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409words
A foul stench filled the air.
His confusion turned to horror, his face paling.
He turned to the trembling maid.
"This is what Claire sent?"
"Where is she?"
"Madam...didn't come. A courier dropped it at the gate."
Hearing this, James panicked.
He dialed my number repeatedly, met only with a" phone off" message.
Ellen grabbed his sleeve, soothing.
"James, don't be mad at Claire."
"She's probably upset you blamed her, so she sent this to gross out your parents."
"I'll have it cleaned up."
She turned to the maid.
"Throw out this filth—it stinks."
"Don't touch it!"
James shoved Ellen's hand away.
She fell, her eyes welling with fake tears.
Ignoring her, he approached the flesh, touching it despite the glass shards.
"It's over. Everything's over."
"I hid it so well—how did she find out?"
His parents, confused, stared.
"James, what are you doing? Get rid of this disgusting mess."
"What are these three jars Claire sent?"
James looked up, eyes bloodshot.
"These are mine and Claire's three children—your precious grandchildren!"
His mother stumbled back, horrified.
"Is Claire insane? I only said a few words—" Why would she do this?""They say stillborns carry grudges. Throw out this cursed stuff!"
James didn't budge, lost in fear and regret.
His assistant rushed in, handing him a file.
"Mr. Carter, this came to the office from Madam."
"I couldn't reach you, so I brought it."
A spark of hope lit James's eyes.
His trembling hands took the file.
He didn't notice his own shaking from fear.
Inside, two divorce agreements, signed by me, slid out.James's head snapped up, eyes red.
"Find Claire.Now.I need to see her!"
The assistant, startled by his mania, dialed my number.
Still off.
"Mr. Carter, maybe check home? The file's return address is your house. She might be waiting there."
"She probably just saw the bodies and couldn't cope."
"You're right. She only saw the jars—maybe not the truth. I can still fix this..."
James grabbed his keys and left.
He floored the gas, running countless red lights.
Bursting into the house, he found it empty, all traces of me gone.
"She knows the truth. If she hadn't, she would have confronted me, not left silently…"
The assistant, arriving in another car, looked pale.
"Mr. Carter, I checked Madam's flight. It might've crashed. The radar lost it—it hasn't landed…"
