Chapter 13
After seeing that Marcus couldn’t be persuaded or coerced, a grim faced Samuel declared, “There’s nothing left for us to talk about then. It doesn’t matter how many copies you make. I’m not going to sign the divorce agreement. It you want to take me to court, so be it.”
He was certain that Emily would have to show herself in court. When the time came, he would surely do whatever he could to seek her forgiveness. They shared many years of love and countless memories together. Just meeting him in person would undoubtedly stir up some emotions in her. As long as he refused to get a divorce, sooner or later, she would change her mind and come back to him.
However, Marcus was also prepared for this. He informed Samuel, “Mr. Porter, Ms. Anderson doesn’t need to take you to court. That’s merely the last resort. If possible, she would rather that you two could end things on an amicable note.
“One option is to remain separated for two years. That way, the divorce paperwork can be filed regardless, and the court will grant the divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences.”
These were the results of Emily’s previous research. Once she made up her mind to put an end to their relationship, she made the most of her diligence, After considering all the possibilities, she came up with the appropriate course of action for each one.
Samuel was stupefied. “That’s impossible. She wouldn’t be this heartless toward me. We were so in love once. Is she going to count me out just because of one mistake?”
He was conveniently forgetting how he’d treated Emily in the last half year or so, including the way he neglected her.
Marcus didn’t care what Samuel thought. He simply reiterated the situation. “There’s no use in asking me this, Mr. Porter. This is the way the law works. It you think it’s unreasonable, you can take the law to court.”
Samuel knew full well he couldn’t win that fight, but he stubbornly asked, “All I have to do is find Emily before that and patch things up with her, right?” Marcus merely smiled without responding. Being a divorce lawyer, he’d seen his fair share of persistent men and disillusioned women. He had long since noted that Emily had her heart set on leaving. No matter what Samuel tried to do, his efforts would be futile.
Samuel was still at a stalemate with Marcus when he got a call from the police. “Mr. Porter, based on the clues you provided, we managed to locate the last known location of Ms. Anderson’s SIM card. Are you able to come over?”
“I’ll be right there!”
The matter of the divorce was set aside for the time being.
Samuel had never heard of the location that the police provided him. He quickly fed it into his GPS and sped over. Once he arrived, he saw a barren wasteland without a single building in the vicinity. The place was filled with rubbish, and the police seemed to be searching for something.
This sight filled Samuel with agony. Countless scenes from detective movies flooded through his mind. He nearly fainted from the agitation. Kate had to hold him steady. “Calm down, Mr. Porter.”
After just barely regaining his balance, Samuel asked in a trembling voice, “Where is she? Did you find her?”
Thinking that Emily had taken her own life, he looked as though he was about to faint. Every fiber of his being was filled with regret. If he had known this would happen, he never should’ve said she might harm herself when he made the police report.
All she did was leave him.
“It’s all my fault,” Samuel said hoarsely. “She’s not missing. She just didn’t want to see me. wronged her…”
He kept rambling incoherently, looking as if he was deeply shaken.
Confused by his words, Kate, who was still holding him steady, held out a bag and said, “We didn’t locate Ms. Anderson’s phone, Mr. Porter, but we did find a SIM card. Kindly check to see if it belonged to her.”
Only then did Samuel come back to his senses. With an immense sense of relief, he asked, “You only found her SIM card? What about her phone?” Shaking her head, Kate replied, “We’ve searched the area, but we couldn’t find it.”
Having gone through a huge emotional upheaval within minutes, Samuel looked visibly out of sorts. He took the bag and asked, “Can I open it?”
Once he was given permission, he took Emily’s SIM card out of the evidence bag and inserted it into his phone before turning it on.
He was curious to know what was going through Emily’s mind when she tossed her SIM card. He wanted to know if she still had any feelings for him, even the slightest bit.
But alas, the screen remained black. His phone had run out of battery.
Samuel crumbled. Using the last of his rationality, he pleaded with Kate, “Can someone lend me a power bank? I’ll charge my phone for a while and return it to you right away.”
Kate didn’t question him. She simply checked with the rest of her colleagues. Eventually, she was able to find a kind policewoman who had a power bank to spare.
When passing it to Samuel, Kate said, “Go ahead and see if the SIM card still works. It had been submerged in water for quite a while.”
The place was covered in tall grass, which meant there were often puddles of water all year round.
Samuel refused to believe that the SIM card might be destroyed. While charging his phone, he made a silent prayer. Perhaps his prayer had been sincere
Chinnter 13
enough, because his phone lit up soon after it began charging.
The first thing he saw was a bunch of missed calls, all of which seemed to be from him. Apart from that, the most noteworthy thing was the unread messages.
2/2
Samuel clicked on them, only to be utterly thunderstruck by what he saw. Jessica was the one who sent these messages to Emily. All along, he assumed the two had no contact at all!
Moreover, there was a stark contrast between the way Jessica came across in her messages and the way she behaved in front of him. It was as though there were two entirely different Jessicas.
