We'll Never Meet Again のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 9

A loud roar hit my ears, and my mind instantly went completely blank, the world around me fading into distant, muffled static.A fake marriage?Valerie's parents died when she was young. It was my parents who brought her and her sister home, raising them as their own flesh and blood.The three of us grew up together.On her eighteenth birthday, Valerie bought a pack of sparklers, ducking into my arms against the cold ocean breeze."Owen, let me stand by your side for the rest of our lives."I truly believed we would hold each other up until we were old and gray.My best friend, Mark Kingsley, joined in, trying to reason with me."You can't force love. Your family took her in, yeah, but you can't expect her to pay off a lifelong debt with her own happiness. That's just selfish."I stared at him in utter disbelief, my gaze slowly sweeping over every face in front of me.Every single one of them was someone I loved dearly.Yet right now, I was standing completely alone, pitted

Valerie looked at Dylan's swollen, flushed cheek, then turned her angry gaze straight onto me.Seeing the look in her eyes, my heart dropped.She was known for her calm, gentle demeanor. It was rare to ever see her express hatred so openly.Yet today, more than once, she had looked at me with that exact same disgust for the sake of another man."Owen, you're completely beyond saving! Since you're so determined to make trouble for Dylan, don't blame me for showing no mercy."Valerie yanked me out of the infirmary without a trace of hesitation, dragging me all the way down the hall and into an interrogation room.Right in front of my face, she tore the waiver to pieces, then slapped another document onto the table with a cold expression.It was a Consent for Psychiatric Evaluation and Medical Release.There, in stark black and white, it stated that due to extreme job-related stress, I was suffering from mental instability, delusions, and severe emotional outbursts, and was volunt

Half an hour later, inside the police department.The rescue captain gently set the soaking wet evidence bag onto the table.Inside lay a silver ring, scorched black by fire.When Valerie was eighteen, she had spent fifty dollars from her first scholarship to buy it for Owen.That night under the ocean breeze, she had slipped the cheap band onto Owen's ring finger, her face flushing red as she swore to spend the rest of her life by his side.Even after he became an esteemed homicide captain, and even long after the metal had grown heavily worn, he kept it on him at all times, treating it like his most precious treasure.Now, the ring was charred beyond recognition. As for the man who wore it, not even his body had been found."After the van plunged into the river, an explosion erupted beneath the surface. We found this near the wreckage."Besides that, we found a significant amount of blood and human tissue on the riverbed. The blast was too intense, and with the swift current..

After changing into casual clothes, Sarah called me into her office.She wasn't in a rush to speak, instead patiently brewing a pot of coffee and sliding a mug over to me.Watching the steam rise from the cup, I remained silent for a moment before asking her, "Did you run a background check on me?"Sarah didn't deny it. She met my gaze openly and nodded."Of course. As the director, I'm responsible for over a hundred children here. Any incoming employee undergoes a discreet background check."Besides, given your sharp martial arts and tactical moves, they certainly don't look like something picked up on a whim."Sarah paused, her tone turning sincere and respectful."Owen Hudson. Former Captain of the Homicide Division, solver of countless high-profile cases. But to the outside world, everyone believes you perished in that explosion two years ago."My fingers tightened slightly around the mug.The past I had deliberately tried to escape was abruptly laid bare before me."So,