Part 3End Of The Search

By the second day of Jonah's disappearance, the rain showed no signs of stopping.

The river swelled, forcing the rescue team to expand their search radius downstream.

The police pulled traffic camera footage from the highway. At one-seventeen in the morning, Jonah's car had entered Coastal Highway alone.

However, the spot where he parked was right next to a construction barrier, where a dirt path led down toward an abandoned freight dock.

That path had been decommissioned years ago and had zero security cameras.

The footage showed his car pulling in, but nobody ever saw how or where he left the vehicle.

Later that afternoon, the search team pulled a wet black leather shoe out of the muddy water downstream.

The moment Jonah's mother caught a glimpse of it, she wailed and threw herself toward it, crying that it belonged to Jonah.

I held that soaked, heavy shoe, my heart practically stopping in my chest.

Jonah had bought a brand-new pair of formal shoes just like this for our wedding.

I tried to break through the crowd to reach the water's edge, but Tori and Seth held me back in a vice grip.

"Mindy, calm down!" Tori yelled over the wind. "The shoe hasn't even been identified yet! What good does rushing into the mud do?"

I struggled until my arms throbbed with pain. "Let go of me! I have to look for him! He's terrified of deep water! If he fell in, he's scared out of his mind right now!"

Seth shouted at me with red, angry eyes, "Mindy, stop making a scene! The rescue crew is doing everything they can, going down there just gives them one more person to save!"

All the strength drained out of my limbs. I collapsed into the mud, sobbing until I couldn't catch my breath.

Tori dropped to her knees and pulled me into a tight embrace. "Mindy, look at me. Jonah promised to marry you, he wouldn't just leave you behind."

I clutched at her jacket, asking her over and over, "Why did he take off his wedding ring? Did he regret marrying me?"

Tori denied it fiercely. "How could he? Everyone knows how much he adores you! Maybe the ring just slipped off his finger when he opened the door."

I didn't have the heart to tell her that the ring hadn't slipped off. It had been placed upright, perfectly aligned right next to his phone.

It didn't look like an accident. It looked like a goodbye.

Over the past forty-eight hours, moments from the night before Jonah vanished kept flashing through my mind.

Before he left the house, he had hugged me for a very long time.

He had asked me, Mindy, if something unexpected happens on our wedding day, will you wait for me?

I had been buried in guest lists at the time, answering casually, Depends on what kind of unexpected thing.

Jonah had fallen silent for a moment, then leaned down to press a soft kiss against my hair. You'll wait. I know you will.

Thinking back on it now, those words felt like a jagged needle thrust into my chest, leaving me icy cold.

By evening, the shoe was officially confirmed not to belong to Jonah.

Everyone let out a collective breath of relief.

However, the emotional roller coaster proved too much for my future mother-in-law, and she fainted once again.

I had to leave the riverbank to accompany her to the hospital.

The doctor informed us it was severe physical and emotional exhaustion and advised plenty of rest.

Sitting by her hospital bed, she gripped my hand tightly. "Mindy, if anything terrible really happened to Jonah... I don't think I could go on living."

My nose stung with tears. "Mom, don't say that. You still have Seth."

She blinked, surprised for a second, before bursting into even heavier tears. "How could Seth be the same? Jonah has always been the most dutiful, caring son. You two were about to start a life together, how could fate be so cruel to us?"

I leaned down to tuck her blanket in securely. "Get some rest, Mom. I'll step out to buy you some warm soup."

Just as I pulled the door shut behind me, a loud text chime echoed from inside the room.

Her weeping stopped dead instantly.

Through the thin door panel, I caught her low, hushed voice saying something softly.

I couldn't hear the full sentence, but I distinctly caught a single name: Serena.