I didn’t reply. I turned off my phone.
Two hours later, when I came out, I switched it back on. Over ninety-nine messages popped up instantly, all from him.
“Why didn’t you call back? I told you to come to the police station. Didn’t you see the message?”
“What do you mean? What are you doing?”
“Honey, please, come pick me up! I was just helping a little girl and couldn’t resist the urge.”
Then one message landed in the wrong place—his group chat.
“Evander, you lost! My sister-in-law didn’t come. Seventeen thousand dollars, pay up.”
“Thalia changed her gender? Evander, you’re about to fall out of favor!”
Evander shot back immediately: “Get lost! Thalia must be busy, otherwise she’d never ignore me.”
Then someone suddenly reminded him: “Damn, you sent it to the wrong group! Thalia is in here too!”
I remembered the day he introduced me to his friends and added me to this group. It had always been silent, no one ever spoke. I had suspected it was fake. Now, my suspicions were confirmed.
My heart went cold.
The messages were withdrawn one by one. Then my phone rang.
“Are you… busy? Didn’t you check your phone?”
“Yeah.”
That was all I said. He never messaged me again.