Every morning, she left the apartment and visited the surrounding areas.
She checked nearby places, questioned people who might have seen him, and even visited the home of her nurse friend.
She returned late every night, exhausted and disappointed.
Still, she refused to give up.
The strangest part was that she didn't even have Dante's phone number.
He had hers, but she had never thought to ask for his.
She had assumed that, as long as they were living together, she would always know where to find him.
Now, all she could do was stare at her phone, hoping that he would contact her.
Every notification made her look up.
Every unknown number made her heart beat faster.
But none of them belonged to him.
On the third evening, Isabella sat on the edge of her bed and stared at the empty space beside her with her champagne.
She was exhausted.
Her feet hurt from walking, her eyes were swollen from crying, and her mind was filled with unanswered questions.
“That's enough, Isabella,” she whispered.
She wiped her cheeks.
“You have graduated. This is supposed to be one of the happiest times of your life.”
She tried to smile.
It didn't work.
“He was never mine to begin with.”
She lowered her head.
She had known from the beginning that Dante wasn't an ordinary man. He belonged to a dangerous world that she could never fully understand.
Perhaps he had returned to that world.
Perhaps he had decided that he no longer needed her.
Whatever the reason, she couldn't spend the rest of her life waiting for someone who might never return.
Her grandmother had repeatedly asked her to come home.
Perhaps it was time.
Isabella packed her belongings and placed Dante's collar and chain carefully inside her bag.
Before leaving, she stood in the middle of the apartment one last time.
Her eyes travelled across the furniture, the sofa, and the rooms where she had spent the past four months.
Memories came rushing back.
She remembered arguing with Dante over his meals, scolding him whenever he ignored his wounds, and struggling to get him to cooperate with even the simplest things.
Despite everything, those memories brought a small smile to her face.
“Goodbye, Dante.”
She closed the door.
And just like that, she left the place where she had spent four months caring for a man who had disappeared without saying goodbye.