He Still Cared About Her
The entire house was quiet.
Sophia and Ethan were already asleep. Alison stayed in the children's room for a while before returning to the guest room.
She turned off the light; the low, tearful voice from that night echoed relentlessly in her mind.
Tossing and turning, she felt someone was watching her in the dim light.
She sat up and turned on the bedside lamp, but when she scanned the room, she saw nothing.
Where on earth is Jack now?
She put on some clothes and decided to check his room.
She gently turned the doorknob and pushed open the familiar door.
The room was silent. Moonlight streamed through the open curtains like silver gauze, casting a hazy glow that caused objects to appear and disappear in the dimness.
She touched the pillow where he slept and gazed at the pen he used. Each small object tugged at her heart. Finally, she moved to the window, sat on the carpet, and dialed Jack's number over and over.
Her eyes were fixed on the screen, foolishly waiting for his picking up.
Suddenly, the ringing stopped abruptly, and an eerie silence filled the air.
It stunned Alison for a while before she realized that he might have picked up.
"Jack... Jack, is that you?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
"Tell me where you are. Let me be with you, okay? I miss you, Jack.”
"Come home, Jack. The kids miss you, too.”
"Jack, if you don't say something now, I'm going to do something stupid and take your child with me." She snapped, leaping up from the carpet and rushing to the window.
Silence still hung heavy on the line.
Struggling to climb onto the windowsill, she shouted into the phone, "Jack, I'm standing right here at the window of your old room in the ancestral home. I'm really climbing onto the windowsill. If you don't say something, I'll jump right now. I mean it.”
Once she was finally standing on the windowsill, gasping for breath, she said, "If you don't believe me, have the estate's security come see if I'm really here. I'll count down. If you still don't speak up, I'll jump."
Yet, silence remained her only response.
"Ten, nine, eight... four..." With each number she counted, her heart pounded harder. "Two, one..."
Her legs were already outside the window, and her entire body was perched on the ledge beyond the glass.
"Goodbye, jack," she whispered, closing her eyes to embrace the impending end.
Just then, Jack's voice cut through the air. "Stop, Alison."
She froze instantly.
"Get back inside. Don't do anything foolish."
"Are you watching me?" Her gaze darted toward the window.
"Alison, listen to me. Get back inside first, and then we can talk properly.” His voice was gentle yet urgent, coaxing her.
"Fine, I'll go back in. But you have to tell me where you are. Otherwise, I'll find another way out."
"Be careful. Don't rush, Alison. Hold onto the window frame tightly,” he reminded her.
She cautiously returned to the room.
Suddenly, as she leaped off the windowsill, she saw a faint glow flickering on the road outside the courtyard of the ancestral home—what appeared to be a cigarette butt.
She immediately grabbed her phone and dashed out of the room, sprinting in that direction without hesitation.
"Jack, where are you? I miss you so much,” she shouted as she ran.
Her slippers fell off one after the other during her sprint, but she ignored them, continuing barefoot.
When she reached the main gate, panting heavily, the security guard on duty looked at her in surprise.
"Ma'am, are you all right?" he asked.