Reborn, Reawakened, Rekindled novel Chapter 255

When I heard the news, I immediately pulled over.

"How could he just disappear?" I began to worry. Guilt for Russel began to flood my heart like a tidal wave.

Chloe was on the verge of tears. "I don't know; he had a row with his family three days ago and then vanished. We can't find him."

Knowing Russel, he wasn't the type to just up and leave. So I figured the fight he had with his family three days ago must've been intense enough to push him to this.

Because of my messed-up decisions, Russel was put under a lot of stress and pain.

My anxiety was skyrocketing; if anything happened to him, I wouldn't be able to handle the blame.

"I'll try to get in touch with him; you guys keep looking for him at his old apartment and the hospital he used to work at." I responded.

Chloe choked out a ‘thank you’ and hung up the phone.

I was in no mood to go to the office; right now the most pressing matter was finding Russel.

I tried calling Russel, but his phone was off. He didn't respond to any of the messages and video calls I sent him on WhatsApp; it was as if he had just vanished from the face of the earth.

Then I drove to his old apartment. Russel had given me a key card and the password to his place, so I dug out the card from my car and headed straight to his apartment.

I opened the door and looked in the apartment, but I still found no sign of Russel. There was even a layer of dust on the furniture.

After looking for him for a while, I rushed to the hospital where Russel used to work, but still no luck.

By nightfall, I was still clueless.

I gave Mitch a call and told him about Russel's disappearance, asking him to lend a hand in the search.

"Alright, I'll try to get in touch with him." Mitch might not have been in touch with Russel recently, but they used to be tight. He wouldn't just shrug it off.

At the end of the day, it was all because of me. I caused the rift between Russel and Neil, pushing him away from his best friend.

As I thought about it, guilt and regret began to wash over me. I didn't want to hold Russel back and didn't want him to waste his time on me, but the outcome was still the same. I ended up hurting him.

It was totally unfair for such a great guy to have to endure all this stress and pain just because he liked me.

I sat in my car, feeling lost. What should I do? Or rather, what could I do to make up for the hurt I caused Russel?

I got lost in my thoughts as tears silently rolled down my cheeks. I was oblivious until my phone rang, bringing me back to reality and making me wipe the tears off my face.

It was a call from Neil.

"Russel's missing?" Neil asked as soon as I picked up.

"Yeah, his family hasn't been able to get in touch with him for three days." My voice choked up as soon as I opened my mouth.

Neil remained silent on the other end of the line, and after a while, he asked calmly, "You're so worried about him that you're crying?"

I took a deep breath. "Yes, I'm really worried about him. You've been friends with him since you were kids; aren't you worried about him?"

Neil scoffed on the other end of the line. "He wasn't nice to me before."

I was speechless. From a moral standpoint, Russel liking me did indeed hurt Neil, since I was Neil's ex-wife.

Choosing to date Russel was like a slap in the face to Neil; with his ego, he definitely wouldn't be able to take it.