The police held him back. “Sir, please, you can’t go closer yet—”
“Move!” he snarled, thrashing against their grip, his eyes wild, desperate. “I need to see her!”
An officer stepped forward, his voice grim. “Mr. Blackwood… the victim’s identification confirms it. It’s Seraphina Reyes. We’re still waiting for DNA results, but the documents and belongings recovered—everything matches her.”
Dominic’s face twisted, his jaw tight. “No. No, that’s not her. That can’t be her!” His voice broke into a near-hysterical shout. “Do you hear me? That’s not Seraphina! She can’t die like this. She—she doesn’t just disappear!”
“Sir—”
“Find her!” he roared, his body shaking with fury and fear. “Look again! Do you hear me? She’s not dead! She wouldn’t leave me like this!”
But the sheet did not move. The stillness of the body beneath was an answer crueler than any words.
For hours, Dominic refused to leave the site. He paced, cursed, shouted at the officers, clung to denial as though it could keep her alive. But then, as dawn crept pale across the horizon, the truth arrived.
DNA confirmed.
Seraphina Reyes.
Dominic’s knees buckled. He fell, his palms smacking the wet pavement, his tears streaming without shame. A raw sound tore from his throat, half-scream, half-sob. His body shook violently, as though the world had ripped him apart.
“Seraphina!” he cried, voice breaking. “Seraphina, come back! You can’t do this to me!”
The officers gave him space, but their silence was heavy. The truth hung there, undeniable, crushing.
Rage replaced grief. Dominic staggered to his feet, his face wet with tears, his voice cracking as he demanded, “Where is the driver?! Who did this to her?!”
“The truck driver fled,” an officer admitted. “We’re still searching. A warrant has been issued—”
“Not enough!” Dominic bellowed. His hands balled into fists, trembling with fury. “I want him dragged to me in chains! Do you hear me? I’ll pay—reward money, as much as it takes! Triple, quadruple, I don’t care! Bring him to me, or I’ll destroy every one of you for failing her!”
The police tried to calm him, but he shoved them aside, his grief morphing into wild obsession. “Put him in jail! Let him rot! He killed her—he killed my Seraphina—” His voice cracked again, collapsing into sobs.