Chapter 14 LONGEST DAY PART 1
Vivienne was still awake at 6:00 AM the next morning, staring at the scary texts on her phone screen. She hadn't slept at all, her mind racing with questions and fear.
All at once.
Who was this person threatening her? How did they find out about her past and Alexander? Were they really going to expose her secrets? And worse. Were they stalking her.
Panic surged inside her.
She got out of bed and checked the locks on all the doors and windows for the third time, her hands shaking.
Every time a car drove by outside, she jumped and her heart raced. She'd been this way all night.
She quietly walked down the hall to Noah's room and pushed the door open. He was still sleeping, his dark hair was messy on the pillow. She watched his chest rise and fall slowly, and tears filled her eyes.
By 6:30, the paranoia had fully taken over her. Her phone lit, and she almost dropped it.
It was Marcus calling. She let it go to voicemail, with her finger hovering over the screen.
Could it be him? He knew about the Hunt contract and how badly she wanted to save the business. And he was freaking out about losing his house. Would he really go this far?
She looked through her contacts, looking at each name with suspicion. Could it be an employee? Someone who could have looked at her personnel files and figured out that she wasn't who she said she was?
She shuddered at the thought of Victoria Hunt's cruel face. But how would Alexander's mom know that she was actually Elara? Unless... She saw the name Jane Sterling.
Alexander's assistant had been very pushy in trying to get her to meet with him. Could she be looking into Vivienne's past on his orders?
Noah walked into the kitchen at 7:00, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He frowned when he saw Vivienne's tired face.
"Mom, you look scary. Did you even sleep?"
She tried to act normal as she cracked eggs into a bowl with shaky hands and forced a tight smile.
"Of course, baby. I stayed up to work. Do you want toast with your eggs?"
She put bread in the toaster, but her mind was somewhere else. When it popped back up, black and charred, she jumped. Noah scrunched up his nose.
"I guess I'll just eat cereal. Are we going to the office together again today?"
"No!" she snapped, more harshly than she meant to. Noah's eyes widen, and she instantly felt bad about it. "I'm sorry, honey. I didn't mean to shout. No, we're going to stay home today, okay?"
By 7:30, Marcus's messages were lighting up her phone nonstop.
"Vee, we need to talk. NOW."
"The lawyer for the landlord just called. Today is the day they file for eviction."
"VEE. PICK UP THE PHONE!"
She turned off her phone and put it in a drawer with shaking hands.
At 8:00, she decided not to leave the building. She told Noah, who was confused but happy, that they were going to stay home.
She carefully locked every door, latched every window, and drew every curtain until the apartment was dark and stuffy. He curled up on the couch with his sketchbook.
She sat stiffly on the couch with her laptop open to Alexander's email. The cursor was blinking as if it was waiting for something. She couldn't bring herself to answer, so she stared at his words until they became blurry.
Not yet. She couldn't bring herself to reply.
The walls felt like they were closing in on her by 9:00. Marcus sent more frantic texts, and an employee sent an email asking if the office was even open today. And then she got one from Jane Sterling that made her blood run cold.
"Ms. Cross, Mr. Hunt is still waiting to hear from you. Time-sensitive matter."
Vivienne jumped up and started walking around the living room, biting her thumbnail until it bled. She tried to call the number that had sent her threatening texts at 10:00, but all she heard was a busy signal. It didn't work when she typed it into every online reverse phone lookup.
For a crazy moment, she thought about calling the cops. But what could she say?
"Someone found out about the fake identity I've been using for ten years and is now blackmailing me?" That would expose everything she had worked so hard to keep secret.
She was stuck.
The doorbell rang at 11:30, breaking the tense silence. Vivienne almost jumped out of her skin. She looked through the peephole with her heart in her mouth. Marcus was in the hallway, ready to knock again.
She stopped and thought about not answering it. Acting like she wasn't home. But he kept hitting the door more violently.
"Vee, I know you're in there." He yelled, "Your car is out there."
Noah looked up from his drawings with a furrowed brow. "Mom? Why aren't you letting Uncle Marcus in?"
Vivienne had to swallow hard to get past the lump in her throat. She didn't know what to say to Noah or how to explain any of this.
She shut her eyes tight as Marcus's banging echoed through the apartment.