Chapter 4

Natalie's face instantly turned pale.

She checked Andy's room, the balcony, and the bathroom in a rush, her voice growing more piercing with each cry.

"Andy!"

Simon panicked, too.

He called the property management office while rushing into the stairwell.

I stood by the door, my heart pounding. Andy had been in his room just moments ago. How could he have suddenly disappeared?

Forgetting the humiliation I'd just endured, I joined them in the search.

After checking the elevator lobby and the stairwell, I went down to the apartment complex's gardens and even the underground parking lot, calling Andy's name over and over until my voice grew hoarse.

The backs of my feet started bleeding again. Each step felt more painful than the one before, but I didn't stop.

Natalie was so frantic she could barely stay on her feet. I reached out to steady her, but she recoiled as if she'd been burned, immediately pulling her hand away.

That single gesture cut deep.

An hour later, the property management staff told us there were blind spots in the surveillance footage, and they hadn't been able to determine where Andy had gone.

Natalie broke down. She rushed toward me, her hair disheveled and her eyes frighteningly red. "You can hate me all you want and come after me however you like, Tara, but don't hurt my son!"

I stared at her in shock, my chest painfully tight. "I didn't do anything to him."

"Then why has he gone missing!" she cried out, her voice scratchy and her tears rolling down her cheeks. "You know that he's all I have!"

Those words hurt more than anything else could have. I remembered how she'd once held me and said, "You still have me."

But now, she stood next to Simon and accused me of using her son to get revenge on her.

Simon was glaring at me as well, his barely contained agitation evident in his eyes. "Tara, don't make things any uglier than they already are."

My heart grew colder by the second. "You think I hid him, too?"

He stared at me, his voice cold and unfamiliar as he declared, "You know perfectly well that Andy is Natalie's whole world, yet you're taking your anger out on a child! When did you become so vicious, Tara?"

For a moment, I was frozen in shock. I'd just spent all that time searching for their son. I'd shouted until my throat hurt, and the blood from my feet had already seeped through my shoes.

But they couldn't see any of it.

In their eyes, the moment their son disappeared, I'd become the prime suspect.

I was just about to defend myself when Natalie slapped me hard across the face. My cheek burned.

She glared daggers at me, still sobbing hard as she declared, "Tara, if anything happens to Andy, I'll never forgive you for the rest of my life."

She paused for a moment, as if making one of the hardest decisions of her life. "From this moment onward, we're no longer friends."

I simply stared at her, unable to even shed a tear.

Many years ago, she'd been pushed down a flight of stairs while protecting me, and she'd needed five stitches in her forehead.

I'd cried my heart out, saying that she had to be in a lot of pain. She'd simply smiled and said, "Who cares about a bit of pain? We're best friends!"

But even the best of friends could end up in this situation.

Just then, Simon's phone rang.

The property management staff told him that someone had apparently spotted the child at a convenience store near the back gate of the apartment complex.

Natalie immediately turned and ran outside. Simon went after her without saying a word to me.

I touched my stinging cheek and laughed.

In the end, I really was alone.

I didn't wait for them to return.

After heading back to my apartment, I grabbed the suitcase I'd packed and took a cab to the airport. I went through the security check and boarded the plane without once checking my phone.

Once the plane was soaring through the clouds, I looked down at the rapidly shrinking city.

Somewhere down there was the man I'd loved for eight years and the woman who'd been my best friend.

I took out my SIM card and snapped it in half by force.

This was goodbye to both of them. I hoped we would never meet again.