Chapter 110 In Denial
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“I told you to call the cops. Do you not understand plain language, you useless idiot?”
Jackie stopped stammering. His hands shook as he scrambled for his phone. He called the police without saying another word.
But the more he thought about it, the less it made sense. If this had been a break- in or a kidnapping, why would anyone waste time shredding wedding photos?
He had already checked the house. None of the valuables were missing.
Zacharias‘ luxury watches sat untouched, lined up neatly where they always were. That was not robbery. That was Anneliese packing up, tearing down what was left, and walking out.
Jackie did not believe Zacharias had failed to notice that, not for one moment. He thought Zacharias simply did not want to face the truth.
Zacharias would rather imagine a crime than admit that Anneliese had left him with finality and without hesitation.
The police arrived quickly with the neighborhood security team.
They pulled up the security footage. Zacharias stood motionless in the ruined living room. His face looked carved from granite. He called her over and over, but she never answered.
“Sir,” one officer said carefully. “The video shows your wife hired a moving company last week. She was the last person seen leaving the property. No one else has been inside. There are no signs of forced entry. This does not look like burglary or kidnapping. You should probably reach out to your wife directly.”
The officer tapped a key and played the footage.
Anneliese appeared on the screen, slender and composed,
She walked out of the villa with her head held high. Her steps were steady. Her
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Chapter 110 In Denial
movements were deliberate. She never turned back.
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Jackie walked the officers and security guards out to the gate. He thanked them. When he came back, a sharp crack split the air.
Zacharias had hurled his phone. It shattered against the floor and skidded across the tiles.
Jackie froze in the doorway. He did not dare move.
Across town, Anneliese went to bed early. She had been battling insomnia for weeks, but lately her life had started to settle.
Her sleep had finally begun to improve.
Before turning out the light, she followed her nightly routine. She wrote an email to her professor. He never mentioned it, but she noticed the pattern.
She always read her emails at lunch, and he always replied later in the afternoon. It had become a quiet ritual.
He was waiting for her updates every day.
Her professor really was as kind as her senior had once told her.
Thinking about Jonathan made her smile. He genuinely liked her cooking, and it reminded her of the time her professor had praised her skills too.
At the end of her email, she attached a handwritten recipe for sweet–and–sour pork, his favorite. She even added her small tricks for getting the sauce right.
That night, she dreamed of home.
In her dream, she was back in the lab with her professor and seniors. Together, they worked on a futuristic vertical–lift commuter airbus, sleek and built to carry dozens of passengers. They flew the craft between tall buildings and landed it on the rooftop of a shining tower.
Through a glass wall, she saw a tall man in a tailored suit standing in a corner
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Chapter 110 In Denial
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office. She leaned out the Airbus window, grinning, and stretched her hand toward
him.
“Hey, handsome. I flew in just to pick you up. Want a ride with me?”
She blew him a playful kiss. A sharp ringtone sliced through the dream.
Anneliese’s eyes snapped open. Her heart still raced. Her own voice from the dream still echoed faintly in her head.
She could not believe she had just had that kind of dream.
On the floor, Meatloaf―her bulldog–was irritated. He hated being woken up. He rose from his bed and pawed at the nightstand. The phone rattled with each strike.
The sound echoed with each thump. Then, by chance, his paw landed just right. The call connected. The speaker switched on.
“Babe! Anne! You finally answered! Where are you? Tell me where you are! Are you really done with me?”
Zacharias‘ voice filled the room, ragged, frantic, and thick with alcohol.
Anneliese frowned. Sleep left her instantly.
She picked up the phone, stunned by what she heard.
Had Zacharias forgotten how he had forced her to sign that settlement earlier?
And now he tried to play the brokenhearted husband?
“Zacharias, it’s the middle of the night. If you’re going to lose your mind, then at least call the right person.”
She cut the call and blocked the number.
She tossed the phone onto the bed and lay back down, willing herself to sleep. But the phone buzzed again.
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Chapter 110 In Denial
She exhaled sharply and checked the screen. Another unknown number.
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She knew exactly who it was. And she knew he would not quit until she answered.
She sat up in bed. “What do you want from me?”
“Anneliese, I went back to the house! Our home is wrecked. You have to tell me it wasn’t you.”
His voice trembled, disbelief dripping through every word, edged with fury.
Anneliese’s lips curled into a cold smile.
So that was why he had lost his mind. The man who never came home had finally stepped through the door, only to find the place gone.
He was absurd.
He had not cared about that house in years. He had been too busy living in luxury, chasing excitement.
He had been bored. He had even forgotten how long it had been since he last set foot there.
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