Chapter 4
811 Words
I stood up, walked through the building, and appeared at the temporary shelter on the first floor.
My parents were there.
Their hair was messy, their clothes were covered in mud, and they were desperately clutching the staff member's arm.
"Please, help us check which room Giselle was staying in. The news said there was a landslide here, and her phone has been turned off this whole time."
My mother was crying so hard she could barely stand.
My father had to hold her up from the side to keep her from collapsing.
"Ma'am, please don't panic. I'll check for you right away."
The staff member hurriedly flipped through the registration records.
I walked over to my mother, wanting to reach out and hug her.
"Mom, I'm right here."
My mother clutched her chest and cried her heart out.
"Giselle, please don't let anything happen to you. I'm begging you..."
The commotion in the shelter quickly drew everyone's attention.
Not long after, footsteps came from the stairwell.
Richard walked down wearing a slightly disheveled rain jacket, his brows tightly furrowed.
Nina followed behind him, a strange-looking scarf wrapped around her neck.
She kept her head lowered, looking like she had just been through something terrifying.
"Richard! Where is Giselle? Why isn't she with you?"
The moment my mother saw Richard, she grabbed onto him like he was her last hope.
Her nails dug deep into his arm.
Richard frowned and quietly pulled his arm away.
"Mr. and Mrs. Shay, please calm down first. Giselle isn't with us. She just got upset because I saved Nina first and disappeared somewhere. I don't know where she went."
"Got upset?"
My father froze. His voice trembled.
"After a landslide this serious, you're saying she just got upset and hid somewhere? Didn't you come here together? She's your girlfriend. Why didn't you stop her?"
Richard sighed and looked straight at my father with a completely justified expression.
"Mr. Shay, things were happening too fast at the time. Nina had low blood sugar and wasn't physically strong. Giselle grew up running around these mountains. She could handle a situation like that. I couldn't just stand by and watch someone else get hurt because I was worried about Giselle's feelings."
He lightly emphasized the words "someone else" and moved Nina behind him protectively.
"Please stop making things more complicated. She's an adult. She couldn't have been buried by a mountain just like that. Once she gets over it, she'll come back on her own."
My mother trembled with anger. She pointed at Nina.
"She wasn't strong, so you saved her. My daughter was healthy, so she deserved to be left in the flood. Is that it? Richard, Giselle dated you for three years. Is this how you treated her?"
Nina flinched.
Tears rolled down her face.
"Mrs. Shay, I'm sorry. This was all my fault. I dragged Giselle into this."
"Enough! Stop talking."
My mother cut her off sharply.
Richard's face darkened.
"Auntie, please watch your words. This has nothing to do with Nina. I was the one who made the decision. If Giselle feels wronged, I'll make it up to her when she comes back. Still, making a scene like this isn't appropriate."
Just then, the plastic curtain at the entrance of the shelter was pulled open from outside.
Two search and rescue workers in raincoats walked in, covered from head to toe in mud and rainwater.
The person leading them was holding a clear evidence bag.
His eyes swept across the crowd before finally stopping on my parents and Richard.
"Excuse me, who here is Giselle Shay's family?"
My mother's legs gave out.
She nearly collapsed on the spot.
"I am. I'm her mother."
Richard frowned too.
He seemed surprised by the rescue workers' arrival.
"Sir, did Giselle call for help? Where is she? I'll go pick her up right now."
The rescue worker ignored him.
He walked over to my parents and handed them the evidence bag.
"I'm sorry. We found a woman's body on the downstream gravel bank. Because she was dragged through the mudslide, her face and body were badly damaged. However, the victim was holding onto this tightly in both hands."
Inside the evidence bag was a velvet box that had been worn down almost beyond recognition by rocks and dirt.
Inside was a custom-made pair of men's wedding rings.
It was the third anniversary gift I had prepared for Richard.
I had secretly saved three months of my salary to buy it for him.
When the landslide hit, I had held it tightly against my chest, afraid of losing it.
I lowered my head and looked at my own semi-transparent hands.
There was nothing on my ring finger.
The rescue worker removed his hat and bowed slightly.
"I'm sorry for your loss. Please come with us to identify the body."
- Writer
