All Chapters of ALIBI : Chapter 31 - Chapter 37

The penthouse felt hollow after they took Mara away.Not quiet — hollow.As if sound itself had drained from the walls, leaving behind a heavy pressure that pressed in on her chest.Elara sat on the edge of the bed, exactly where Mara had told her to stay.Her hands rested uselessly in her lap, fingers curled slightly, as if they no longer knew what to do. She could still feel the warmth of Mara’s touch on her face, the weight of her arms around her, the steadiness in her voice when everything else had fallen apart.Don’t say anything.She clung to those words like a rope, the only thing keeping her upright.Footsteps moved through the house.Doors opened and closed.Voices murmured, low and controlled.Someone spoke into a radio.Another voice asked questions she could not hear.Elara did not move.Her eyes stayed fixed on the floor, on the place where the stain remained, even though someone had covered it with a sheet.The image was burned into her mind anyway.She closed her eyes,

Time changed shape after that.Hours stretched too long, then vanished without warning. Elara slept at odd intervals, waking with her heart racing, breath shallow, convinced she had missed something important—an update, a call, a chance to fix what could no longer be fixed.The penthouse no longer felt like home.The space felt different now—too quiet, too still. Sounds echoed where they hadn’t before. Every room held the shape of something unfinished.She did not open the bedroom door. She passed it like it wasn’t there, like looking inside might undo what little control she had left.Days later, when the walls began to feel too close, she packed a small bag—clothes, documents, her phone. Her hands shook the entire time.The hotel was temporary. Anonymous. Neutral walls. A place where memories had not yet taken root.At night, guilt crept in like a second heartbeat.It was there when she lay still in the dark. In the quiet between breaths. In the moments just before sleep, when her bo

Waiting became its own kind of punishment.Elara learned that quickly.Days passed without shape or direction. Morning bled into afternoon, afternoon into night, until time felt like one long stretch she couldn’t measure anymore. She woke up already tired, her body heavy before the day even began, and went to bed carrying the same exhaustion. The penthouse felt too large now, its silence pressing in on her, every room echoing with absence. Adrian was gone—but so was Mara, and somehow that loss hurt louder, sharper, settling deep in her chest where it refused to ease.She moved through the house carefully, quietly, as if any sudden movement—any misstep—might break what little balance she had left.Noah became her anchor.She woke him up for school each morning, called his name softly until he stirred. Helped Ruth pack his lunch at the kitchen counter, the same motions repeated until they became automatic. Took him to school. Sat beside him in the evenings while he did his homework at th