Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WHO KEPT RECEIPTS
By morning, the contractions had eased.
Dr. Shah wanted Elena to remain under observation. Elena agreed before anyone could tell her what she should do.
It was a small decision.
She treasured it.
Nora returned with coffee she was too busy to drink.
“We’ve notified the lender that the documents are disputed. The transaction is on hold while they review them.”
“On hold isn’t stopped.”
“No. It buys us time.”
Gabriel stood by the window.
“I can buy the lender.”
Nora didn’t even look at him.
“You can sit down.”
Elena almost smiled.
A knock came at the door.
Rosa entered carrying a faded grocery bag.
“I brought your slippers.”
Then she closed the door.
“And something else.”
From beneath the slippers, she removed a blue kitchen notebook.
Elena recognized it. Rosa wrote shopping lists in it.
At least, that was what Elena had thought.
Rosa opened to a page dated eleven months earlier.
Mr. Vance took Mrs. Vance’s car keys. Said she could walk if she needed air.
Another page.
Mrs. Vance asked for her bank card. He said she lost the right to spend.
Another.
Argument outside bedroom. Mrs. Vance crying. Door locked from hallway.
Elena’s stomach tightened.
“You wrote it down?”
“I wanted to be sure I remembered.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Rosa’s eyes filled.
“Because you kept telling me it was a bad day. I thought if I pushed, you would ask me to leave.”
Elena touched the notebook.
All those days she had explained away.
Someone else had counted them.
Rosa pulled out a small envelope next.
“He asked me to witness a signature yesterday.”
Nora leaned forward.
“Did you?”
“No. Your wife is upstairs, I told him. Ask her yourself.”
“What happened?”
“Miss Davenport signed instead. Another man came later with a stamp.”
Nora took careful notes.
“Would you give a statement?”
Rosa looked at Elena.
“Yes.”
Gabriel’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, then left the room.
Through the glass, Elena watched his posture change.
When he returned, his voice was controlled.
“The house cameras are offline.”
Rosa shook her head.
“They were working when I left.”
Elena’s phone rang.
Maya.
“I went back for my bag,” the young woman whispered. “Your husband’s shredding papers in his office.”
A crash sounded behind her.
Then Julian’s voice.
May you like
“Who are you talking to?”
The call went dead.
