Chapter 14 - Nobody Opens the Door
“Don’t let him in,” I said.
Nora’s breathing came fast.
“He says he has my money.”
“Keep the door locked.”
“He knows my sister’s address.”
Rachel was already reaching for another phone.
“Tell Nora to call emergency services if she feels threatened,” she said. “We’re documenting everything.”
I repeated it.
Through Nora’s phone, I heard a man knocking.
“Nora. Be reasonable.”
Victor sounded exactly as he had in the hallway with the bracelet.
Calm.
Patient.
Like the person refusing him was the problem.
“He says he’ll leave if I sign one page.”
“Don’t open the door.”
Luca called while I was still on the line.
I ignored it.
Then a message appeared from Tessa.
We know. Police have been called. Stay with her.
Nora began to cry.
“I can’t do this again.”
“You’re not doing it alone.”
The knocking stopped.
For three seconds, there was silence.
Then metal scraped in the lock.
“He has a key.”
Rachel’s expression changed.
“Tell her to move away from the door.”
Nora backed into the kitchen.
A crash came through the phone.
I stood too fast and pain tore through my ankle.
“Nora?”
A man shouted.
Another voice answered.
Different.
Louder.
Police.
I sat down so hard the chair struck the wall.
Nora was sobbing now, but she was answering them.
She was alive.
She hadn’t opened the door.
Victor had entered with a duplicate key he had kept from the temporary apartment the estate once arranged for her.
He carried a release agreement.
And an envelope of cash.
His version was that he had come to resolve a misunderstanding.
The damaged door made that harder to sell.
By midnight, Rachel had spoken with Nora.
By morning, Victor’s attorney had contacted Luca’s.
He wanted to cooperate.
Not out of remorse.
Because loyalty had become expensive.
The messages he provided showed Isabella directing the search of my room, requesting Bruno’s removal, and ordering the scholarship payment stopped.
One message mentioned the bracelet.
Put it in the second drawer. She never locks it.
Another came after the garden confrontation.
If Emma keeps talking, find something she needs more than the truth.
I read that one twice.
Then I put the phone down.
For days, I had felt small beside Isabella.
Now I saw how much effort she had spent trying to keep me that way.
Luca called that afternoon.
“She wants to speak to you.”
“No.”
“She says she’ll apologize.”
“Then she can do it without an audience.”
He was quiet.
May you like
Finally, he said, “Okay.”
And for once, my no was the end of the conversation.
