In March 2011, around the same time Eric suggested we get back together, he got a mediocre work appraisal which deeply upset him.

He told me that he was contemplating resigning from his job, and that he might return to Malaysia to start a business.

He took his annual leave, which totalled about two weeks. I didn't contact him as I figured he was abroad.

Then in early April, I found out from his colleagues that Eric had stopped showing up for work without reason. He had been uncontactable for two days. Before Eric left, he told me he'd moved out of his rented apartment, but he never updated me on his new address. None of his colleagues knew where he'd moved to.

Even more mysteriously, his mobile phone line had been cut. He had also deleted me and our other colleagues on Facebook.

Desperate for answers, I reached out to his good friend in Singapore. But he refused to give me Eric's new phone number or address.

Chillingly, he told me that Eric was in a "very bad place" and was suffering from a "condition", without elaborating. Friends urged me to move on, but I couldn't.

Over the next seven months, I sent Eric several Facebook messages to ask if he was all right. He never replied. Some of my pals were quite tactless, saying: "You liked him so much, but look how he left you without a word!"

Others speculated it had been a one-sided relationship, or that I'd only fallen for him because of his looks. It stung, but I pretended not to care.

I considered looking for him at his family home, a terrace house, in Malaysia. But I didn't even know the exact address - just the name of the property, which he'd mentioned before.