Chapter 4 - The Door She Chose
Luca remained outside the apartment.
For once, he seemed to understand that a doorway was not an invitation.
“Where did you get that photograph?” Mia asked.
“An old security file.”
“Who prepared the file?”
His silence answered.
Victor.
The same man who had provided the bank statements, the recording, and the witness who claimed to have seen Mia betray the family.
Luca looked down at the picture.
“I asked for the original material.”
“After seven years.”
“Yes.”
She waited.
“I should have done it then.”
“Yes.”
There was no comfort in making him say it.
Only a small, necessary correction.
He looked past her toward the apartment.
“Is Tobias asleep?”
“He’s reading.”
“Can I speak to him?”
“No.”
Luca accepted that without argument.
It was such a modest act of respect that Mia almost resented noticing it.
He had lowered the standard so far that simply hearing no looked remarkable.
“I’ve removed Victor’s access to your floor,” he said.
“You had the ability to do that before.”
“I know.”
“And the maintenance assignment?”
“Ended.”
“Because you’re reconsidering my guilt?”
His eyes lifted.
“Because it was wrong.”
Mia studied him.
The answer mattered.
It did not erase anything.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” she said.
His expression changed before he controlled it.
“Where?”
“I’m not telling you.”
For a moment, the old Luca returned—the man who treated information as something he could demand.
Then he stepped back.
“Does your attorney know?”
“Yes.”
“Is Tobias’s care arranged?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“I won’t interfere.”
“You’ll put that through Hannah.”
“I will.”
The next morning, an independent transport service took Tobias to his clinic appointment.
Afterward, Hannah accompanied them to temporary housing arranged through people outside the Ashby network.
Mia did not give Luca the address.
She also began the legal process of ending the marriage.
Hannah explained the options carefully, including how the coercive circumstances might affect the proceedings.
Mia listened, asked questions, and chose the route counsel believed best supported by the evidence.
For the first time, a document existed to protect her choice rather than record somebody else’s control.
Tobias stood in the new apartment’s doorway with a bag of books.
“It has ugly curtains.”
“They’re temporary.”
“I like them.”
Mia looked at him.
“You just said they’re ugly.”
“They’re ours.”
She had to turn away.
That evening, she cooked pasta in a saucepan with a loose handle.
There was no dining table, so they ate on the couch with folded towels across their knees.
Tobias asked whether they were running again.
Mia considered the question.
“No.”
“How is this different?”
“People know where we are. People we chose. And we’re not leaving because he told us to.”
He nodded slowly.
Outside, a bus sighed at the curb.
Somebody in the apartment above dropped something heavy and swore.
Ordinary noises.
Mia had missed the comfort of them.
At ten, Hannah called.
Victor had been told he was no longer authorized to act for several Ashby companies.
His response had not been quiet.
There were threats, denials, and an attempt to remove records from an office before access was restricted.
Investigators were following developments.
Hannah asked Mia to report any unexpected contact immediately.
An hour later, the clinic called.
A man claiming to represent Tobias’s family had requested a transfer of his records and asked about moving his next appointment.
The clinic had refused to proceed without verification.
They wanted Mia to know.
She sat very still.
Then she asked for the caller’s name.
The person had given a false one.
But he had used a phrase she remembered.
For the boy’s own protection.
Victor’s phrase.
She called Hannah.
Then Bennett.
Then she checked the lock, even though she knew checking it again would not make it stronger.
Tobias watched from the hallway.
“Was it him?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Don’t do that.”
She closed her eyes.
He was right.
“I think it was connected to him.”
“What happens now?”
“We tell the people helping us. We don’t handle it alone.”
He looked frightened.
But he nodded.
Later, Mia stood by the window and watched headlights move along the wet street.
Her phone displayed a message from Luca.
Hannah said there was contact with the clinic. I have given investigators information about Victor’s people. I will not come unless you ask.
She read it twice.
Then she set the phone down.
May you like
She did not answer.
For once, a man’s concern would have to exist without access to her.
