---- Chapter 5 Audrey had been right. It wasn't until Ricky unlocked the front door and stepped into the half-empty apartment that the panic truly set in. He rushed to the bedroom like a man possessed, only to find it even more barren than the living room. There was nothing. Not a trace that Summer had ever lived there. That was when it hit him. That day they fought-she hadn't come back to talk. She had come to pack her things. She was really gone. And she wasn't coming back. "Summer!" he shouted, again and again. But no voice answered him. His knees gave out beneath him, and he collapsed onto the floor. ---- At that moment, the doorbell rang. Like grabbing at the last flicker of light, he scrambled toward the entrance. "Summer, you're back-" But the person outside wasn't her. It was a stranger. A man. Ricky's expression changed instantly. He lunged forward and grabbed the man by the collar. "I know you! You met with my fiancée a few days ago and gave her a gift, didn't you? You've got some nerve showing up here! Where is she? Did she run off to your place with the baby? Bring her out!" The man stared at him, bewildered. "T think there's been a misunderstanding," he said, pulling out a document and handing it over. "Miss Olson left the funeral home in a hurry after picking up her mother's ashes. She forgot this. I came to deliver the cremation certificate." ---- Ricky's eyes went red as he took the paper, his hands shaking, head moving back and forth as if refusing the truth. "No... that's not possible... Summer's mother... died, and she didn't tell me? And the baby... we waited so long for that child. If he really died, why was she so calm?" The man looked at him, puzzled. "Are you asking me? Aren't you supposed to be her fiancé?" He shot Ricky a glare of disbelief and walked off. Silence returned to the house. He stood in the middle of the room, staring at everything he thought he knew, and suddenly, none of it felt familiar anymore. Sorrow and fear swallowed him whole. He thought of life before Summer. Those bleak, empty years. The loneliness. He didn't want to feel that again. He locked himself in the room, clinging to an old photo of her, downing drink after drink. If he could Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!