A Vengeful Ex-Wife novel Chapter 10

Staring at the coded lock, Maria decided to try the original password, the one she set six years ago. If that didn't work, she would have to resort to other methods. The password was 361110. March 6th was Arthur's birthday, and November 10th was James'.

To her surprise, after entering all six digits, she heard a happy beep. She tried the heavy door, and was overjoyed to find it unlocked.

Her hands trembled in midair. She stood at the door to the living room, frozen, like a statue. She came prepared. There were many tools in her backpack, one of which could be used to hack into the electronic lock, but it seemed that she had brought them in vain.

Suddenly, she experienced the pangs of regret. If she had known earlier the passcode had remained unchanged, she never would have sacrificed her dignity and asked James for permission to come here. She would have simply done it. Everything she did —meeting with James, bearing the insults, and drinking those bottles of liquor—was meant to bring her to this point.

When Maria snapped out of her reverie, she knew what she had to do next.

She stowed her backpack by the door, and took a flashlight from it. She shed her shoes, and walked into the living room barefoot.

The flashlight's beam zigzagged around the silent room. Maria looked around carefully. At first glance, it seemed that it hadn't changed a bit, but there were subtle changes that she gradually picked up on.

The huge photo she hung on the wall, taken when Arthur was a month old, was gone.

All the furniture was covered with white dust covers. Maria reached out and touched a corner. Dust now clung to her fingers. She could tell that no one had been here for a long, long time.

Stepping on the cold floor, Maria walked to a corner of the living room. There used to be a cabinet there, but it, too, was gone.

Six years ago, Arthur had an accident there. She heard his screams, she saw the blood on the floor.

The tragic scene replayed in Maria's mind again. She clenched the flashlight in her hand, breathing faster and faster. Sweat beaded her forehead, and it felt like her heart might burst.

In a trance, she saw Arthur again, and his adorable smile. His voice calling her "Mommy" echoed in her ears.

Maria stretched out her hand and called softly, "Arthur... Mommy's back." She saw Arthur stretch out his chubby arms for a hug. "Arthur, I miss you so much!"

She wanted to touch the boy's face, but he disappeared in the blink of an eye.

There was only empty floor in front of her. Arthur's voice was gone again. She was surrounded by oppressive silence.

Maria covered her aching heart with her hands, tears streaming down her lovely face. 'Arthur, my Arthur!'

After a long time, Maria pulled herself together and walked up the stairs with heavy steps.

Not much had changed on the second floor. She walked barefoot along the soft carpet to the door of the innermost room. It was the master bedroom, the very room she gazed at from the villa gate the first night she was back in town.

Maria put her hand on the doorknob and gently opened the door.

The spacious bedroom seemed empty, despite the furnishings.

The big bed in the middle sported a dust cover. The baby crib beside the bed and the wedding photo of her and James on the wall six years ago were also missing.

Although this room was the master bedroom, Maria had spent most of her time with Arthur in here. She could still smell the scent that her boy emitted. Or was it her imagination? Maria walked to the room opposite to the master bedroom. That was supposed to be Arthur's room, but he never used it.

The decor of the room was the same as it was six years ago, the wallpaper festooned with little cartoon animals. But the photos had been taken down, and Arthur's crib was moved in here. Maria looked around carefully and found all the photos of hers and Arthur had been placed in a box.

Opening it, Maria picked up one photo. It was of her late son. Tears welled in her eyes. She covered her mouth tightly and tried hard not to cry.

'Arthur, Mommy's here. I miss you so much!'

Six months had passed since James was last here. He could remember closing the door himself when he left. No one else had been here without his permission. He started looking around, wondering.

However, at that exact moment, Maria's eyes snapped open. She was almost asleep, but she could tell something wasn't quite right. She sensed that someone was outside the door. Maria sat up silently.

'It's 1 a.m. Who would come here this late?' she wondered.

She could hear the doorknob turning slowly. Maria didn't have time to guess who it was. She quickly got out of bed and hid behind the thick curtain, leaving her thin quilt and a pillow on the ginormous bed.

Fortunately Maria hadn't closed the curtain before she went to bed, because she didn't want to attract the guards' attention. Sunlight would be her alarm clock. She was as quiet as a mouse, senses on high alert and her body tense. She held her breath and tried to make herself invisible.

The mysterious visitor opened the door. But he didn't come in. His eagle-eyed gaze swept across the room. He saw no one there, but he smelt a faint fragrance.

He sniffed. 'Perfume? A woman?'

Then he walked in and noticed the dust cover on the big bed had been removed. Under the moonlight from the window, he could see the rumpled pillow and the quilt. It was obvious someone had been using the bed.

The man walked towards the bed quietly. His face exposed gradually under the moonlight. It turned out to be James. 'Where is she?' He felt the bed and it was still warm. That meant the intruder couldn't have gone far.

He also couldn't figure out how long the occupant had been here. She was able to hear him even on that soft carpet. That meant he wasn't dealing with any run-of-the-mill intruder.

The man's lips curved into an unfathomable smile in the darkness. He noticed the window was still closed, and there wasn't much in the way of furniture, which meant the person was probably still here.

James kept searching and his sharp eyes finally fell on the curtain at the corner. That was the only place they could be hiding. He stopped moving forward. Being certain where the person was, he was not in a hurry to make the next move. He had to be patient, like a snake stalking a mouse.

Behind the thick curtain, Maria couldn't see a thing. She tried listening to figure out whether he was still there, but she could only hear her pounding heart. Her nerves were on edge and her mouth was dry.