Chapter 5 Living with Him
Elodie's POV
He didn't seem surprised by my answer. He turned around and said, "Bring her. Let's go."
The burly man approached again, but this time his movements were much more courteous. I followed them, stumbling through the fire scene and escaping through the apartment's fire exit.
Outside was total chaos. The fire truck sirens grew louder, piercing through New York's night sky.
No one noticed this group of black-clad people quietly leaving with a distraught girl.
I was pushed into a black Bentley, with Lorenzo sitting beside me.
The car's interior was spacious, filled with the same cedar scent as him, but I only felt cold all over, as if falling into an ice cave.
The car drove smoothly through the city's neon lights. The cabin was deathly silent, so oppressive I could barely breathe.
I carefully turned my head to look at his hard profile, my heart pounding.
I was afraid he would dispose of me in some deserted corner, just like he did with the landlord.
The instinct to survive gave me courage to break the silence. "Mr. Nelson... about everything that happened today, I didn't see anything, and I don't know anything. I swear I won't say a word to anyone. If you're worried, you can have someone watch me. I promise to live like a normal student and won't cause you any trouble."
Lorenzo finally turned his head. Those blue eyes swept over me lightly, as if evaluating an object's value. "You think I need your promise?"
I was speechless. Yes, in his eyes, my promise was as worthless as my life. Making me disappear would cost him no effort at all.
Seeing my face turn pale, he looked away and said nothing more.
The car eventually entered an extremely luxurious apartment complex in Manhattan, stopping in front of a towering building.
I was taken to a duplex apartment on the top floor.
The apartment's decor was minimalist black, white, and gray, everywhere showing understated luxury and the owner's cold style.
Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows was the entire glittering Manhattan nightscape.
"You'll live here from now on." Lorenzo took off his black coat and casually threw it on the sofa, revealing his well-tailored shirt underneath that outlined his broad shoulders and firm narrow waist.
I froze, looking at him in disbelief.
What... did this mean?
"Relax, I'm not into your scrawny little body." He seemed to read my mind. "Having you here just makes it easier for my guys to keep an eye on you."
His words left me both ashamed and angry, but more than that, I felt relief at surviving the ordeal.
At least I was temporarily safe.
"Food and necessities will be delivered regularly. You can continue your studies, but don't go anywhere except school." He coldly instructed while unbuttoning his cuffs. "Don't think about escaping or contacting anyone, or face the consequences."
After saying this, he walked straight into one of the bedrooms and never came out again.
I stood alone in the spacious living room, looking at the thousands of lights outside the window, my heart filled with mixed emotions.
Why did he arrange for me to stay here—was it simply for surveillance, or did he have other purposes?
I was under house arrest in this top-floor apartment overlooking all of Manhattan.
Mr. Nelson hadn't appeared again since that night.
I once tried to find evidence that he was Lorenzo.
I quietly entered the bedroom he slept in that night. It was spotlessly clean, not even a single hair to be found. The closet held several perfectly ironed shirts and suits, all top custom brands, with a cold style completely different from the boy in the hockey jersey I remembered.
I even gathered the courage to ask a man delivering food before he left, "When will Mr. Nelson be back?"
The man gave me a weird look and answered like a robot, "Mr. Nelson's whereabouts aren't something we're supposed to ask about."
After hitting that dead end, I had no choice but to give up.
Days passed one by one. Except for school, my range of activity was limited to this gilded cage.
Every day I stood at the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the bustling world below, feeling like some lost soul trapped high above the clouds.
This afternoon, I had just returned from school when the apartment doorbell suddenly rang.
I thought it was the food delivery person, but when I opened the door, I saw a woman dressed to the nines.
She wore a tight red dress that showed off her voluptuous curves, her face made up with delicate makeup, big wavy curls draped over her shoulders, her whole body giving off a strong perfume scent.
She looked me up and down, her gaze like a precise scalpel, dissecting me from head to toe, finally settling on my plain T-shirt and jeans.
"So you're the poor little thing Mr. Nelson brought back?"
I paused, asking warily, "Who are you?"
The woman didn't answer my question but walked straight into the apartment as if it were her own home.
She ran her fingers, adorned with an ostentatious diamond ring, over the expensive leather sofa, her tone casual. "Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that I know who you are."
She spun around and crossed her arms, chin tilted up. "Just some little pet who saw something she wasn't supposed to and now Mr. Nelson's keeping her around."
I clenched my fists, disliking her insulting way of putting it.
The woman seemed to see through my thoughts and laughed, walking up to me and tapping my shoulder with her bright red nails. "Don't be so tense. I came today to check on you for Mr. Nelson. He's very busy and doesn't have time for small matters like you, so for now, I'm in charge here."
She paused, her red lips curving into a smug smile. "Forgot to introduce myself. I'm Mr. Nelson's girlfriend, Isabella."
Girlfriend? My heart suddenly sank, as if pressed down by a huge stone, so heavy I couldn't breathe.
So he had a girlfriend.
Well, Lorenzo was wildly pursued by girls during his teenage years. It was perfectly normal for him to have one or two mature, beautiful women around him now.