The Vanished Bride novel Chapter 7

7 /10

Chase couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that something had happened to me. He slammed the car door shut, frustration boiling over as he dialed my number again. The automated message coldly reminded him that my phone was off.

He pulled out his phone and opened his messaging app. Right at the top of his chat list was my sister, Nicole. I noticed he had added a heart emoji next to her name. I used to hold that spot as his pinned chat, but two years back, I found out she had replaced me.

The guy who once called her annoying had started addressing her as Nicole. Guilt flickered in his eyes when I asked him about it, but he brushed it off with a fancy excuse and accused me of being overly sensitive and confrontational.

Ever since Nicole returned to the Kennedy family three years ago, she’d been making my life miserable. Her manipulative charm convinced our parents and even my brother that I was the villainous sister. They all seemed to despise me.

I thought Chase was different. We grew up together. He knew me better than anyone else—or so I thought.

But he silently changed, too.

He started looking at me the way everyone else did. The signs were there all along. Chase had drifted away long before, but I stubbornly clung to the past.

Chase scrolled quickly through his messaging app, overwhelmed by messages from friends and family reacting to the news of his runaway bride. After some effort, he finally found my chat.

He opened it to see my last message to him.

Amanda: [Chase, we need to talk.]

Chase stared at the message, lost in thought. After a while, he hit the voice message button:

"Amanda, where are you? I've told you not to play these games. We're now married! Why are you making things difficult with Nicole? Do you have any idea how upset she was yesterday?"

"If you come back now, I'll let what happened last night slide."

After sending these messages, he tossed his phone aside. His assistant, catching a glimpse of his weary and worried expression in the rearview mirror, cautiously suggested, "Mr. Reyes, your wife is usually pretty sensible. She didn't lose her cool even when you left her at the wedding venue yesterday. I doubt she’d play such a serious prank that could involve the police. Maybe we should go look for her?"

"Do you know her well?"

"No, Mr. Reyes. I just think she’s been through a lot."

"She’s gone through a lot?" He scoffed, a hint of mockery in his voice. "She loves playing the victim and always trying to grab attention with her antics. Fine, if you’re not busy, send someone to Ruby River. Maybe they can fish her out."