Chapter 9

It wasn’t until the next day that Louis returned. He pushed open the door, and the silence of the villa struck him as odd. He didn’t think much of it, assuming Cersei was still upset. He went straight upstairs.

“Cersei, are you still upset? I really had to deal with something at the office last night. To make it up to you, how about I dedicate the entire day to you today?”

He pushed open the bedroom door, his explanation hanging in the air. But silence was his only answer. The only sound was his own breath echoing in the empty space. The bed was neatly made—she wasn’t in it.

Walking further in, the bathroom was silent too. Clearly, she wasn’t there. Louis frowned, muttering to himself, “She must be really angry this time if she’s sleeping in another room.”

He turned and walked out, never noticing what had been placed on the nightstand. Opening the guest bedroom door, he called tentatively, “Cersei?” No response. She wasn’t there either.

This scene repeated many times. For the first time, Louis felt how enormous the mansion was, with so many rooms. Violet arrived just as he was pushing open the door to the last room. After yet another disappointment, uneasiness finally began to stir within him. If Cersei wasn’t home, where could she be?

He took out his phone and dialed her number. The phone rang for a long time, but until it disconnected automatically, there was no answer.

Seven Years of Obsession: Now I Don’t Even Remember Your Name

Her avoidance was obvious, but he refused to give up. Until he tried calling again and discovered, to his shock, that she had blocked him! A sense of foreboding rose within him, confirmed when he found himself blocked on every possible contact method.

He hurried back to the master bedroom and pulled open the closet. The wardrobe that once held both their clothes now contained only his suits, suggesting the final possibility. Cersei had truly left.

In that moment, he could no longer control his panic. Even his hands began to tremble as he muttered, “Impossible, how could this happen… She promised me that until the forgiveness cards were gone, she would never leave me. She can’t break her word!”

He turned to find the box containing the forgiveness cards, wanting to prove her betrayal. But as he turned, he saw it in an unexpected place. The dark wooden box sat quietly on the nightstand, with a document beneath it.

His heart told him not to look. It might be something he’d regret seeing. But his legs moved on their own, carrying him closer. Getting closer, Louis noticed a sticky note attached to the box. He peeled it off and the words burned into his vision:

[All one hundred forgiveness cards have been used up. Louis Harris, I once promised that as long as the cards remained, I would stay with you forever. But now, I’m leaving.]

All one hundred forgiveness cards used up? Impossible! He stared wide-eyed at the first sentence, instinctively ready to object. He remembered clearly. There were still over sixty cards left. There was no way they could have been used up so quickly!

Seven Years of Obsession. Now I Don’t Even Remember Your Name

In disbelief, he opened the wooden box. The once neatly stacked hundred forgiveness cards had all been reduced to fragments, confirming the note’s message. Still, Louis refused to believe it. She must have regretted it and torn them up herself. That couldn’t count! He started counting—calculating how many cards he’d actually used. His memories turned inside out as he started counting from the most recent card.