Chapter 5
Outside the club, the moment Atlas showed up, his buddies swarmed around him.
He walked quietly into the venue for one final check.
Along both sides of the hallway, clusters of blue roses held photo after photo of me.
He stopped dead in his tracks and frowned.
“The photos are in the wrong order. This one’s from when she was eighteen – move it over there.”
Getting impatient with how slow the staff was working, he stepped in himself, rearranging every single photo in chronological order.
Then he went over the menu.
“Get rid of the shrimp. She’s allergic to seafood.”
“Change the piano music to that song she loves – ‘River Flows in You.“”
“Move the gifts over here so she’ll see them the second she walks in.”
On the other side of the room, his friends exchanged worried looks.
“How the hell does Atlas remember when every single one of these hundred photos was taken? Could you do that?”
“Be real. I can’t even remember what my girlfriend told me this morning.”
“If he cares this much about the details… does Atlas really not have feelings for Celeste anymore? What if he’s…”
‘Hey, don’t go there. He’s just got a good memory, okay? If it was Bella, he’d probably remember even more.”
Seven PM. The party officially started.
The place was all lit up, drinks flowing, and Bella had arrived. But me–the guest of honor was nowhere to be seen.
Atlas kept glancing at the entrance. The hope in his eyes slowly turned to worry, and he started getting anxious for no reason he could name.
Then his phone rang. It was the driver.
“Mr. Knight, Miss Wright isn’t home. I can’t reach her.”
His heart lurched, but he tried to stay calm as he looked over at Bella.
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Missing ri
Chapter S
Bella frowned and tried calling me.
“The number you have dialed is not in service…”
Atlas went pale. All he could think about was the last thing I’d said to him that afternoon:
“Fine. I should disappear from his life forever.”
Seven–thirty.
I still hadn’t shown up.
Eight o’clock.
People started whispering, looking confused.
Nine o’clock.
The whole club was buzzing with chatter.
“Where the hell is Celeste?”
“Holy shit, Atlas – Celeste blocked me!”
Atlas’s eyes went wide as he spun toward whoever had spoken.
The guy held up his phone–message failed to deliver. A bright red exclamation mark mocked them on screen.
“She blocked me too!”
“My messages aren’t going through either!”
Bella put down her phone, looking shocked. “Same here…”
Atlas didn’t even realize his breath had gone ice–cold.
Everyone connected to him had been blocked. Every single person.
People started looking at Atlas nervously.
‘You don’t think something happened to Celeste, right? I remember she tried to kill herself before.”
‘Atlas, check if Celeste blocked you too.”
Atlas instinctively switched to a different messaging app. There was only one conversation pinned at the top.
15:55
Missing Fiancé? Nah, He Was Just Busy Marrying My Bestie
48.19
Chapter 5
But his fingers trembled–he couldn’t bring himself to tap it.
“Atlas?”
Atlas put his phone away. “She’s probably stuck in traffic. Let’s wait a bit longer.”
Everyone fell silent.
It wasn’t even rush hour – what traffic? And it was only a thirty–minute drive. It had been over two hours. She could’ve walked here by now.
But seeing how stubborn Atlas looked, nobody dared say anything.
Ten o’clock.
Guests started leaving.
Eleven o’clock.
Atlas sat in the same spot, eyes glued to the entrance.
Bella frowned and muttered, “It’s been four hours. If Celeste wanted to come, she would’ve been here by now.”
“Can we just forget about her and go home?”
After a long silence, Atlas said hoarsely, “It’s not midnight yet. Let’s wait a little more. She’ll come.”
The clock outside chimed midnight.
His whole body jerked. In that moment, he knew with brutal clarity – both my birthday and our anniversary had
passed, and I wasn’t coming.
He grabbed his phone with trembling hands and typed:
“Where are you!”
The message wouldn’t send. That red exclamation mark hit him like a punch to the gut.
For five hours, he’d been avoiding the possibility that was now taking over his thoughts.
Celeste…
really didn’t want him anymore.
Atlas went white and bolted out of the club.
15:55
