Chapter 48

Chapter 48
ELENA'S POV

IT WASN'T CONNER!

“Conner wouldn’t address me as Miss Elena...” I muttered, my voice barely a whisper, the words spilling out more to myself than to anyone else. I slowly pulled the phone away from my ear, a creeping suspicion tightening my gut like a knot being pulled tighter and tighter with each second.

My eyes darted to the screen, and as I stared at the caller ID, realization struck me like a bolt of lightning tearing through the calm sky.

“Shit…” I breathed out, the curse slipping through my lips in a panicked exhale. I quickly covered the phone's mouthpiece with my hand, my heart beginning to hammer against my ribcage.

It wasn’t Conner.

It was my boss.

From the fake life I had almost completely abandoned…my waitressing job. A job I hadn’t thought about in days. Hell, I’d practically forgotten it existed.

I hadn’t called in. Hadn’t texted. Hadn’t told anyone where I was or what I was doing. I just… vanished. Ghosted. Poof. Like I’d never been there at all.

And now here I was, on the phone with the one person who could completely ruin what little stability I had left.

“Hello… good morning, sir,” I said quickly, my voice shifting into something softer, more professional, forcefully polite. My hand trembled slightly as I adjusted the phone back to my ear. I had no idea what to expect. Had no idea what kind of tone I’d be met with. I was already bracing for the worst, some kind of warning, maybe even a final notice.

After all, I hadn’t filed for leave. Hadn’t told a single soul I was stepping away. I just flipped off the lights and disappeared.

“Good morning, Miss Elena…” he replied in that same even tone, the formality in his voice slicing right through me.

I could already feel it coming. The lecture. The disappointment. The possible termination. My brain scrambled to form a believable excuse, something airtight, something that made sense. But nothing came. Just static and panic.

“Well… you’re sounding much better over the phone. How is your health?” he asked.

My brows shot up.

My health?

I blinked, stunned, caught completely off-guard. Health? What was he talking about? I hadn’t spoken to anyone. I hadn’t even mentioned being sick. And now here he was, talking like I’d been lying in a hospital bed somewhere?

A sharp chill ran through me. For a split second, my mind spiraled…had something happened that I didn’t know about? Had someone else been pretending to be me? Did he know something I didn’t?

But no… there was nothing wrong with me. No sudden illness. No mystery diagnosis. I was fine. Exhausted, sure. Mentally fried, definitely. But not sick.

“Sir… I…” I stammered, my lips parting as I struggled to string a sentence together. My tongue felt heavy and tangled, unsure of which direction to take.

“It’s fine. Relax,” he said gently as if reading the confusion through the line. “I know you’re surprised by how I got hold of this information.”

His tone was calm. Almost sympathetic.

“Yes, sir,” I muttered, still dazed, still unsure where this was heading.

“I asked about you a couple of days ago,” he continued. “I had noticed your absence… and when I spoke to Laura, she told me you fell really ill and had to be rushed to the hospital on very short notice. She said you thought it would be a simple in-and-out kind of thing, but things didn’t go as planned. You ended up having to stay a little longer.”

I blinked again. Slower this time.

Laura?

Laura said that?

The same Laura who I barely spoke to at work? The one whose conversations with me were always short and one-sided, always initiated by her, always limited to a few polite exchanges?

She covered for me?

And not just a little white lie, but a full, detailed story?

I was stunned into silence, my mouth slightly open as my boss kept talking.

“To cut this short,” he said with a sigh, “I just called to hear from you myself. And yes, I might be too busy to visit in person, but I want you to know that if you ever need help…financially or otherwise, we’re here to support you, alright? You don’t always have to bear your cross alone.”

His words hung in the air.

And for a moment, I didn’t know how to respond. Couldn't remember when last I got offered support like that. Not without an agenda. Not without expecting something in return.

I was speechless.

Laura had lied to protect me. Lied to cover for me. And I still didn’t know why.

Why go that far? Why lie on my behalf when we weren’t even close?

But right now, I didn’t have time to unpack that. I needed to respond. I needed to sound composed.

“Thank you very much, sir. I truly appreciate your concern,” I said quietly, my voice much more grounded now, though still shaken from everything I’d just learned. “I’m really sorry I didn’t reach out earlier to explain my predicament, but I’m immensely grateful that you understand.”

“Well… that’s that,” he said, sounding a little more cheerful now. “My concern now is that you get better and return to work bubbling.”

He chuckled lightly, and I couldn’t help but let out a soft, nervous laugh too.

“Alright then. Keep me posted on how everything goes, alright? In the meantime, take care of yourself.”

“Thank you, boss,” I replied sincerely.

And just like that, the call ended.

I let the phone drop into my lap, the screen going dark as silence returned to the room.

“Gosh…” I groaned, dragging my palms down my face before covering my forehead with both hands. I leaned forward, elbows resting on my thighs, completely overwhelmed.

The weight of everything crashed over me.

My fake story had almost gotten me fired, except it wasn’t even my fake story. Laura had made it up. For me. And now I owed her more than just a thank you.

My mind spun with a thousand questions, but I couldn’t even begin to answer them.

I stayed like that for a moment, letting the chaos settle… until as if on cue, the universe decided it wasn’t done with me yet.

My phone buzzed again.

My head shot up slowly, dread pooling in my stomach. I turned the phone over, my fingers already trembling. The screen lit up…and I froze.

My heartbeat stuttered.

It was Luca.