### Chapter 15: The First Move
As days passed, I avoided Dante’s calls and messages. I needed space to think, to figure out my next move. The sound of my phone buzzing became a jarring reminder of the chaos that had consumed my life. Each vibration felt like a tiny explosion of anxiety in my pocket, a signal that I was tangled in a web I didn’t know how to escape.
Lora, however, wasn’t so easily avoided. She had a way of showing up at the most inconvenient times, her presence slipping into my life like a thief in the night. It started with the occasional text, and soon escalated to knocking on my door, her bright smile a façade that masked her real intentions.
“Hey, Rosella!” she chirped one Saturday morning, as if everything were perfectly normal. She had a basket of pastries in hand,
