Hired To Protect Him, Falling For Him

Chapter 14: The Call

The morning was quiet. Too quiet.

The penthouse was a mess from last night. Police tape on the door. Jonah's blood cleaned, but the stain was still there on the rug. Clara's jacket on the floor where she dropped it when she ran. Marcus was gone. Jonah was in the hospital.

And Elias was asleep on top of the bed, fully dressed. His shirt was torn at the collar where Marcus held him against the wall. His neck is red. He held my hand in his sleep like a child.

I didn't sleep at all. I watched the sky turn from black to blue.

At 6 AM, I took my phone to the balcony. The battery was 2%. The air was cold. I called my mama.

She picked on the second ring.

"Nova? This early? My heart just cut."

"Mama, sorry. I need to ask you about the bracelet you gave me. The silver one."

"What happened? Did you lose it?"

"No. Mama, where did you really get it? The true truth. No story."

She was quiet. I could hear her radio.

"Why are you asking me that now?"

"Because I am with Thorne family. They saw it. They said it's their dead daughter Lena's bracelet."

Long silence.

"Mama? Did you hear me?"

"Nova... I worked for Thorne house some years ago. When you were still in secondary school. I worked in the kitchen."

"Yes."

"I was close to one girl there. Lena. Small girl, long black hair, very lonely. Her father is always working. Mother is always sick. She always came to sit with me on a small stool in the kitchen. She called me mama too."

"What about the bracelet?"

"One night, around 11 PM, she came to the kitchen crying. With a small travelling bag. She said, 'Mama, I can't stay in this house again. This house is not safe for me. I have to leave.' She removed the bracelet and pressed it into my palm. She said, 'Keep it for your daughter one day.'"

My heart was beating so fast.

"Mama, they said Lena is dead. That she fell from the balcony. That Marcus pushed her."

"That is the lie the father told! I saw her leave, Nova. I opened the back gate for her. I saw her leave with my own two eyes. With her bag. She walked into the dark. She did NOT fall inside that house. Marcus did NOT push her inside that house."

I was shaking.

"Then where is she now? Is she alive? Did Marcus meet her outside?"

"Nova... I don't know where she went after the back gate. I only saw her leave the house. I don't know if Marcus met her outside. I don't know if she is still alive today. I swear. That night was the last time I saw her. I just know she did not fall from that balcony."

Behind me, I heard the balcony door slide.

Elias was standing there. Awake. His eyes swollen. He heard everything.

He took the phone from me gently. His voice was breaking.

"Mama? It's Elias. Lena's brother. Please... you are saying... you saw my sister leave alive through the back gate?"

My mama's voice was small.

"Yes. She left alive. With her small bag. Through the back gate."

Elias fell to his knees right there on the cold balcony. Tears started falling.

He whispered, looking at me, holding the phone tight:

"My father told me... my father told me he saw Marcus push her from behind, from the balcony. So my mama is saying... my father lied to me my whole life? He made me hate my own brother for ten years... for something that never happened inside the house?"

He pressed his forehead against the cold floor.

"But where is she now? If Marcus didn't push her inside... did he meet her outside? Is my sister still alive today? Or..."

He couldn't finish. He was crying like that 12-year-old boy who lost his sister.

I knelt beside him and held him. The call was still on. My mama was still on the line saying, "Hello? Hello?" But Elias just kept whispering:

"Marcus didn't push her... Marcus didn't push her inside..."