the tape. Just as he was about to open it, his phone rang, shattering the silence.
His assistant was frantic. “Mr. Zeller, I have bad news. Ms. Anderson has closed all her accounts and deleted her personal information. The staff member who assisted her mentioned something about her disappearing in six days!”
The phone slipped from James‘ grasp, hitting the floor. His heart skipped a beat, and his ears rang. He was in disbelief. Was this a prank? How could Colette, an 18–year–old with a bright future, disappear from this world?
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