I Was the Unwanted Fifth in Their Life and Death Pact Chapter 10

Naomi cut him off, her tone clipped and professional.

“Sir, I’ll be deactivating this number soon and switching to a local mobile line. I picked up this call only to tell

you one thing.”

Evan’s fingers squeezed the edge of his phone.

“I’ve applied for permanent residency. I’m never returning. Don’t contact me again. Act like we’re strangers

from now on.”

Beep. The line went dead.

Evan stood frozen with the phone pressed to his ear, listening to the dead tone.

He sank to his knees on the polished airport floor.

Passengers walking by stared at him strangely, but he could no longer feel shame.

All he felt was a bone-deep cold that no warmth could touch.

Three years later, Naomi stood in a black evening gown beside her artwork inside an independent design

gallery along the river in Pallavia.

Her right leg had recovered remarkably after three years of rehabilitation.

Save for the worst storms, her limp was barely noticeable.

Soft lights filled the exhibition hall. A man walked over to her side.

He gently draped a custom-tailored coat over her shoulders.

“Tired? Want to head back to the lounge in the back for a minute?”

The man spoke English with a soft accent, his eyes full of affection.

Naomi turned to him and gave a quiet laugh.

“I’m alright. Once this reception wraps up, let’s go to that little bistro on the corner for steak.”

The man agreed gently and took her hand.

A brand-new ring sat on Naomi’s left ring finger.

Thousands of miles away, late at night, Evan sat inside a high-rise downtown apartment.

A row of empty liquor bottles lined the coffee table in front of him.

His phone lay faceup on the table, the Lifeline app open to a blank alert history.

Three years had passed, and that blaring red emergency alert had never appeared again.

He suffered from crippling insomnia night after night. Half-asleep, he often heard Naomi calling for him in

the rain.

Every time he jolted awake, only empty silence greeted him in the empty apartment.

Lily had been sentenced for solicitation of aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit murder.

But the verdict brought Evan no satisfaction-only a fresh wound that never healed.

He’d defended a criminal and driven the woman who loved him to the brink of death.

Ryan was far worse off.

He resigned from his executive position at the company and moved back into their old childhood house.

He hunted down every item that had once belonged to Naomi in her old room, putting everything back to create the illusion she was still there.

Every holiday, he cooked a full dinner of Naomi’s favorite foods.

Then he sat alone at the table, staring at the empty plate and silverware across from him.

Sometimes he talked to the empty room, calling for his sister-he was smiling, yet his face was wet.

Cole visited him occasionally. The two men drank in silence until they couldn’t speak. Both waiting for

someone who would never return.

Evan lifted the bottle and took a huge gulp of hard liquor.

The alcohol burned his throat, yet it could not warm his hollow, empty heart.

He stared out at the scattered city lights, suddenly remembering Naomi’s words from that hospital hallway

long ago.

“Don’t worry. I already cleared all of you.”

Yes. She’d given them chance after chance. They’d kept pushing her into the abyss, time and time again.

Now she’d climbed out of the darkness and built a new life.

And they would spend the rest of their lives trapped inside the regret they’d built with their own hands.

A breeze slipped through the slightly ajar window, stirring an old photograph resting on the table.

Evan didn’t reach for it. He closed his eyes, and the darkness swallowed him whole.

No one would grieve for him this time.