Love Too Late, Ashes Too Soon

Chapter 4

"What?!" Frank shot to his feet, knocking over the table and chairs with a loud crash.

"You've got to be kidding me!" His face drained of all color. "I handpicked that equipment myself, it was built with every safety feature imaginable! I know the power was cut when I left. How could anything have possibly happened?"

His voice dropped cold as ice. "You're all working with her, aren't you? Trying to scare me with some elaborate stunt?" He scoffed, brushing past them. "Fine. I'll see for myself what kind of drama she's cooking up this time."

When he got to the cafeteria, the hallway was lined with pale, trembling employees. No one dared move.

Frank's eyes narrowed. "Why are you just standing here? Don't you have work to do?"

He waved a hand, ordering someone to unlock the door.

The moment it creaked open, a wave of rancid air hit him. His nose wrinkled. "What the hell is that smell? What, did the cleaning crew skip their job today?"

No one answered. Their horrified stares were locked on a large, industrial steamer, chained shut.

Even before seeing what was inside, my chest tightened with grief. The pain of my final moments clawed at me, making it hard to breathe.

I whimpered and drifted closer, longing for just one glimpse of my poor child.

Frank stepped forward slowly, his expression unreadable. He reached out to touch the metal lid, then snatched his hand back with a hiss.

"Pfft." He let out a dry laugh. "I knew Autumn was bluffing again. Still pulling her same old tricks."

"It's cold," he muttered. "Told you. It's got a safety valve, power's been off for hours."

He rapped the metal lightly and said with derision, "Autumn, ready to admit you were wrong yet?"

I smiled bitterly in the shadows. How could I answer? I wasn't even alive anymore.

But something in Frank's expression faltered. His hands shook slightly as he reached up to unhook the latch and open the steamer.

Inside was a shape, wrapped in a white cloth. Vague. Bloodstained.

He froze.

Time dragged. Then, as if forcing himself to move, he reached out and slowly peeled back the cloth,

"AHH!" A shriek rang out from behind, it was Jennifer.

She stumbled in, face twisted in exaggerated disgust. "Ew! What a sick joke!" she cried, covering her nose. "Did Sister Autumn really go that far just to scare people? It's obviously just… rotting pork!"

She clung to Frank, trembling. "She's always so dramatic, nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Frank blinked, as if waking from a daze. Anger surged back into his face. He shoved the lid open fully and kicked the steamer over. It clattered and rolled into the drainage trench.

"So now you're using meat to pull your little horror shows, huh? Lies. That's all you've ever known." He pointed at the puddle seeping toward the drain. "Trying to guilt-trip me with this stunt? I've had it!"

"I've let you off too easy, and now you think you can keep testing me."

He turned to his men, voice like thunder. "Call the police. Report Autumn for stealing company secrets and causing serious financial losses. Since scaring her didn't fix her lying, maybe jail time will."

I watched, numb, as the small bloodied bundle was swallowed by the drain.

"NO!!" I screamed. I lunged forward, only to watch it pass through my ghostly hands and vanish with a soft splash, my baby, gone forever into the sewers.

I wailed, broken. The pain cracked through me like lightning. All I could feel was cruelty. Mockery. Absurdity.

My body was right there in front of him. And yet, he still chose to believe Jennifer's ridiculous lies.

He wouldn't even bury our child.

This was the man I had loved for years. The one I had sacrificed everything for.

People like him… people who trample on sincerity… they deserve to choke on regret.

Frank, you'll pay for this.

Still fuming, Frank barked again, "What are you waiting for? I said call the damn police!"

But his subordinate, pale as a corpse, raised a trembling hand and pointed at the drain.

"Sir… that wasn't a prank. That really was… your wife. And your baby…"