Leaving Without a Trace

Just as I got out of the shower, my dad called me."I'm glad you thought things through, Jeremy. I'm getting old, and you're my only son. For the past three years, you've refused to come home and take over the family business from me—all for the sake of that woman. You have no idea how much your mom and I have missed you," Dad said."It wouldn't be so bad if she genuinely returned your feelings as well. However, it's been three years now. She hasn't even officially introduced you to her family or her friends. That proves she doesn't care about you all that much."Since you've decided to come home, I'll set the wedding date for next month. What do you say?"After hearing what Dad said, I froze a little.In the past, whenever I heard such comments from him, I always felt uncomfortable. I assumed he looked down on Isabel because our family was wealthy. I would stand my ground and argue with him, telling him how in love Isabel and I were.But this time, I couldn't say anything."Alr

Time flew by, and Isabel hadn't returned, not even once.I spent several days cleaning the house and clearing through everything—until not a single trace of me could be found.When the countdown timer went down to two days, I got my keys and left the house to buy Professor Carter a birthday present. He was my humanities professor at college. You could say he acted as the matchmaker for Isabel and me.After browsing through the mall's offerings for quite some time, I eventually decided to get Professor Carter a garnet pendant. Garnet was said to protect its wearer from harm, and Professor Carter wasn't getting any younger. I hoped the garnet would help ensure that he had many more good years to come.Professor Carter's birthday fell on the last day I spent in this city. After his birthday celebration, I would fly back home to get married.Last night, Isabel sent me a text saying that she might not be back because of work. When I failed to respond to her, she called me up to rebuke

Following the doctor's check-up, I was finally free to get some rest. As soon as I lay on the soft, comfortable bed, I fell sound asleep.I slept through the night, only waking up the next morning when one of the maids came to knock on my door. After washing up, I changed into my wedding suit. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn't help but be reminded of the final year I spent with Isabel.At the time, Cameron, her long-lost first love, had just returned. Up until then, our mutual friends were all discussing when Isabel and I would tie the knot. However, all of that changed once Cameron came back."Now that Cameron's back, Isabel might not marry Jeremy after all."It wasn't as if I didn't hear those comments. It wasn't as though I was indifferent to them. Plus, Mom and Dad were pressuring me too. Therefore, I threw myself into planning a wonderful wedding, only for me to end up hurt and bruised that day.To be honest, before the wedding day, I overheard her conversation

"If you think I haven't officially broken up with you yet, then allow me to make myself clear now," I declared. "Isabel Eaton, things are over between us. Please stop harassing my friends and ex-colleagues. I'm already on my way to get married to someone else."As for Cameron, I never told anyone to cause trouble for him. I've seen you two walking around hand-in-hand multiple times. I've seen you two kiss in public. I also know you two stayed in the same hotel room when you were off on a business trip. You even left me at the altar because of him."If you think that me feeling jealous and upset because of all the things you've done counts as me causing trouble for him, then I admit it. I've done that before. But it will never happen again."I added, "I never considered embarrassing you either. Mom only overheard the call by accident."Here I was thinking I'd been clear enough, but Isabel simply scoffed and said, "Are you that desperate to get married, Jeremy? You're saying all th

Isabel couldn't believe that I was serious about ending things with her. She dared not believe that despite flying over as soon as she could, she'd failed to stop me from getting married anyway.Eyes reddening, she started crying.In the past, I would've compromised the moment I saw her tears. But now, I felt nothing but annoyance.Suddenly, she pulled out a velvet box with the set of wedding rings I had prepared in the past. All along, she had refused to wear hers. When I finally made up my mind to leave, I placed mine back inside the box too.I didn't expect her to bring the rings with her today."Jeremy, do you still remember this pair of wedding rings? I was a fool back then. I know how I truly feel now. Come home with me, please. I'm begging you," Isabel said.She even reached out to take my hand, but Rosalie stopped her—she was a lot stronger than expected for someone as young as she was."I heard a few things about your relationship with Jeremy, Ms. Eaton. I'll reserve ju