Sleep eluded me. I tossed and turned while Mathias never returned to the bedroom.
The next day, at the engagement banquet, Mathias appeared distracted.
His attention drifted, and when his friends congratulated him, he barely reacted, a stark contrast to the eager, confident man he had been in front of the cameras just days ago.
His friends exchanged knowing glances, their eyes betraying a silent understanding. The whole world seemed to know who this engagement was really for.
Suddenly, a shout pierced the air.
"A fire has broken out in the Maplewood Heights apartments!"
I froze. I recognized the name immediately. Nathalia lived in Maplewood Heights.
Mathias snapped, his hand lashing out to grab the speaker by the collar.
"Where did you say the fire was?!"
The guest recoiled, visibly shaken, fumbling for their phone to show the footage.
"Maplewood Heights."
The video was blurry, but there, standing at the balcony’s edge, was a delicate, fragile figure swaying like a ghost in the wind.
"All the other residents have been evacuated, except for one woman… still trapped inside…"
Before the guest could even finish the sentence, Mathias was already charging for the exit.
The engagement banquet descended into chaos, a whirlwind of uncertainty.
I didn’t think; my body moved on its own, following Mathias into the car, driven by something beyond reason.
The silence in the car was suffocating. He dialed the number again and again, his fingers trembling with urgency.
Once. Twice. Three times.
It wasn’t until the seventy-eighth call that the line finally connected.
Mathias’s hand shook so violently that his phone almost slipped from his grip. His voice cracked, raw with desperation.
"Nathalia, where are you? Why won’t you answer? Do you want me to die?!"
I had never seen him so broken, so utterly lost. It squeezed at my chest, a tight, painful knot I couldn’t ignore.
The chaos on the other end was overwhelming, debris crashing, screams echoing through the phone, while Nathalia’s voice remained eerily calm.
"Mathias, I can’t forget you. But you’re about to marry someone else."
"I can’t watch you belong to another."
"So… don’t come looking for me. If I die in this fire, it won’t hurt as much."
The moment she spoke, a deafening crash shook the line, the sound of a beam collapsing.
"No! No!"
Mathias was nearly losing himself, his voice breaking under the weight of his panic.