Chapter 6
An eerie silence took over the place.
The case was Quentin to handle, but he was so focused on getting back at whoever hurt Taylor that he couldn’t care less about the actual victim.
He grabbed his phone and texted me nonstop. When I didn’t respond, he kept calling me over and over, acting like he’d completely lost it.
But what was the point? He’d never hear from me again.
With a beep, a call went through.
I saw a kind of surprised joy in Quentin’s eyes I’d never seen before. His voice had a hint of relief he didn’t even notice. “Sharon, I knew you weren’t dead-”
“Hello, sir, this is the funeral home,” the staff member said, cutting Quentin off calmly.” Are you a relative of Sharon Eastlake?
“No one’s come forward to claim the body, and we haven’t been able to reach any family. We’re about to go ahead with cremation-”
“No, you can’t!” Quentin blurted out, his voice shaky with anxiety he didn’t even realize. ” This is a joke, right? I’m coming over now to see what’s going on! No one’s pulling this over on me!”
He floored the gas, pushing the car to 120 mph. I saw his palms sweat, his teeth biting his lip, his hands shaking unconsciously. He was scared, but there was still hope in him.
I wished I could just tell Quentin it was all pointless. There was no need for hope because I was already gone.
When they took my body out of the morgue’s freezer, I couldn’t bring myself to look. Even though it had been kept cold, my body had started to swell and decay after all this time.
My face was already unrecognizable from the crash, but I didn’t even look like a person
now.
But Quentin didn’t seem to care about any of it. He leaned close to my body, searching for anything that could tell him who I was.
But how could he possibly find anything? My identity had been wiped out in that car explosion.
The staff member nearby seemed to get what Quentin was after and kindly asked, “Are you looking for the deceased’s personal items?
“Unfortunately, because of the explosion and the medical procedures afterward, all we found was this gold ring. She was holding it tight in her hand.”
1/2
Chapter 6
+25 BONUS
That was the gift Quentin gave me on our first anniversary.
Taylor was still abroad at the time and hadn’t entered our lives yet. Quentin was still my boyfriend, and his heart was completely mine.
He’d hidden the ring among 999 roses and handed them to me, his eyes full of love as he said, “Sharon, happy first anniversary! We’ll have so many more anniversaries and endless tomorrows together!”
Quentin lifted me and spun me around, grinning with joy. I snuggled against his chest, wishing time could just stop right there.
And now, my time had come to a complete stop.
Quentin stared at the ring, frozen in place. It felt like an eternity before he finally reached out, his hands trembling, to take it from the staff member.
When he saw the “Q&S” engraved on the inside, the truth hit him all at once. He crumpled to the floor, as if every bit of life had been sucked out of him, and broke down in heartbreaking sobs.
He cried out, trying to collapse onto my body, but the staff held him back. His voice was filled with grief and despair. “Sharon… you must’ve gone through so much pain…”
I couldn’t even describe the pain I’d been through. All I knew was that when the flames consumed me, I felt nothing but pure despair, inside and out.
It wasn’t until later that I realized my despair had come too soon. Anya’s intentional overdose and Quentin’s smug plotting were like knives, cutting deeper and deeper into my
soul.
“There was also a child…” The staff member seemed worried Quentin wouldn’t be able to
handle the blow.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally continued, “The child had the worst injuries and died on the spot, so we had to cremate her right away.
“After a DNA test, we confirmed it was the deceased’s child. I’m wondering if you’re…”
