13
“Heading out? Haven’t seen Blythe around these days!” the security guard greeted Dexter warmly as he approached the residential complex.”
Dexter had long dreamed of moving into the family’s sprawling estate halfway up the mountain, but Blythe always insisted this place was the only one that breathed life.
Unable to argue, Dexter had found himself visiting less and less, quietly shifting their home to the 79th floor instead.”
“When was the last time you saw Blythe?” Dexter asked, eyes narrowing at the thin guard, who was caught off guard by the unexpected question.”
The guard usually greeted every resident, but Dexter had always brushed him off, acting too proud to acknowledge anyone.
“Oh, it was some time ago. She had a pile of things she wanted to throw away. Everything looked fine to me, so I split it with the cleaning lady. She seemed really sad that day, tears still fresh on her cheeks. Look, this was the day.”
The guard pulled out a desk calendar to confirm the date.
Dexter looked closely, and it was the exact day he had gone to take wedding photos with Heidi.
Could she have already known back then? It felt impossible.
He stepped into the guard’s break room and spotted the things Blythe had thrown away, matching couple’s T–shirt mugs still resting on the desk.
“There was even a bracelet. Couples fight, that’s normal. Just ease her mind a little, and things will smooth over. If you want the bracelet back, I can ask the cleaning lady.”
“Miss Griggs really is kind. The cleaner’s son got caught up in some foreign scam, calls in Spanish or something. Thank God she helped translate, or they’d have been wiped out by those fraudsters.”
“What? You said Blythe knows Spanish?” Dexter was dumbfounded.
“Of course she does. You didn’t know? She speaks several languages! The young ones in foreign trade around here always go to her for help. Huh? She never told you? Said she picked them up to help with your business…“}]
Dexter couldn’t hear the rest.
His ears buzzed. The world around him blurred.
Blythe knew Spanish. She had understood every word he and Jordan said that night.”
No wonder she trembled so violently.”
No wonder everything about her changed from that moment on.
How much pain had she swallowed in silence?”
Still holding on, still hoping, while he trampled her heart over and over again.
Dexter stumbled a few steps before collapsing into a crouch, clutching his chest as the ache pierced straight through.”
He had never even considered the possibility that he might truly lose Blythe.
His lips parted in a breathless gasp, but the air refused to enter his lungs.
He was already curled up on the ground, eyes shut in pain, and had already lost consciousness.
6:40 AM M
