Chương 5
The absence bothered her more than she expected.
She immediately disliked herself for noticing.
Claire was still there.
Martin was speaking with Victor near the entrance.
Their voices were too low to hear.
But their body language said enough.
They were no longer controlling the room.
They were controlling each other.
Claire followed Elena’s eyes.
“They’re scared.”
Elena looked at her.
“Should I be?”
Claire hesitated.
“Yes.”
The honesty surprised her.
“Of what?”
Claire looked toward the doors.
“Not Martin.”
Elena felt a chill.
“Then who?”
Claire opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
A second later, her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
The color drained from her face.
“Who is it?” Elena asked.
Claire did not answer.
She simply turned the phone around.
There was no name.
No number.
Just a blocked call.
It stopped before anyone answered.
Then a message appeared.
Claire read it.
Her hand began shaking.
Elena stepped closer.
“What does it say?”
Claire looked at her.
For a moment, Elena saw the same fear she had seen in Adrian’s eyes when he first checked his phone.
Not fear of what happened.
Fear of what was coming.
Claire handed her the screen.
Three words appeared.
YOU WERE WARNED.
Elena looked up slowly.
The message was not for her.
It was for Claire.
And somehow that made it worse.
Claire stared at the message as if the words had reached through the glass of the phone and touched something she had spent months trying to hide.
Elena watched her carefully.
The fear on Claire’s face was not the fear of someone caught doing something wrong.
It was the fear of someone who had been waiting for a consequence she hoped would never arrive.
“Who sent that?” Elena asked.
Claire lowered the phone.
“I don’t know.”
“You recognized it.”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Elena noticed.
So did Claire.
For a second, neither woman spoke.
Then Claire looked away.
“I recognized what it means.”
The ballroom felt colder despite the crowded room.
Elena glanced toward the entrance.
“Is someone following you?”
Claire hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only honest one.”
The words irritated Elena because they sounded familiar.
She had spent the entire night surrounded by people giving incomplete answers and expecting her to accept them.
“I’m tired of honest answers that don’t tell me anything.”
Claire nodded slowly.
“You should be.”
There was no defensiveness in her voice.
Only exhaustion.
That made Elena soften slightly.
Not enough to trust her.
Enough to remember that Claire was also standing inside the same storm.
“Where are you going now?” Elena asked.
“Home.”
“Alone?”
Claire looked toward the exit.
“Yes.”
Elena almost told her not to.
She almost said that was a bad idea.
But she stopped herself.
She barely knew this woman.
And she had spent the last several hours learning how dangerous it was to make decisions based only on fear.
Then the ballroom lights flickered.
Not enough for anyone else to panic.
Just enough for the staff to look toward the ceiling.
A waiter near the bar checked something on his tablet.
A security employee walked toward the hallway.
Elena watched the movement.
Small.
Organized.
Too organized.
Her phone vibrated.
She looked down.
It was Adrian.
For a moment she considered ignoring it.
Then she answered.
“Where are you?”
The question came out sharper than she intended.
A pause followed.
“I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“I’m still at the gala.”
“I know.”
Elena looked around.
The room suddenly felt full of invisible cameras.
“How?”
“Because someone is watching the building.”
Her grip tightened around the phone.
“You make that sound normal.”
“It isn’t.”
“Then why are you so calm?”
“Because panic makes people predictable.”
She hated that the answer made sense.
“Claire got a message.”
Silence.
Not long.
But long enough.
“What did it say?”
Elena looked at Claire.
“You know something.”
“I asked what it said.”
“You didn’t ask who sent it.”
Another pause.
Then Adrian said quietly, “Read it to me.”
Elena did.
When she finished, he did not speak.
That scared her more than anything else.
“Adrian.”
“Stay where you are.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“No.”
She stepped away from the crowd.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do just because you walked into a room and everyone listened.”
“I’m not trying to control you.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Trying to keep you alive.”
The words should have sounded dramatic.
They did not.
That was the problem.
He said them like a fact.
Like something practical.
Elena closed her eyes for a moment.
“I’m not a person you have to protect.”
“I know.”
“Then stop acting like I am.”
“I’m acting like someone has decided you are useful.”
The anger she felt shifted.
Not disappeared.
Shifted.
“What does that mean?”
“It means they don’t need you destroyed.”
A chill moved through her.
“They need something from me.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“I don’t know yet.”
She almost laughed.
“Of course you don’t.”
“I’m not going to pretend I do.”
That stopped her.
Because the truth was she trusted that answer more than a confident lie.
Across the room, Claire suddenly moved toward the exit.
Elena lowered the phone.
“Claire is leaving.”
“Don’t let her leave alone.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever sent that message wanted her afraid enough to run.”
Elena looked at Claire.
The woman was already reaching for the door.
“Elena.”
She ignored him and followed.
Outside, the night air hit her immediately.
The city sounded different after being trapped inside the ballroom.
Cars moved along the street.
People walked past without knowing anything had happened.
A man nearby laughed into his phone.
A couple argued quietly beside a parked car.
The ordinary world continued.
Claire stood near the curb, waiting for a rideshare.
“You shouldn’t leave,” Elena said.
Claire turned.
Her expression was tired.
“You sound like Adrian.”
“That is not a compliment.”
“No.”
A small smile appeared.
May you like
“Probably not.”
It disappeared quickly.
