CHAPTER 109: WHERE IS SYLVIA?

The silence of the condo pressed down on him.

No trace of Sylvia.

Not even a sign she had ever been there. Her clothes were untouched, her suitcase still lying in the corner of the bedroom. That could only mean one thing—she hadn’t left for good.

Most likely, she was staying in someone else’s condo for the night.

But who?

He knew she didn’t have any close friends she could run to. Which left only one possibility.

Maybe... she was with Daniel at that very moment.

Rome dragged a hand down his face, pacing the living room restlessly.

His mind refused to stop spinning, images of Sylvia with Daniel flashing one after another.

The thought of her in Daniel’s arms made his chest burn with anger.

"Damn it, Sylvia..." he muttered, slamming his fist into the sofa. The sharp pain that shot through his knuckles barely registered.

He pulled out his phone, hovering over her number, but stopped.

What if she didn’t answer? What if she really was with Daniel? He wasn’t sure he could bear the pain.

Instead, he dialed another contact.

"Sup—" came a lazy, groggy voice.

"Check Daniel’s condo." he ordered the moment the line picked up.

"Oh, come on, man. It’s the middle of the night, and you’re calling me while I was having a damn good dream—"

"I don’t care how late it is. Find out if she’s there."

"Damn... and who is this Sylvia again? Your lost pet or your girlfriend? Hahaha—"

"I’m not joking. Find out for yourself who she is in my life. Bye."

He hung up without another word. The pit in his stomach only deepened as the minutes crawled by with no reply.

He couldn’t sit still. He snatched up his car keys, ready to storm out, when a sudden buzz rattled his phone.

A new message.

– She’s not at Daniel’s. His place is empty. Note: you better pay me well for this. Had to dig around to figure out who she is to you. Turns out she’s your ex, man.

He ignored the last part, his pulse quickening.

Not at Daniel’s. Then where the hell was she?

Before he could think further, another memory clawed at him. There was another man aside from Daniel. Could it be that foreign man?

No. It couldn’t be.

But what if it was?

What if Sylvia wasn’t with Daniel at all... What if she had chosen to be with that man instead?

"Damn it..." He cursed under his breath as he dialed the same contact again.

"Damn it, what is it this time, man—"

"Find out who the hell is with Sylvia right now. Trace her location. And Daniel’s too. I want to know exactly where they both are."

"Damn... don’t tell me Daniel stole your girl? What a dork—"

"Tch. Don’t say a thing. Just find her."

"Haist, man. Okay, okay. I’ll find her. But you better pay me ten times for this—"

Rome didn’t let him finish. He ended the call and sank hard into the sofa, dragging both hands down his face.

Why had he even let Sylvia and Daniel leave in the first place? Was it because a part of him was still hoping she’d come back to his condo because despite everything, she might still choose him?

What if Sylvia had only been waiting earlier, waiting for him to chase her, even while she was in Daniel’s arms?

Was she testing him, waiting to see if he would come for her or not?

Damn it...

His mind spun with too many what-ifs until he almost didn’t notice the string of messages buzzing on his phone.

- I just confirmed Daniel’s location. Seems like your girl has another man aside from him. Daniel is in the hospital right now, beaten up by the men of some foreign guy I couldn’t fully identify. Don’t know his name or much else yet. But here’s what I do know. After Daniel got trashed, your ex went with that rich-looking foreigner.

– From the hacked CCTV footage I got, it doesn’t look like kidnapping. She went with him willingly, like she knew him. After that, I lost track of where they went. Anyway... I know you’re hurting, but my hands are hurting too from typing all this, so make sure you pay me well for the effort.

Rome stared at the message, his grip on the phone tightening.

Sylvia... with someone else? Not Daniel, but another man entirely?

His chest constricted, the air clawing at his throat as though the room had shrunk around him.

"No..." he whispered, shaking his head. "No, she wouldn’t..."

But she had, she had gone with that man willingly.

Rome clenched his fists until his nails dug painfully into his palms. "Sylvia... why..."

In desperation, he grabbed his phone and called her, but the line kept cutting off before it even rang. He tried again and again, only for the same result.

Frustrated, he messaged her on every social media account he could think of, but each attempt ended the same way, blocked. She had cut him off completely.

With a sharp, guttural laugh, he hurled the phone across the room, the sound of it clattering against the floor.

"Haha... why..." His voice cracked as he sank into the silence.

Why wasn’t he enough?

----

Days bled into nights, and nights dragged into days, yet Rome remained in the condo, waiting.

At first, he convinced himself Sylvia only needed time, that she was angry, and that she would come back once she cooled off. He left the living room light on every night, hoping it would guide her home.

His phone never left his side, waiting for a message, a call, anything that would prove she had not truly abandoned him.

But the silence pressed harder, suffocating him with every hour that passed.

Every knock at the door, every vibration of his phone made his chest leap with hope, only to collapse when it was never her.

One day turned into two, two became three, and then a week, yet still there was no Sylvia.

His reflection in the mirror grew worse each morning, bloodshot eyes stared back at him, his jaw unshaven, and shadows etched deep into his face.

He barely ate, he barely slept, living only on the fragile thread of hope that maybe tomorrow she would return.

But the longer he waited, the more that hope withered, and the more the thought took root in his chest that maybe she really had chosen someone else.

The thought gutted him, tearing through whatever strength he had left, and yet, no matter how much it consumed him, he couldn’t let go.

Every night he sat on the sofa, eyes locked on the door, whispering the same lie to himself, she’ll come back, she has to.

But deep down, he was starting to realize that she wasn’t coming back at all.

At last, he reached his breaking point.

Enough.

If Sylvia wouldn’t return, then he would face Daniel himself.

He stormed out of his condo and drove straight to Daniel’s place, but what greeted him there made his vision darken with rage.

Through the half-open door of Daniel’s condo, he saw him—Daniel, lips pressed against another woman’s neck, his hands gripping her tightly as if he owned her.

Daniel didn’t even bother to lock his door, almost as if he didn’t care who might see.

Rome’s chest heaved with fury. This... this was the man Sylvia liked?

The woman’s eyes widened in shock when she noticed him, and he recognized her instantly. She was one of the daughters of their company’s investors.

She tried to pull away, but Daniel only tightened his grip, keeping her pinned as if his presence meant nothing.

Grinding his teeth, Rome took a step forward, his rage spilling out of him.

So soon after leaving the hospital, Daniel was already with another woman. He really was a jerk.

"Where is Sylvia?" His voice came out low and dark, almost a growl.

Daniel, still smirking, gave the woman one last kiss before finally glancing at him. He raised a brow, unbothered, as if his presence were just a joke.

"And why the hell would I know where she went?"

For a second, something flickered across Daniel’s face, an edge of annoyance and guilt—but it quickly twisted into a cruel grin.

"I don’t keep track of the women I sleep with. Why would I care where she is? Maybe she’s already gone off with another man—"

Before he could finish, Rome lunged forward.

His hand fisted into Daniel’s collar as his other swung hard against Daniel’s jaw, the sound of the impact cracking through the room as the woman shrieked in shock.

Rome’s rage boiled over, every ounce of betrayal and despair exploding in that moment, and he didn’t care about anything else anymore.

How could Sylvia have ever chosen a man like this?

Daniel didn’t fight back, even as his fists landed on him again and again. Instead, the grin on his face only widened, mocking him.

That made him snap. He shoved Daniel hard, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Daniel wiped the blood trickling from his lip with the back of his hand, and for the first time, his expression darkened.

"Are you done?" he scoffed. "No matter how much rage you throw at me, Sylvia will never come back to you. She slept with me before, and trust me, she was really good—"

Before he could finish, he lunged at him again, yanking Daniel up by the collar and holding him tightly, his vision clouding with fury.

"Don’t lie to me! Just tell me where Sylvia went, you bastard!"

But Daniel’s lips only curled into another cruel smile.