31. Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-One
The Pieces Left Behind
SAL
As soon as Rafa left the room, Sal let out a deep breath.
She wiped away the tears, slipped on a comfy shirt, closed the curtains, and crawled into bed.
Her soul was crushed, her mind was tired, her body craved rest, and she may have destroyed her relationship with a kind and amazing man.
Her life was falling apart, so she might as well get some sleep.
She was still wearing her engagement ring; she fiddled with it underneath the covers and slowly drifted to sleep.
***
Hours later, Sal woke up to Theola’s explosive voice.
“Oh, my God. The art show is blowing up!” Theola trilled. “Where is everyone?”
She got up, and a few minutes later, her phone chimed once, twice, then multiple times. The screen was flashing so much that she thought it had malfunctioned. She got up from bed feeling groggy and checked her phone with eyes half-open until she realized what was happening.
Sal found Theola on the second-floor sala raving at her laptop. “Theola, what’s going on?” she asked.
The young lady pulled out her iPad to show Sal an article posted online by a major news outlet: “Mysterious Grimoire Unearthed, Confirms Town’s Magical Origins to be Exhibited in the Philippines.
” It had around a thousand comments and shares.
She felt nervous at the sudden amount of attention.
When she read the comments, it was a mix of curiosity, suspicion, and the occasional know-it-all.
Willow ran to meet them. Her hair looked disheveled, and she hadn’t fastened her blouse buttons properly. “Holy shit, you guys, we’ve gone viral!” she said, out of breath, holding her phone and showing them other articles and videos being shared on multiple social media platforms.
Baron suddenly walked past them with a phone glued to his ear. He looked disheveled, and he seemed rushed while talking on the phone. Slowly, Sal’s eyes skimmed through the many articles, tags, and notifications, and she realized that the game had just begun.