Chapter Four
1138 Words
Isabella didn’t remember how she got home.
She just remembered walking.
The city felt louder than usual that night. Cars rushing past, people laughing too loudly on corners, lights blinking like nothing important had happened anywhere in the world.
But something important had happened.
And only she knew it.
Inside her bag was the card.
Inside her mind was everything she didn’t want to think about.
When she finally reached her apartment, she locked the door behind her and stood there for a moment, not moving. The silence inside her small space felt strange after the hotel. Almost too real.
Then her phone rang again.
Sonia.
“Did you get the money?” Sonia asked immediately.
Isabella sat slowly on the edge of her bed. “Yes.”
A pause.
“You actually did it,” Sonia said, softer now.
Isabella closed her eyes. “I didn’t have a choice.”
There was silence on the other end for a moment.
Then Sonia sighed. “Is your grandmother stable now?”
“They said they can start treatment.”
“Good,” Sonia said quickly. “That’s good, Isabella.”
But Isabella didn’t feel good.
She should have. That was the problem.
Instead, she just felt… heavy.
Like something inside her had shifted and wasn’t going back to how it was before.
“I’ll come see you tomorrow,” Sonia added.
“Okay,” Isabella whispered.
After the call ended, she just sat there for a long time, staring at nothing.
Then finally, she took the card out of her bag.
Black. Clean. Simple.
Ten thousand dollars that didn’t feel like money.
It felt like a door she had walked through and couldn’t close again.
She placed it on the table and stood up quickly, like distance might help.
But it didn’t.
The next morning came too fast.
Hospital smell always hit Isabella the same way now. It reminded her that time was not something she controlled anymore.
Her grandmother was lying in bed when she arrived, looking smaller than she remembered. Tubes. Machines. Quiet breathing that didn’t feel strong enough.
Isabella sat beside her carefully.
“Hi, Grandma,” she said softly.
There was no response. Just slow, steady breathing.
She held her hand anyway.
“I fixed it,” Isabella whispered. “They’re treating you now.”
Her throat tightened slightly, but she swallowed it down.
No crying.
Not here.
Not now.
A nurse came in a few minutes later, checking charts and adjusting medication. She smiled politely at Isabella.
“You made it in time,” the nurse said.
Isabella nodded.
But it didn’t feel like she made anything.
It felt like something else had decided for her.
After a while, she stepped outside the room to get some air.
That was when she saw the hospital bill being updated at the reception desk.
Paid deposit confirmed.
Ten thousand dollars.
Her stomach tightened again.
Not because of the number.
Because of where it came from.
By the time she left the hospital, her phone was already buzzing again.
Unknown number.
She hesitated before answering.
“Isabella Reyes,” a calm voice said on the other end.
She froze slightly.
It was him.
Dylan.
“How did you get my number?” she asked immediately.
“I have access to what I need,” he replied simply.
That didn’t answer the question. But it also did.
“What do you want?” she asked.
A pause.
“Confirmation,” he said.
Her brow furrowed. “Confirmation of what?”
“That the money was received. And your grandmother is being treated.”
Isabella stopped walking.
“You’re checking up on me?”
“It’s called ensuring an agreement is fulfilled,” he said calmly.
She exhaled sharply. “You don’t need to monitor me.”
“I’m not monitoring you,” he replied.
Another pause.
Then, quieter, “I’m making sure it worked.”
That sentence stayed in her head longer than she liked.
“It worked,” she said finally. “She’s getting treatment.”
“Good.”
Silence.
Neither of them hung up immediately.
It felt strange.
Like neither of them knew what came after this part.
Then Dylan spoke again.
“Eat something today,” he said.
Isabella blinked. “What?”
“You didn’t sleep properly last night.”
Her grip tightened on the phone. “You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
That made her pause.
Because he was right.
She hadn’t.
But she didn’t like that he knew.
“I’m fine,” she said again.
A familiar line.
A safe one.
There was a faint pause on the other end.
Then Dylan said, “You say that too easily.”
Something in her chest tightened slightly at that.
“I have to go,” she said quickly.
“Isabella.”
She stopped.
Hearing her name like that again felt different now.
Less like ownership.
More like attention.
“Yes?” she asked quietly.
“Don’t disappear,” he said.
She frowned. “What does that even mean?”
But he didn’t answer.
The call ended.
That night, Isabella couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Don’t disappear.
As if she was someone who could just vanish on command.
As if she had been there long enough to matter.
She shook the thought away and forced herself into routine. Cooked something small. Checked hospital updates. Cleaned what didn’t need cleaning.
Anything to stay busy.
Anything to not think.
But her mind kept returning to the same place.
The hotel room.
The card.
His voice.
Too calm. Too certain.
Too present in a life that was supposed to be simple.
Around midnight, her phone buzzed again.
This time, Sonia.
“You’re not going to believe what I heard,” Sonia said immediately.
Isabella sat down. “What?”
“That club you work at… people are talking.”
Isabella frowned. “About what?”
“There was a man there last night. Rich. Like, really rich. They’re saying he’s been asking about someone.”
Isabella’s grip tightened slightly.
“Who?” she asked carefully.
Sonia lowered her voice. “A girl from the stage. They don’t know her name.”
Silence.
Isabella’s heart beat a little slower.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” she said quickly.
“It might,” Sonia replied. “Because apparently he left with nothing but her description. And he doesn’t look like the type to forget things.”
Isabella stood up slowly.
“Stop talking like that,” she said.
“I’m just saying what I heard.”
But Isabella wasn’t listening anymore.
Because suddenly, the hospital room didn’t feel like the only place something had changed.
The hotel did too.
And for the first time since that night…
She wondered what exactly she had stepped into.
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