Chapter 5 - NIGHT TERRORS
By 9:00 PM, a heavy rainstorm had settled over the estate. Thunder rumbled across the dark hills, sending streaks of lightning through the sky.
I sat in my private study on the third floor, review paper after paper of the legal filings my attorneys were preparing to crush Harland. We had already frozen seven of his offshore accounts and seized his suburban home in Bryn Mawr.
Suddenly, a soft knock came at my study door.
"Come in," I said.
The door pushed open slowly. Nora stood there, dressed in an oversized white cotton nightgown that trailed on the carpet. She held a small stuffed bear under her arm, her eyes wide with terror as thunder rattled the tall stained-glass windows.
"Nora?" I asked, stepping out from behind my desk. "Why aren't you sleeping?"
"The sky is angry," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the wind. "And... and I couldn't find Mama. The big bed was empty."
My heart dropped. I immediately walked over and picked Nora up, holding her close as I walked down the hallway toward the guest wing.
When we opened the door to the master suite, the bed was indeed empty. The bathroom door was slightly ajar, steam billowing out into the bedroom.
"Elena?" I called out, setting Nora down on the armchair.
I pushed open the bathroom door and found Elena collapsed on the tile floor near the bathtub, shivering violently, trying to wring out a towel with her weak, trembling hands.
"Elena! What are you doing?" I exclaimed, crouching beside her and lifting her off the wet floor.
"The... the linens," Elena gasped through cracked, feverish lips, her eyes unfocused. "Mr. Harland said... if the silk isn't dried by morning... he’ll take Nora... he’ll take my baby away..."
She was delirious from the high fever, caught in a terrifying nightmare where Harland was still standing over her, holding her daughter hostage.
"Elena, look at me!" I commanded firmly, holding her shoulders and making her look into my eyes. "Harland is gone! He will never touch you or Nora again! Do you hear me? He is finished!"
Tears poured down her burning cheeks as she stared at me, trying to process my words through the fog of illness. "He... he said you ordered it... he said Mr. Vance wanted us gone..."
"He lied to you," I said softly, my voice filled with deep regret. "He stole from you, Elena. He stole your husband's settlement, he stole your dignity, and he lied using my name. But I promise you on my life—no one will ever hurt you under this roof again."
Nora walked into the bathroom, holding her stuffed bear, and rested her head against her mother's knee. "Mama... Mr. Luca gave me a warm towel. He isn't angry."
Elena hugged her child tightly, sobbing uncontrollably as the dark fear that had trapped her for three long years finally began to shatter.
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I lifted Elena back into the warm bed, tucked the heavy wool blankets around her, and pulled up two plush armchairs beside the bed.
"Tonight, I stay here," I said, sitting down beside Nora. "Neither of you are alone anymore."
