5 Chapter 5
The men froze.
“What do you mean? A young woman moved in about a month ago,” one of them said.
“She looks like this,” another added, holding up a picture of me.
The doorman squinted at the photo and nodded.
“Oh, her. I’ve seen her.
But I haven’t seen her since her husband passed away. Are you friends of hers?”
A sudden tension fell over the group. They closed in on the doorman, their voices sharp. “What the hell are you talking about? Her husband is Dante Moretti. He’s alive and well. Don’t tell me she paid you to feed us this bullshit!”
“Get her out here now! Dante’s recovered, and today is their engagement party! If her theatrics ruin things, the marriage alliance gets delayed again!”
They raised their voices, shouting toward the doorman’s office. The doorman, new to this post, was completely bewildered.
“I don’t know any Dante,” he said, annoyed.
Convinced I was hiding, the men pushed past him, demanding the spare key before storming the apartment. The doorman tried to stop them, but it was useless.
“Unbelievable,” he muttered. “Don’t even know where your own people live. Her husband died, for God’s sake. Last I saw her, she was getting rid of all their wedding stuff. Looked heartbroken, poor woman. It was a real shame.”
The doorman’s words struck them silent. They ali knew how I cherished every memory with Dante,
Even the cigar band Dante once jokingly slipped on my finger–something so trivial–was stored in a velvet box like a priceless gem.
But now, hearing that I had thrown out everything, a cold knot of dread began to tighten in
their stomachs.
They barged in, only to find the apartment empty, untouched.
Everything was exactly as they and Dante had left it when they’d decorated it–the same layout,
the same furniture.
Even the roses they had placed in a vase had withered and died.
The men exchanged uneasy glances, their faces turning pale,
Without a second thought, one of them called Dante.
“Dante, we have a problem..
“What is it?” His voice, sharp and agitated, crackled over the line from overseas.
5 Chapter 5
“She never moved in. This place is completely untouched. And she threw out everything.
Everything you gave her for the last six years. The pictures, the albums, the engagement photos -all of it is gone.”
“What?” Dante’s tone sharpened.
“That’s impossible! She told me she bought a villa on Long Island. She must have moved there!”
“Dante, send us the address. We’ll take the gown there.”
On the other end of the line, Dante froze.
A thought struck him like a physical blow: he had no idea where this supposed “Long Island villa”
was.
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