Chapter 19
The paper littered all over the floor was the same paper Emily had used to write her final note to Sarsuel. He brought all of her unused sheets of paper from the study into the bedroom and spent several days writing away.
Time lost all meaning to him
Nora sobbed as she said, “Emily doesn’t even want to see you! Even if you fill the room with letters of apology, what’s the use? You should be telling her how sorry you are in person.”
Samuel earnestly considered Nora’s words. He admitted she had a point, but he was too stubborn to go back now. Looking at her with his bloodshot eyes, he said determinedly, “She’ll know. Once I fill all the sheets of paper, she’ll forgive me. That’s right. I need to show her my sincerity…”
Though his voice was cracked and hoarse, his tone was strangely fervent. Even his eyes were unusually bright. Halfway through speaking, he abruptly grabbed the paper back from Fred and continued scribbling away shakily.
As he wrote, he mumbled, “I made a mistake, Emily. You’ll forgive me, right? As long as I fill these sheets with my apology, you’ll come back and forgive me. I’m sorry…”
He tirelessly repeated those words.
Nora continued to shed helpless tears, as she watched the obsessed Samuel, who looked as if he were under some kind of spell. “Please, I’m begging you. Stop fasting, and stop writing these things. You’ll die if you carry on like this.”
Unfortunately, despite her attempts to talk some sense into him, Samuel remained unmoved. She wanted to snatch the pen and paper away from him, but she wasn’t strong enough.
In the end, it was Fred who couldn’t take it anymore. He came up with an idea. “You want to apologize to Emily, right? In that case, you need to let her know how you feel! How about this? There’s a new television program that focuses on cases of missing persons. Why don’t you sign up for it? You can look into the camera and apologize to her in front of everyone!”
It was one of the hottest television programs presently. Samuel was also a young and accomplished CEO, so they didn’t need to worry about no one tuning in. Perhaps Emily, wherever she was, would actually get to see his public display of regret.
Samuel immediately signed up for the program. He also invested in the program so that he could be bumped up the list to become the next guest.
After hearing about his marriage situation, the production team knew they had a juicy scandal on their hands. They quickly amped up the promotional work. As a result, Samuel’s episode was already highly anticipated even before it aired.
Samuel didn’t bother hiding his current state of mind either. Nevertheless, for the sake of his appearance, he did clean himself up and shave so that he looked presentable. He specifically chose to wear the first necktie Emily bought him after they got married.
At the time, they were very much in love. They would share a hug and a kiss before he left the house each morning.
Alas, as time passed, he had personally destroyed the beautiful life they once shared.
The studio was packed with a live audience, all of whom clambered to attend the recording after hearing about the gossip.
Even the host instantly picked up on Samuel’s distressed state. Initially, he tried to probe into the reason for Samuel’s marital troubles with a few subtle questions. To his shock, Samuel got straight to the point and revealed the whole thing from start to end, even admitting to everything.
“I came onto this program to apologize to my wife, Emily Anderson. I’d broken my promise. When we first got together, I said many loving things to her. I thought we’d spend the rest of our lives together without ever losing our love for each other. Who would’ve thought that I’d give in to temptation and betray her?” Samuel said.
“I’m completely at fault for the breakdown in our marriage. She only left me because I cheated on her. I’m here today in the hopes that she would give me a chance to beg for her forgiveness…”
Samuel spoke with great sincerity. He conveyed his most earnest apologies to Emily. Toward the end, he even began choking up.
Thanks to the production team’s promotional efforts, this episode went viral all over the Internet. It even became the subject of many discussions across online forums. Some even managed to unearth Emily’s old artwork as well as the identity of the homewrecker, Jessica.
However, none of these led to any news about Emily.
Samuel waited around for days. Eventually, he tried to stay positive and called Luke, “If I recall correctly, there’s a video section on our company website. Put my apology video up there. Keep it up until there’s news of Emily.”
By doing that, he was most certainly causing disgrace to both the company’s and his own reputation.
Luke thought it was a step too far, but he dared not try to talk Samuel out of it. Instead, he asked, “Should we put it on the main company website or one of the subsidiaries?”
“Upload it to every single website,” Samuel said, and even that wasn’t enough for him. “They sell ads on social media too, right? Buy up everything. I want the biggest placement on both national and international sites. If anyone knows anything about her whereabouts, they can get in touch with me. Oh, remember to put my personal number up as well.”
It was a simple missing person case, but thanks to Emily’s identity and the story behind her disappearance, the situation ended up causing quite a huge stir.
Samuel thought that he’d done enough. If Emily saw how haggard he looked on the television program, she would surely call him up and at least talk to
him. Yet, she continued to refuse to get in touch with him. He even made sure to keep his phone on at all times and on maximum volume.
Mary days later, Samuel received the first call from a stranger who said, “Is it true that anyone who provides a lead in the missing person case will be rewarded handsomely?”
“Of courwe
“Alright then Give me 100 thousand dollars, and I’ll tell you where I saw her yesterday…”
“You saw her yesterday?” Samuel questioned
“That’s right, so hurry up and make the transfer…”
Samuel transferred the money without any hesitation.
