Chapter 89
ELODIE’S POV~
Liora seemed to relax a bit after I reassured her, but she wasn’t quite done yet. “Where are you right now? When Dad gets home, we can come visit you tomorrow p>
My stomach twisted.
Her dad… Dante. He was the last person I ever wanted showing up at my door right now.
“No need,” I said quickly. Maybe too quickly. “I can take care of myself. You just focus on your schoolwork, okay p>
“Okay She sounded uncertain but didn’t push.
We talked for a few more minutes, just about her day, about what she’d had for dinner, normal things that felt almost painfully normal and then we hung up.
I set my phone down and stared at the ceiling.
Liora thought Dante would come check on me. Thought he’d care enough to visit.
She had no idea.
No idea that he’d been right there when I fell. That he’d pushed me away without a second thought. That he hadn’t asked if I was okay, hadn’t even looked back.
She still thought we were a family.
God, I wished that were true.
____________
LIORA~
Back at the house, Dante had just walked through the door when Liora came running up.
“Dad p>
He paused, already loosening his tie in a tired motion. Ready to be done with the day.
But before he could say anything, Liora was already talking. “Dad, Mom hurt her foot! She’s resting somewhere outside p>
Dante shrugged off his expensive, perfectly tailored suit jacket and handed it to the butler. “I know p>
Liora blinked. “How do you know? Did Mom tell you p>
He walked into the living room, accepted a glass of water from Sabina, and sat down. “No. I saw it myself p>
“You saw it?” Liora’s eyes widened. “You were there when she got hurt p>
“Mm. Yeah p>
Liora’s face shifted as she processed that. “Oh, right. Mom works at your company now, so you must’ve seen when she got hurt p>
Dante took a sip of water and set the glass down carefully. “Not exactly. Your mother doesn’t work at my company anymore p>
Liora looked confused. “She doesn’t? Then where is she working p>
“Somewhere she prefers p>
His tone was neutral. Matter-of-fact. Like they were discussing the weather.
“Oh p>
Liora stood there for a moment, clearly trying to make sense of it all. Her mom wasn’t working at her dad’s company. Her mom had gotten hurt and her dad had seen it but wasn’t going to visit.
None of it quite added up, but she was too young to ask the questions that would make it make sense.
Dante finished his water and set the glass aside and reached out and patted her head, his hand large and warm against her hair.
“Go to bed early,” he said.
“Okay, Dad p>
She headed toward the stairs, glancing back once before disappearing up to her room.
______________
ELODIE’S POV~
Around eight, Johnny showed up with my car.
I heard the knock and limped over to open the door. My ankle was still protesting with every step, but at least the swelling had gone down a bit.
“You’re a lifesaver,” I said, taking the keys from him.
He shrugged, stepping inside. “It’s nothing. Least I could do p>
I closed the door behind him. “How much were the repairs? I need to pay you back p>
Johnny dropped onto my couch like he owned the place, which, honestly, he kind of did at this point. He’d been here enough times. “How would I know p>
I blinked. “What do you mean you don’t know? You picked up the car p>
“Yeah, but nobody asked me to pay anything.” He stretched his arms over the back of the couch. “They just said it was your car and handed over the keys. That’s it p>
Oh. Oh.
Harry had paid for it. Already covered everything before I’d even had a chance to ask about the cost.
I stood there holding my car keys, trying to process that. Why would he do that? We barely knew each other. Wasn’t even in a good term with each other as he had a softer spot for Sienna. One awkward encounter this morning didn’t exactly make us friends.
“Something wrong?” Johnny was watching me now, his eyebrows raised.
“No. It’s… nothing.” I shook my head, trying to clear it. “Just surprised, that’s all p>
“Well, save the existential crisis for later.” Johnny pulled out his laptop. “We’ve got homework, remember? And I’ve been running around all day. I’m exhausted. The sooner we finish this thing, the sooner I can collapse p>
Right. The review. The impossible assignment from Nolan that was due by morning.
God, how had I almost forgotten?
“Yeah, okay. Just… give me a second. I need to make a call first p>
“Sure p>
I pulled out my phone and scrolled to Harry’s number. Hesitated for half a second, then pressed call.
He answered on the second ring.
“Hello p>
His voice was the same as this morning. Calm and even and giving nothing away.
“Mr. Becker, it’s Elodie p>
“I know.” He paused. “What do you need p>
Straight to the point. No small talk. I could work with that.
“I picked up the car. Thank you for handling everything.” I shifted my weight off my bad ankle. “But I wanted to ask about the repair costs. You covered them, right? How much do I owe you p>
Silence fell on the other end.
For a second I thought the call had dropped. Then—
“I’ll send you the account details p>
“Okay. Thank you. Really, I appreciate you taking care of all this today. I know it was p>
“No need to thank me p>
The line went dead.
I stared at my phone.
Well. That was abrupt.
Johnny was trying not to laugh. “Friend of yours p>
“Not exactly.” I sat down, carefully, favoring my good ankle. “Just someone who helped me out this morning p>
My phone buzzed. A message came from Harry. It was the bank account number and a photo of the invoice.
I opened my payment app and started entering the details. The amount made me wince slightly, although it was not catastrophic, but not cheap either but I transferred it anyway. And added a quick thank-you message.
‘Thanks again for everything. I’ve sent the payment p>
No response came. Not that I expected one.
“The guy who helped with your car?” Johnny asked, still watching me.
“Yeah.” I set my phone aside. “Harry Becker p>
Johnny’s expression shifted. Just slightly. “Wait. Harry Becker p>
“You know him p>
“Know him? Elodie, everyone knows him.” Johnny leaned forward. “He’s… how do you even know Harry Becker p>
I shrugged. “Dante’s friend. Not like we are friends or so. They all prefer to take Sienna’s side, you know? We ran into each other this morning. Literally. Someone hit my car and he helped sort it out p>
“And he just… paid for your repairs? Out of nowhere p>
“Apparently p>
Johnny was looking at me like I’d just told him I’d had coffee with the president. “That’s weird p>
“Why is it weird p>
“Because Harry Becker doesn’t do stuff like that. He’s not… I mean, he’s not rude, but he’s not exactly the helpful stranger type either.” Johnny shook his head. “You must’ve made an impression p>
I didn’t know what to do with that information. Didn’t particularly want to analyze it right now.
“Can we just… let’s focus on the homework, okay p>
“Right. Yeah. Homework.” But Johnny was still giving me that look. Like he was trying to figure out a puzzle I didn’t even know existed.
I ignored it and opened my laptop and started pulling up the notes and photos from the exhibition.
This review wasn’t going to write itself. And we had maybe ten hours to produce something that wouldn’t make Nolan even more disappointed in us than he already was.
No pressure.
“Okay,” I said, fingers already moving across the keyboard. “Let’s start with the German pack’s biometric system. That was the most innovative exhibit, so it should probably lead the analysis p>
Johnny nodded, opening his own laptop. “Agreed. And then we can move into the French delegation’s encryption protocols p>
We fell into it and started working together. We started technical discussions and rapid-fire typing and the occasional argument about interpretation.
It was easier than thinking about Harry Becker and why he’d paid for my repairs.
Easier than thinking about Dante and the way he’d pushed me away like I was contaminated.
Easier than thinking about anything except the work in front of me.
So that’s what I did.
I worked.
Because that’s all I had left that made sense anymore.