He’d had this feeling before, the day Brittany
went to Amy’s office.
Brittany noticed he was distracted.
“Mark, are you thinking about Amy? If you really
miss her, you can go see her. I guess I’m not important to you.”
Mark realized he was being ridiculous.
The cruise ship was at sea.
Amy was on deck, looking at the stars.
She couldn’t leave.
The woman in his arms was too tempting.
He soon forgot about everything else.
When he went to find Amy, it was two hours later
8:12
<
But Amy wasn’t on the deck.
Mark frowned.
He had that bad feeling again.
8800
Maybe Amy had gone back to the room.
Mark rushed to the room.
He searched everywhere, but Amy was nowhere
to be found.
Mark’s heart was pounding.
Usually so calm, he was now too panicked to
even think.
He grabbed random strangers and asked them
if they had seen Amy, but he learned nothing.
“Amy!”
<
8:12
Mark was losing it.
0330
45
He suddenly remembered what Amy had said.
“Mark, don’t lie to me.”
“If you lie to me, I’ll never forgive you. I’ll leave you forever.”
*No,* he thought.
*This is the ocean.*
*Amy can’t leave.*
Mark’s eyes started to water.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that something
was terribly wrong.
Just then, a waiter approached him.
- 110.
“Sir, a lady asked me to give you this. She said,
‘Amy doesn’t want you anymore.“”
Mark stared at the phone.
It was Amy’s, but what did that mean?
*Amy doesn’t want me anymore*?
He grabbed the waiter’s arm.
“Where’s Amy? Where is she?”
The waiter pointed.
“The lady left on a boat two hours ago.”
Mark felt the strength leave his body.
He stared blankly at the dark ocean.
Finally, he processed what she had said.
Amy left on a boat?
She was gone?
“No,” Mark protested weakly.
“She wouldn’t leave.”
“She promised she would wait for me on deck.
Where would she even go?”
He pulled out his phone to call Amy.
When it vibrated in his hand, his mind went
blank.
He forgot how to breathe.
The lights shone on him, making him look
lonely.
Then his phone buzzed.
く
8:12
Messages appeared on the screen.
As Mark read them, his face turned pale.
“You old hag! It’s good that you left!”
“Now that you’re gone, don’t ever come back. Don’t make me look down on you.”
Mark’s breath hitched.
His fingers trembled.
The more he scrolled, the colder he felt.
Amy knew all along that he had been lying.
She knew he hadn’t broken up with Brittany.
She even knew about the birth control pills.
Mark bent over.
45
<
He couldn’t breathe.
His heart hurt so much it felt like he was
suffocating.
“Amy,” he whispered.
“Amy.”
His Amy really didn’t want him anymore.
Brittany smirked, sending messages to humiliate Amy.
Suddenly, the door was kicked open.
Mark’s face was dark.
Brittany was surprised, but she quickly
recovered.
She smiled and ran to him.
“Mark, you’re back. Did Amy finally fall asleep?
Spend the night with me, okay?”
“I miss you so much. I never want to be apart
from you.”
She stood on her tiptoes and tried to kiss him.
Mark pushed her away.
“Did you talk to Amy?”
Brittany hesitated.
She couldn’t admit it.
If Mark knew she had been trash–talking Amy,
he would be furious.
She still remembered how bad that slap had
hurt.
That night, Mark had wanted to break up with
<
8:12
DESD
her, but she had cried and used seduction.
She didn’t know what she would do without
him.
