Goodbye Saintess (by Edelweiss W.S.) novel Chapter 8

He was here once?” Hera repeated.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Give me the spare keycard. I want to check the room.”

She moved with purpose and unlocked the door. What was that man planning now?

Hera scanned the room. None of the hotel’s amenities showed any signs of use. No evidence suggested anyone had lived here.

It was true, then. Sebastian had stayed only briefly before leaving. But why had he come here at all? For his suitcase?

Hera realized she had overlooked that his suitcase was gone. Then, her eyes fixed on a familiar laptop—hers.

“There you are,” she murmured. Her gaze shifted to something resting on top. A letter.

The word “Farewell” was written on it. Its message was obvious.

“So this is your latest stunt, Sebastian? No calls or texts, ignoring my calls, leaving a farewell letter, and then disappearing on me?” Hera sneered. “Pathetic.”

She tossed the letter into the bin without reading it.

He could vanish all he wanted. Hera doubted he had the nerve to stay away forever. Besides, this worked in Bobby’s favor too. She wanted Sebastian gone for now. Whether he holed up in the hotel or somewhere else made no difference.

She pulled a chair from the table and started working on her laptop.

…

Hours passed. Dusk settled over the sky. Hera stood, stretched, and checked her phone.

The only messages came from Edmund—covertly flirtatious texts. No sign of Sebastian.

“He’s really going all in on this?” Hera muttered.

She ignored Edmund’s texts and scrolled through her conversation with Sebastian. His last message was days old.

Sebastian: [There’s a hotel that’s on fire! I have to help out!]

Sebastian: [What would you like to have for dinner? I’ll buy the ingredients from the grocers once I’m done with my assignment!]

Sebastian: [Don’t worry about me, okay?]

The hotel fire was how Sebastian found out about Edmund and Bobby. After that, he stopped messaging her altogether. Hera hadn’t replied to a single one of his texts anyway.

Still, she felt strangely adrift. His concern, always tucked into those messages, had become a constant she didn’t realize she’d come to expect. Without it, something felt off.

She stared at her phone, growing increasingly irritated.

“Whatever,” she muttered.

The screen went black.

Her eyes drifted back to the farewell letter in the trash. Just a few hours ago, she hadn’t cared what it said. Now, her curiosity swelled.

“Fine. I’ll bite. Let’s see how much effort you’ve put into this latest charade,” she grumbled, fishing the letter out of the bin.

Sebastian’s handwriting jumped out at her. As she read, her shock only deepened.

Sebastian’s determination was unmistakable. His words struck her like a hammer pounding her chest. She felt suffocated, her throat tightening.

When she finally regained control, she grabbed her phone and called him again.

“Listen! This isn’t what you think! Yes, I had some kind of relationship with Edmund in the past. But that doesn’t mean I cheated after we married!” she babbled to herself as she waited for the call to connect. “How dare you throw this at me, Sebastian? You can’t decide if the marriage is over on your own. This is a partnership! How dare you disrespect me like this?”

She was panicking, but why? She hadn’t done anything that counted as cheating.

How could he just leave without a word, acting like some hotshot? Sebastian used to share everything with her. He always sought her counsel and opinion. Even knowing why he changed didn’t make it acceptable.

She remembered he had gone on a dangerous assignment. Now, he wasn’t answering.

Her panic grew. Her heart raced. “He shouldn’t be offline this long. No mission lasts this long… Is he… still alive?”

She kept calling, but none of her calls went through.

She switched to calling her assistant.

“Good evening, ma’am. How can I help?”

“Morgan, search for any fire or natural disaster reports from the past few days. I need details on their severity and which city fire teams responded. Focus on the Beta Team—that’s Sebastian’s.” Her heart pounded harder. “Do it quickly, Morgan. I want a report as soon as possible.”

“Understood.”

Morgan stared at his phone, confused. This was the second time today he’d seen his employer act strangely. She had never shown concern for fires or firefighting in the city before.

He began pulling up information, muttering, “My boss is acting a little off, huh?”