Chapter 8

This was the home he shared with Louise, though she managed most of it. Everything was kept immaculate under her care. There were maids and housekeepers in the villa, yet Louise still insisted on tending to the flowers herself. She even installed a light on the rooftop terrace. She said it was for him. Whenever he came home late from work, there would always be a light shining for him. Curtis pushed open the door. The atmosphere inside was just as warm and serene as ever. He glanced toward the flowerbed, and in his mind, he could already picture Louise trimming a few dew-kissed roses and arranging them in a vase in the living room. It was an indescribable sense of peace. Curtis softened his steps as he walked through the foyer, hoping to surprise Louise. But after searching the entire first floor, he still couldn’t find her. His brows furrowed as he turned to one of the housekeepers, who was busy with her chores. “Where’s my wife?” he asked. The staff immediately stopped what they were doing, exchanging uncertain glances. Curtis’s patience wore thin. “Where is Louise?” “We don’t know, sir,” one of them finally answered. “She went out this afternoon. She said she was going to the mountaintop to watch the stars.” Rage surged through Curtis. “It’s this late, and none of you know if she’s come back?” Caught off guard, the housekeeper hesitated before saying nervously, “She told us not to wait for her. She said we could rest once our work was done…” The others nodded in agreement, their expressions confirming they truly had no idea where Louise was. Displeasure rose within Curtis. He wanted nothing more than to fire the lot of them for their carelessness. But his priority was finding Louise. He wanted to discuss plans for their anniversary tomorrow. Curtis quickly ascended the stairs and headed straight for the bedroom. “Louise!” he called her name excitedly as he pushed open the door, but the room was empty. The spacious bedroom was devoid of any presence. A gust of wind swept through, sending the sheer curtains swaying gently by the floor-to-ceiling windows, their edges brushing against the glass with a faint rustling sound. Curtis’s heart tightened. Just as he was about to investigate further, his peripheral vision caught sight of something new on the bedside table—a delicate box. It was Louise’s gift for their fifth anniversary. Confused, Curtis approached the table. Beneath the box was an envelope. The moment he saw the handwriting on it, his chest constricted, and a sense of foreboding washed over him. This was something Louise had left for him. As husband and wife, they had each other’s phone numbers. If she wanted to tell him something, there were far easier ways to do so. What could be important enough to warrant such an old-fashioned method? It had to be a surprise for him. Yes, that must be it… Clinging to this thought, Curtis picked up the envelope with trembling hands—hands that had started shaking without him realizing. Inside was a single sheet of paper, thin and sparse. The contents were brief and easily read in one glance. Louise’s handwriting was as neat and elegant as ever. It was clear she had written this calmly. "Curtis, I don’t know when you’ll read this letter. It doesn’t really matter if you don’t. Because by the time you see this, I will already have left your world. I know about you and Zoe Roach. As I’ve said before, if you betrayed me, I would disappear forever. Soon, you’ll see that I mean what I say." Louise knew about Zoe Roach. How could she have found out?! He had been so careful. He had hidden everything perfectly. Even Zoe had promised to stay silent. Where had it all gone wrong? Just then, Curtis’s phone rang. “Hello, is this Mr. Curtis Irwin?” The voice on the other end was stern and professional. “This is the Yolkshire Police Department. We’ve received a report that someone found your wife’s bloodstained clothing in the valley. We suspect she may have fallen to her death from the mountaintop. We need you to come to the station to identify her belongings.”