Loved Him 15 Years, Then I Left

Chapter 7

Harsh morning sunlight seeped through the c***k in the curtains and fell right on Lucas's face. He jolted awake, flipping over automatically and reaching out beside him, only to find the spot empty.

"Danica?"

His palm met nothing but cold, empty sheets.

Lucas snapped fully awake in an instant, his mind reeling with confusion. Why was she up so early today?

He called her name louder, but the whole guesthouse stayed dead silent.

His eyelids twitched nonstop, and a sharp, gnawing sense of dread bubbled up in his chest.

He wrenched the door open, voice low and tight as he snapped at his assistant and the bodyguards waiting outside, "Have any of you seen Danica?"

All of them shook their heads in unison. No one had seen her.

That was when Lucas knew something was very, very wrong. He sprinted back into the room. Danica's backpack was already gone, every last one of her personal items vanished without a trace.

A searing, stabbing pain shot straight through his heart. He clamped a hand tight over his chest, muttering to himself in disbelief, "That's impossible. How could this happen…"

Just yesterday, the two of them had wandered the night market, chatting and baring their hearts to each other. In just one night, Danica had vanished into thin air.

"All of you, split up and find Danica right now!"

"Yes, Mr. Monroe!"

Lucas tore the entire guesthouse apart in a blind panic, until he finally had to accept this wasn't some messed-up hallucination.

Danica was really gone.

Why? Why on earth would she leave him…

He stood dazed in the middle of the room, until his peripheral vision caught a sheet of paper tucked under the coffee table next to the desk.

His hands shook so bad he could barely control them as he tore the note open. Her neat, elegant handwriting stared back at him, only a few short lines scrawled across the page.

Lucas, I don't know when we'll see each other again after this goodbye. Take care of yourself. Don't send people to look for me. I just want to go live the life that belongs to me. The world is a big place. If fate allows, we'll meet again someday. Don't worry about me. I hope you live a peaceful, happy life, and that everything goes well for you.

"How could this… How could this be…" Lucas stumbled back a step, unsteady on his feet, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

Danica was really gone. She really didn't want him anymore.

He'd told her just the night before that no matter where she wanted to go, he'd be right there with her. Why had she still left him behind, all alone?

'Danica... Danica…'

He clutched his chest, where a dull, throbbing ache wouldn't let up, his whole world spinning. He'd always thought he only felt the usual spousal affection for her, no real romantic love at all. But the second he found out she was gone, with no clue where she'd gone, the pain in his chest was too sharp, too real to ignore.

"Mr. Monroe, the car's ready. If we don't leave now, we won't make it back to the city villa before dark." His assistant stepped forward, voice quiet as he gave the reminder.

Lucas stared blankly at the assistant, his eyes glazed over with utter confusion. There was still no lead at all on where Danica had gone.

"Assign a team to stay in this city. Keep searching for any trace of Danica. The rest of you come back to the city with me."

For now, he had no choice but to put the search efforts on temporary hold, and had his driver speed nonstop back to his private villa.

Yanna was deathly pale. She must have gotten advance notice he was heading back, because she'd dragged her feeble body out to wait right by the villa's front gate.

The second Lucas stepped out of the car, he stepped right over and pulled her into his arms.

"You're not feeling well, why are you out here catching a chill?"

Yanna hugged him back tight, wordlessly pouring out all the longing she'd bottled up over the past few days. It wasn't until they'd stepped inside the living room that she picked up on how off the mood was.

"Don't worry, the doctor said it's just a tiny issue, nothing serious. Oh, where's Danica? Why didn't she come back with you?"

The second the words "Danica" hit his ears, Lucas' face drained of all color. Even his lips started trembling uncontrollably.

"Did something happen? Is Danica okay?"

For the first time ever, that usually gentle face of his was etched with deep, raw agony.

"Danica's gone. She left everything behind without a second thought. What did I do so wrong that she'd leave me so abruptly and without a single backward glance?"

Watching Lucas crumple under the weight of his grief, Yanna's chest ached for him.

She stared straight at him, steady and unblinking, and spoke each word slowly and softly.

"Lucas, do you love Danica?"