Part 1End Of The Search

Seven days before our wedding, my fiancé vanished into thin air.

His car was found abandoned by the river, his wallet, phone, and wedding band left sitting on the driver's seat.

I didn't sleep a wink for three days and three nights. My future mother-in-law fainted twice from grief, and my best friend walked the streets with me, plastering missing person fliers on every lamp post in the city.

Until my best friend went to take a shower, and her phone lit up with a notification from a group chat named "Operation Dream Come True."

I unlocked her phone. The latest message was from my missing fiancé.

Is she still searching by the river?

My best friend's reply was right below it: Don't worry, she can barely stand up right now. She'd never guess you're watching the sunrise on the mountain with your first love.

* * *

Seven days before the wedding, Jonah disappeared.

At two in the morning, the police called to tell me his car had been found along Coastal Highway.

The driver's side door was wide open. His wallet, phone, and platinum wedding band were resting neatly on the driver's seat. Near the guardrail by the riverbank, a set of chaotic footprints trailed off into the mud.

By the time I rushed to the scene, yellow police tape had already been strung up around the perimeter.

It was pouring rain. The black river churned in the dark, roaring like a gaping maw ready to swallow everything whole.

Jonah's younger brother, Seth, hurried over to catch me as I stumbled. "Mindy, don't panic! My brother probably just got stressed out and stepped down to catch some fresh air."

I stared at the wedding band resting on the leather seat, my legs giving out beneath me.

Just seven hours ago, Jonah had called me on the phone, asking whether I wanted white roses or champagne roses for the bridal bouquet.

I had teased him for asking so many little details and told him to pick whatever he liked.

He had laughed softly. "Then I'll go with white roses. Mindy, I'm going to make sure you're the most beautiful bride in the world."

Those were the last words he ever spoke to me.

The officers asked if Jonah had been acting unusually before his disappearance.

I shook my head violently.

We had been together for six years. We were getting married in seven days. Lately, he had been busy handing out invitations, refining the reception schedule, and practicing his wedding vows in secret.

Just last night, he had warmed up a glass of milk for me before stepping out.

How could a man like that suddenly abandon his phone and his wedding ring beside a dark river?

When Jonah's mother arrived, she was so distraught she had put her shoes on backward. The moment she saw her son's car, she collapsed onto the muddy ground.

"Jonah! My boy!"

I forced myself to pull her into my arms. She clutched my arm with hysterical strength, her fingernails digging deep into my skin. "Mindy, you have to find him! He loves you more than anything, he would never abandon you!"

My throat felt choked with ash, but I nodded repeatedly to reassure her. "We'll find him, Mom. He'll be back in time for the wedding, I know he will."

She shook violently against me, weeping tears of agony.

My best friend, Tori, pulled off her raincoat and draped it over my shivering shoulders, giving me a tight squeeze. "Mindy, go sit in the car for a minute. We're all here. You can't break down first."

I shook my head. Jonah was missing. How could I possibly sit still?