Chapter 9

Eugene waited until Cassandra's condition had stabilized before leaving the hospital. As he walked, he texted Nerissa and asked her whether everything had been prepared for the wedding. He also told her he was on the way to the hotel. However, he didn't receive a reply even after getting into the car. He unlocked his phone to ask her again when he suddenly realized it had been two weeks since their last text conversation. He scrolled upward to see that most of the messages were from Nerissa. Sometimes, she'd ask him what he'd eaten or what he wanted to eat. Sometimes, it was a question about the wedding. In response, he'd answered with a "Whatever", "You decide", or "Anything's fine". That hadn't deterred Nerissa, though. She'd continued to text him daily. However, they hadn't texted each other for the past two weeks. That struck Eugene as odd. Why hadn't Nerissa texted him in so long? He couldn't help thinking of the utter disbelief in Nerissa's eyes when he'd told her a month ag