He Broke Me Quietly, So I Left Quietly Chapter 04

He Broke Me Quietly, So I Left Quietly Chapter 04

The next evening, at the charity gala.

Liam held my hand and introduced me to everyone.

“This is my fiancée, Elara Carter.”

I kept a polite smile on my face the whole time.

Then, at the peak of the gala, all the lights in the room went dark. A single spotlight shone down on the two of us.

Every guest turned to look.

Liam pulled a velvet ring box from his suit pocket and slowly lowered himself to one knee.

But before he could say a word, his phone went off with a special ringtone. It was the sound he had set just for Mia.

In the middle of the silent crowd, he instinctively pulled out his phone.

The moment he looked at the screen, his face changed.

“Elara, Mia cut her wrist while cutting fruit at her apartment. She’s bleeding a lot. And she’s afraid of the sight of blood!”

He snapped the ring box shut and stood up. He gave my shoulder a quick, distracted pat.

“Stay put and smooth things over with the guests. I’ll be back shortly.”

With that, he didn’t even look at me again. He pushed through the crowd and rushed out of the banquet hall without a second glance.

Hundreds of eyes fell on me, full of pity.

I stood alone under that bright spotlight and watched his figure disappear through the doors.

Then I turned calmly, walked off the stage, and went into the lounge.

I took off my tight high heels and put on the flats I had brought with me.

I pulled out my phone and checked the time.

Eight o’clock.

My flight was about to leave.

I pushed open the back door of the lounge and stepped out into the night.

Ten o’clock that night.

Liam sat on the sofa, watching the private doctor bandage the shallow cut on Mia’s wrist.

Mia leaned against his shoulder and cried.

“Liam, I’m so sorry to be a burden again.”

Liam comforted her, but his gaze kept darting toward his phone.

I hadn’t sent him a single message.

That wasn’t normal.

In the past, whenever he left me behind for Mia, I would call and text him nonstop to confront him.

This odd silence put a knot in his stomach.

Then his phone buzzed.

The caller ID showed his assistant.

Liam answered immediately, his voice sharp.

“I told you to go find Elara in the lounge. Did you find her?”

Panic was clear in the assistant’s voice.

“Mr. Bennett, Ms. Carter isn’t in the VIP lounge. I just ran a check on her personal records, and there’s something you need to know…”

“What? Quit beating around the bush!”

Liam’s brows pulled together. A sinking sense of dread washed over him.

“Ms. Carter rushed through an overseas visa application. And she booked a one-way ticket to Veria for tonight. By my calculation, the flight took off fifteen minutes ago—”

Liam shot to his feet.

“Liam? What’s wrong?” Mia jumped at his sudden movement.

He ignored her and kept calling my phone.

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service.”

The recording echoed through the quiet apartment.

Just then, the TV cut to breaking news.

“Breaking news: A flight bound for the capital of Varia departed at 9:45 p.m. Moments after takeoff, it flew into a severe thunderstorm and lost all contact with ground crews.”

Liam stared blankly at the news report.

Veria. The war-torn country I had always wanted to visit. The country he had always stopped me from going to, saying it was too dangerous.

His hands trembled as he dialed the airline’s customer service number.

“Can you pull up the flight’s passenger manifest? Please tell me if Elara Carter is listed.”

There was a brief silence on the line.

“Sir, Ms. Elara Carter is indeed listed as a passenger on that flight.”