Chapter 1
“Call him. I want to hear him breathe.”
Ottavia gripped the phone.
Did not raise it.
Around us, shredded pieces of Eulalie’s wages lay across the gift table like pale confetti from a celebration nobody wanted anymore.
Eulalie stared at the phone.
That frightened me more than Ottavia’s silence.
“What is your brother’s name?”
“Callum.”
Her voice barely carried.
“Callum Bramfield.”
“How long has he been gone?”
“Four months.”
Ottavia snapped:
“He isn’t gone.”
I turned toward her.
“Excellent.”
I held out my hand again.
“Call him.”
Her jaw tightened.
“The situation is complicated.”
“Breathing usually isn’t.”
No answer.
I looked at Eulalie.
“What debt?”
She crushed the empty savings envelope harder.
“Ottavia said Callum damaged something that belonged to her family.”
“What?”
“A car.”
“How much?”
“Sixty thousand.”
I glanced at the ruined money.
“How much have you paid?”
“Almost eleven.”
“And Callum?”
“He works every day.”
“For wages?”
Her eyes filled.
“Against the debt.”
There.
I looked at Ottavia.
“If repayment is the goal, why did you just destroy three months of money?”
Silence.
Nearby guests began understanding with me.
Ottavia tried:
“She disobeyed an arrangement.”
“So the debt increases when you destroy the payment?”
“It’s not that simple.”
No.
It was simpler.
The debt was useful only while unpaid.
I stepped closer.
“Phone.”
This time she gave it to me.
Unlocked.
One contact had been called repeatedly.
NORTH HOUSE.
I pressed it.
Ottavia inhaled sharply.
The line rang four times.
Then a man answered.
Machinery hummed behind him.
“Hello?”
Eulalie covered her mouth.
“Callum.”
Her knees almost failed.
The line went silent.
Then:
“Ellie?”
He sounded exhausted.
Alive.
That mattered first.
I took the phone.
“Callum Bramfield?”
“Who is this?”
“Tobias Wrenhurst.”
Another silence.
Longer.
Then Callum whispered:
“She told you.”
“No.”
I looked directly at Ottavia.
“Your sister did.”
He breathed once.
Slowly.
May you like
Then said the sentence that ended my engagement before Ottavia realized it.
“Then ask her why I’m not allowed to leave the house where she keeps her mother.”
