💔 NEVER LET GO – Episode Fifteen: “A Desperate Search for Love”
Stanley drove through the streets with a restless urgency, his hands tightening around the steering wheel each time Ivy refused to pick up the call. Her phone had been switched off for hours and every passing minute deepened the pit in his stomach. He prayed quietly, desperately, that nothing terrible had happened to his soon to be wife.
His heart pounded as he searched every corner he could think of. Sometimes he stopped the car abruptly, stepped out and asked random people if they had seen a young woman pass by. The more he searched, the more helpless he felt. After several hours of fruitless movement from one location to another, exhaustion and despair forced him to turn back home.
He drove into the compound hoping, even praying under his breath, that Ivy would be there waiting for him. But she was not. Instead, he met Nkechi standing anxiously outside the house, looking every bit as confused as he was.
“Like I do not get it,” Stanley said, his voice raised and trembling. “How did Ivy leave without telling anyone where she was going?”
“I honestly do not know,” Nkechi responded helplessly. “I asked her repeatedly but she only said she was going somewhere not far. God knows I wanted to follow her but she refused again and again. She was so firm about going alone.”
Mrs Grace stepped closer when she noticed the distress written all over Stanley’s face.
“Calm down my son,” she pleaded softly. “I believe Ivy will be back very soon. She is not a child. Maybe she is spending time with a friend or she got delayed somewhere. She will return.”
Stanley shook his head stubbornly. His emotions were unraveling.
“Mum, you do not understand. I know my girl. Something is wrong. I can feel it. I cannot bear it if she is hurt. And the worst part is her phone. It has been off since that strange voice spoke the last time I called. Mum, I love that girl like crazy.”
His voice cracked as he spoke, and Nkechi and Bianca exchanged troubled glances. Suddenly, the possibility that Ivy might be in danger began to sink into their hearts.
“Let us keep waiting,” Mrs Grace insisted, trying to sound hopeful. “You are only worried because she has never gone out alone.”
“That is exactly the problem. She does not go out alone. And she did not go with a car. How could she be so inconsiderate and careless?”
Mrs Grace sighed. “My son, Ivy cannot drive yet. You seem to have forgotten. The girls only started teaching her two days ago.”
Bianca suggested that they should go inside and wait for her. But Stanley refused and went to stand by the gate. They all followed unwillingly, each person battling silent thoughts of fear.
Thirty minutes passed and there was still no sign of Ivy. Stanley grew restless. He kept pacing and touching the engagement ring on his finger. A wave of sadness hit him when he remembered how Ivy once teased him, insisting he should not wear it until after their wedding day.
He tried calling her number again. No luck. Everyone tried. Still nothing.
“But why is Ivy doing this to me?” Stanley asked aloud as he paced angrily. “Is she trying to test my love or something? Am I the first man on earth to propose? Why is she doing this?”
Moments later, unable to sit still, he got into his car again and drove off for the second search.
Stanley drove without direction. His heart hammered violently as he called Ivy again and again, hearing the same cold message each time:
“The number you dialed is not reachable.”
He parked suddenly in front of a small bar, barely noticing it, with the look of a man whose world had just cracked open. He stepped inside with shaky legs, walked straight to the counter and dropped onto a stool.
“Give me something strong,” he said. His voice was hoarse, cracking.
The bartender glanced at him cautiously. “Sir, it’s not even evening yet. Are you sure...”
“I SAID something strong!” Stanley barked, his eyes fierce with anger and fear.
The bartender swallowed and poured him a glass of whiskey. Stanley grabbed it immediately, almost spilling it as he lifted it to his lips. He drank it in one gulp, the burn doing nothing to calm the storm inside him.
He slammed the empty glass on the counter.
“Another one.”
The bartender hesitated, but poured.
Stanley drank it again, faster this time.
“I can’t find her,” he muttered under his breath, staring at the counter but not really seeing it. “Why would she leave? Why would she go without telling me?”
He rubbed his face with trembling hands, then hit the counter lightly with his fist.
“Her phone is off. Completely off. Why? Why would she do this to me?”
People in the bar began to stare. Some whispered. Some shook their heads.
But Stanley didn’t see any of them.
He waved the bartender over again, wiping tears from his eyes angrily.
“Give me the whole bottle.”
“Sir, I think you should slow down...”
“The bottle!”
The bartender obeyed.
Stanley uncorked it himself and drank straight from it, his hands shaking so badly that some of the alcohol dripped onto his shirt.
Just then, his phone kept vibrating on the counter.
He snatched it up quickly — hoping, praying — but the screen only showed Ivy’s name missing from the notifications.
No call. No message. Nothing.
He threw the phone down, breathing hard.
“She left me,” he whispered. “She left me. She left me…”
His shoulders slumped as the alcohol began to take over. A deep sadness washed over him.
Soon his words slurred. His elbows slid off the counter. He tried to stand up but staggered immediately, grabbing a nearby chair for support.
A familiar voice called from behind him.
“Stanley? What the hell are you doing?”
It was Mark. His very close friend.
Mark rushed to his friend, reaching him just in time before Stanley toppled over.
“Why are you drinking like this?” Mark demanded, pulling the bottle away.
Stanley tried snatching it back like a child.
“Give me! Leave me, Mark. I want to drink. I want to forget!”
“Forget what?”
“That Ivy is gone!” Stanley shouted, his voice cracking as fresh tears rolled down his face. “I can’t find her anywhere. She is NOT picking my calls. Her phone is off. Mark, I feel like I’m dying. Please… just let me drink.”
Mark stared at him, heartbroken.
“Stan… this is not the way. Come on, stand up. Let me take you home.”
“I don’t want to go home,” he mumbled, leaning heavily against Mark. “She won’t be there. She’s gone. She… she doesn’t want me…”
Mark sighed deeply and hooked Stanley’s arm over his shoulder.
“Let’s go. You’re drunk out of your mind.”
Stanley didn’t resist. His legs wobbled as Mark dragged him outside.
“Ivy… Ivy…” Stanley kept murmuring. “Tell her I bought the bangles she liked. And the phone she wanted. Tell her she should come back… for our wedding…”
Mark swallowed hard.
He helped him into the car, strapped him in, and drove straight to the mansion.
Meanwhile, at the mansion, Mrs Grace and her daughters were still waiting for Stanley, hoping that somehow, miracle would happen.
Nkechi sighed deeply. “Mum, I am scared. I really hope nothing bad has happened to Ivy. If anything happens to her, brother Stanley may never recover. We all know he has never loved any woman the way he loves her.”
“I still feel like I am dreaming,” Bianca added. “Ivy has never behaved like this since she entered this house. And she knows she is engaged. Why would she endanger herself and our brother this way?”
Mrs Grace rubbed her forehead tiredly. “I do not understand it either. I know how long it took my son to finally fall in love. Could she have gone to spend the night with her friends?”
“What friends?” Bianca asked sharply. “Mum, Ivy has nobody apart from us. She is an orphan, and she lived in misery and loneliness before meeting brother Stanley. Friends should not even be an option here.”
Eventually, they all went back into the house to continue waiting.
Later, Mark, Stanley's friend, drove into the compound. He helped Stanley out of the car. Stanley was still drunk to stupor, unable to stand properly on his own.
Mrs Grace and her daughters rushed out in disbelief and distress.
Mark was not a stranger to them, so he explained everything to them; how Stanley had been drinking heavily because he could not find Ivy and how he had tried to stop him all to no avail.
Mrs Grace thanked Mark emotionally before he left.
She turned to her son. “When did you start drinking like this? You cannot find your wife to be and the only thing you thought of was drinking yourself senseless?”
Stanley wobbled and gave a drunken smile.
“She left me. But she should come back for our wedding. Somebody should tell her that I got the makeup artist she wanted. And the bangles she liked. And the latest phone in town. Tell her to come and see how pretty they look.”
He staggered toward his room.
“You have to take your bath first,” Mrs Grace insisted. “You smell of alcohol.”
He ignored her and shut himself inside his room.
“Mum, just let him be,” Bianca said sadly. “Thank God his friend brought him home. I only pray that when we wake tomorrow, we will see Ivy setting the breakfast table like always.”
Nkechi followed her inside and they both retired for the night. Mrs Grace stood alone in the living room for a long moment, shaking her head weakly. She remembered how Ivy once persuaded her son to apologize after speaking rudely. That memory made her heart ache even more.
Eventually, she retired to her room.
That night, Stanley tossed and turned on his bed. The alcohol did nothing to soothe him. His mind remained haunted.
He drifted into a nightmare. He saw himself standing at the altar. The church was filled with people but the woman standing beside him was not Ivy. She wore a wedding gown, yet her face was unfamiliar.
“Ivy, why is your face different?” he asked in confusion.
“I am not Ivy,” the woman replied, equally bewildered at the question.
Before he could understand what was happening, the dream diverted without warning.
This time, Ivy was standing on a lonely road at night under the heavy rain. Her clothes were soaked. She looked exhausted and terrified. She wrapped her arms around herself and called out his name.
“Stanley. Stanley, where are you?”
Each call sounded weaker than the last.
When he tried to run toward her, the rain thickened like a wall, pushing him back. Ivy’s figure started fading slowly as if the darkness was swallowing her.
“No. Ivy, please do not go,” Stanley cried, struggling against the storm. “Come back to me. Please.”
Ivy looked at him one last time. Her face softened with sadness.
“I will not see you again.”
And she disappeared.
Stanley jerked awake with a loud cry, drenched in sweat. His heart hammered violently inside his chest. For a moment, he could not breathe. He pressed his palms against his face and broke down completely.
“Ivy, where are you?” he whispered shakily. “Please come back to me.”
Morning slowly crept into the mansion, but nothing felt like morning. The house was quiet, heavy, and filled with uncertainty. No one slept well. No one smiled.
And Ivy was still missing.
To Be Continued ✍️ ✍️ ✍️ #NeverLetGo #EpisodeFifteen #IvyAndStanley #LostBrideToBe #WhereIsIvy #StanleysPain #EmotionalFiction #AfricanStories #LoveAndFear #StorySeries
Stanley drove through the streets with a restless urgency, his hands tightening around the steering wheel each time Ivy refused to pick up the call. Her phone had been switched off for hours and every passing minute deepened the pit in his stomach. He prayed quietly, desperately, that nothing terrible had happened to his soon to be wife.
His heart pounded as he searched every corner he could think of. Sometimes he stopped the car abruptly, stepped out and asked random people if they had seen a young woman pass by. The more he searched, the more helpless he felt. After several hours of fruitless movement from one location to another, exhaustion and despair forced him to turn back home.
He drove into the compound hoping, even praying under his breath, that Ivy would be there waiting for him. But she was not. Instead, he met Nkechi standing anxiously outside the house, looking every bit as confused as he was.
“Like I do not get it,” Stanley said, his voice raised and trembling. “How did Ivy leave without telling anyone where she was going?”
“I honestly do not know,” Nkechi responded helplessly. “I asked her repeatedly but she only said she was going somewhere not far. God knows I wanted to follow her but she refused again and again. She was so firm about going alone.”
Mrs Grace stepped closer when she noticed the distress written all over Stanley’s face.
“Calm down my son,” she pleaded softly. “I believe Ivy will be back very soon. She is not a child. Maybe she is spending time with a friend or she got delayed somewhere. She will return.”
Stanley shook his head stubbornly. His emotions were unraveling.
“Mum, you do not understand. I know my girl. Something is wrong. I can feel it. I cannot bear it if she is hurt. And the worst part is her phone. It has been off since that strange voice spoke the last time I called. Mum, I love that girl like crazy.”
His voice cracked as he spoke, and Nkechi and Bianca exchanged troubled glances. Suddenly, the possibility that Ivy might be in danger began to sink into their hearts.
“Let us keep waiting,” Mrs Grace insisted, trying to sound hopeful. “You are only worried because she has never gone out alone.”
“That is exactly the problem. She does not go out alone. And she did not go with a car. How could she be so inconsiderate and careless?”
Mrs Grace sighed. “My son, Ivy cannot drive yet. You seem to have forgotten. The girls only started teaching her two days ago.”
Bianca suggested that they should go inside and wait for her. But Stanley refused and went to stand by the gate. They all followed unwillingly, each person battling silent thoughts of fear.
Thirty minutes passed and there was still no sign of Ivy. Stanley grew restless. He kept pacing and touching the engagement ring on his finger. A wave of sadness hit him when he remembered how Ivy once teased him, insisting he should not wear it until after their wedding day.
He tried calling her number again. No luck. Everyone tried. Still nothing.
“But why is Ivy doing this to me?” Stanley asked aloud as he paced angrily. “Is she trying to test my love or something? Am I the first man on earth to propose? Why is she doing this?”
Moments later, unable to sit still, he got into his car again and drove off for the second search.
Stanley drove without direction. His heart hammered violently as he called Ivy again and again, hearing the same cold message each time:
“The number you dialed is not reachable.”
He parked suddenly in front of a small bar, barely noticing it, with the look of a man whose world had just cracked open. He stepped inside with shaky legs, walked straight to the counter and dropped onto a stool.
“Give me something strong,” he said. His voice was hoarse, cracking.
The bartender glanced at him cautiously. “Sir, it’s not even evening yet. Are you sure...”
“I SAID something strong!” Stanley barked, his eyes fierce with anger and fear.
The bartender swallowed and poured him a glass of whiskey. Stanley grabbed it immediately, almost spilling it as he lifted it to his lips. He drank it in one gulp, the burn doing nothing to calm the storm inside him.
He slammed the empty glass on the counter.
“Another one.”
The bartender hesitated, but poured.
Stanley drank it again, faster this time.
“I can’t find her,” he muttered under his breath, staring at the counter but not really seeing it. “Why would she leave? Why would she go without telling me?”
He rubbed his face with trembling hands, then hit the counter lightly with his fist.
“Her phone is off. Completely off. Why? Why would she do this to me?”
People in the bar began to stare. Some whispered. Some shook their heads.
But Stanley didn’t see any of them.
He waved the bartender over again, wiping tears from his eyes angrily.
“Give me the whole bottle.”
“Sir, I think you should slow down...”
“The bottle!”
The bartender obeyed.
Stanley uncorked it himself and drank straight from it, his hands shaking so badly that some of the alcohol dripped onto his shirt.
Just then, his phone kept vibrating on the counter.
He snatched it up quickly — hoping, praying — but the screen only showed Ivy’s name missing from the notifications.
No call. No message. Nothing.
He threw the phone down, breathing hard.
“She left me,” he whispered. “She left me. She left me…”
His shoulders slumped as the alcohol began to take over. A deep sadness washed over him.
Soon his words slurred. His elbows slid off the counter. He tried to stand up but staggered immediately, grabbing a nearby chair for support.
A familiar voice called from behind him.
“Stanley? What the hell are you doing?”
It was Mark. His very close friend.
Mark rushed to his friend, reaching him just in time before Stanley toppled over.
“Why are you drinking like this?” Mark demanded, pulling the bottle away.
Stanley tried snatching it back like a child.
“Give me! Leave me, Mark. I want to drink. I want to forget!”
“Forget what?”
“That Ivy is gone!” Stanley shouted, his voice cracking as fresh tears rolled down his face. “I can’t find her anywhere. She is NOT picking my calls. Her phone is off. Mark, I feel like I’m dying. Please… just let me drink.”
Mark stared at him, heartbroken.
“Stan… this is not the way. Come on, stand up. Let me take you home.”
“I don’t want to go home,” he mumbled, leaning heavily against Mark. “She won’t be there. She’s gone. She… she doesn’t want me…”
Mark sighed deeply and hooked Stanley’s arm over his shoulder.
“Let’s go. You’re drunk out of your mind.”
Stanley didn’t resist. His legs wobbled as Mark dragged him outside.
“Ivy… Ivy…” Stanley kept murmuring. “Tell her I bought the bangles she liked. And the phone she wanted. Tell her she should come back… for our wedding…”
Mark swallowed hard.
He helped him into the car, strapped him in, and drove straight to the mansion.
Meanwhile, at the mansion, Mrs Grace and her daughters were still waiting for Stanley, hoping that somehow, miracle would happen.
Nkechi sighed deeply. “Mum, I am scared. I really hope nothing bad has happened to Ivy. If anything happens to her, brother Stanley may never recover. We all know he has never loved any woman the way he loves her.”
“I still feel like I am dreaming,” Bianca added. “Ivy has never behaved like this since she entered this house. And she knows she is engaged. Why would she endanger herself and our brother this way?”
Mrs Grace rubbed her forehead tiredly. “I do not understand it either. I know how long it took my son to finally fall in love. Could she have gone to spend the night with her friends?”
“What friends?” Bianca asked sharply. “Mum, Ivy has nobody apart from us. She is an orphan, and she lived in misery and loneliness before meeting brother Stanley. Friends should not even be an option here.”
Eventually, they all went back into the house to continue waiting.
Later, Mark, Stanley's friend, drove into the compound. He helped Stanley out of the car. Stanley was still drunk to stupor, unable to stand properly on his own.
Mrs Grace and her daughters rushed out in disbelief and distress.
Mark was not a stranger to them, so he explained everything to them; how Stanley had been drinking heavily because he could not find Ivy and how he had tried to stop him all to no avail.
Mrs Grace thanked Mark emotionally before he left.
She turned to her son. “When did you start drinking like this? You cannot find your wife to be and the only thing you thought of was drinking yourself senseless?”
Stanley wobbled and gave a drunken smile.
“She left me. But she should come back for our wedding. Somebody should tell her that I got the makeup artist she wanted. And the bangles she liked. And the latest phone in town. Tell her to come and see how pretty they look.”
He staggered toward his room.
“You have to take your bath first,” Mrs Grace insisted. “You smell of alcohol.”
He ignored her and shut himself inside his room.
“Mum, just let him be,” Bianca said sadly. “Thank God his friend brought him home. I only pray that when we wake tomorrow, we will see Ivy setting the breakfast table like always.”
Nkechi followed her inside and they both retired for the night. Mrs Grace stood alone in the living room for a long moment, shaking her head weakly. She remembered how Ivy once persuaded her son to apologize after speaking rudely. That memory made her heart ache even more.
Eventually, she retired to her room.
That night, Stanley tossed and turned on his bed. The alcohol did nothing to soothe him. His mind remained haunted.
He drifted into a nightmare. He saw himself standing at the altar. The church was filled with people but the woman standing beside him was not Ivy. She wore a wedding gown, yet her face was unfamiliar.
“Ivy, why is your face different?” he asked in confusion.
“I am not Ivy,” the woman replied, equally bewildered at the question.
Before he could understand what was happening, the dream diverted without warning.
This time, Ivy was standing on a lonely road at night under the heavy rain. Her clothes were soaked. She looked exhausted and terrified. She wrapped her arms around herself and called out his name.
“Stanley. Stanley, where are you?”
Each call sounded weaker than the last.
When he tried to run toward her, the rain thickened like a wall, pushing him back. Ivy’s figure started fading slowly as if the darkness was swallowing her.
“No. Ivy, please do not go,” Stanley cried, struggling against the storm. “Come back to me. Please.”
Ivy looked at him one last time. Her face softened with sadness.
“I will not see you again.”
And she disappeared.
Stanley jerked awake with a loud cry, drenched in sweat. His heart hammered violently inside his chest. For a moment, he could not breathe. He pressed his palms against his face and broke down completely.
“Ivy, where are you?” he whispered shakily. “Please come back to me.”
Morning slowly crept into the mansion, but nothing felt like morning. The house was quiet, heavy, and filled with uncertainty. No one slept well. No one smiled.
And Ivy was still missing.
To Be Continued ✍️ ✍️ ✍️ #NeverLetGo #EpisodeFifteen #IvyAndStanley #LostBrideToBe #WhereIsIvy #StanleysPain #EmotionalFiction #AfricanStories #LoveAndFear #StorySeries
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