Chapter 4

In the afternoon, I was so tired that I drifted off to sleep on the sofa. I was woken by a series of phone calls. All my friends were calling me. Messages flooded in, one after another.

"Iris! Are you okay?"

"You're not on the plane, are you? Please tell me you're not!"

"I'm begging you, text me back..."

"Leo wasn't on the plane, right? Why did you go alone?!"

I glanced at the time: 8:30 PM. I numbly searched for news about the flight. The top trending headline read:

Air disaster, crashed into the sea, no survivors.

Those keywords flashed before my eyes. I understood then; the accident still happened.

I didn't immediately reassure everyone. Instead, I wanted to see Leo's reaction.

He posted a tribute online, titled "In Loving Memory of My Deceased Wife."

It was a rambling, thousand-word essay explaining that he couldn't go with me due to an emergency.

He also recounted our story, how we met and fell in love.

He played the role of the devoted husband, his words brimming with apparent grief.

He even declared that whether I was alive or dead, he would love me forever. He wrote that after the funeral, he would adopt a child to be "our child."

The picture accompanying the post was our wedding photo. Only, my half of the photo had been photoshopped in black and white, while his half remained vibrant red.

In the comments, many comforted him, telling him to accept his condolences. Some even transferred him money, calling it a small token of sympathy.

A sharp pain twisted in my chest. I opened his chat with Stella.

Stella: "Iris is gone?"

Leo: "Yeah, it was an accident."

Stella: "Then what about us... if we get together now, everyone will trash me."

"Leo, I'm with you because of love. I don't want people to think I'm a home-wrecker because of this."

"You promised you wouldn't let me get hurt."

Leo sent several sixty-second voice messages, continuously coaxing her, reassuring her of his feelings. He said, "Regardless of whether this accident happened, you are the only one I love."

"Please don't leave me, you're all I have left..."

"After Iris's funeral, we'll get married."

"And we'll bring you and his child to live with us."

"We'll tell everyone it's a child I adopted for Iris."

"Don't worry, I would never let you be wronged."

"As for Iris's inheritance, her mother's old house, I'll transfer it to the child."

A wave of bitter anger rose in my chest, so potent it felt suffocating. My hands trembled violently. How could he shamelessly say such things?

I took several deep breaths to calm the choking emotions.

So be it. If he's so eager to hold my funeral, I'll be sure to give him a parting gift he'll never forget.