Chapter 171

Ella

The sound of the buzzer reverberated through my apartment louder than I had expected, and the grating sound sent shivers down my spine.

I was sitting on the floor amidst the mess after I had just torn apart my living room in a desperate search for hidden cameras, driven to paranoia by Marina’s threats.

But I had found nothing. The thought of breaking into my walls with a sledgehammer crossed my mind, but I knew that my landlord would kill me. If there were any cameras around, they were certainly hidden in a place that I could never reach.

The buzzer went off again, and I stood, caught between answering it and hiding beneath my bed.

I wasn’t sure if I should answer it or pretend I wasn’t home, but eventually came to the conclusion that someone with ill intent likely wouldn’t be ringing the doorbell, so I shakily walked over to the door and pressed the intercom.

“H-Hello?” I stammered, trying and failing to hide the quiver in my voice. “Who’s there?”

“Ella, it’s me,” Logan’s voice crackled through the speaker, instantly filling me with a sense of ease. “Can you let me in, please?”

I hesitated for a moment, my mind racing with conflicting emotions as I looked around my disheveled apartment. I couldn’t let him see me like this. It was a disaster in here, and I looked like a mess as well.

My hair had fallen out of its neat bun, my makeup was smudged, and my blazer was crumpled on the floor. I was still wearing my button-down shirt and trousers, both of which were covered in dust and debris, and there was even a hole in my sleeve from ripping it on a bookshelf. My shoes were in two completely different locations, and I looked like I had just been to hell and back.

Honestly, I felt like it, too.

“Ella?” Logan’s voice came through again. “You there?”

“I’m, uh, sick,” I lied, swallowing. “I can’t let you in.”

Logan paused for a moment before he answered. He sounded a little exasperated. “Bullshit, Ella,” he said. “I just saw you a little while ago. Now let me in before I force my way in.”

I swallowed hard, my heart aching at the concern in Logan’s voice. I knew he cared about me, but I also knew that if I let him in now with the state my apartment was currently in, I would have a lot of explaining to do.

“I really can’t,” I said, my voice quivering despite how hard I was trying to control it. “It’s… food poisoning. Trust me, it’s not pretty.”

Logan didn’t seem convinced, and his next words sent a chill down my spine. “Ella, if you won’t buzz me up, I’ll break in. I need to make sure you’re okay. So, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?”

My breath caught in my throat. The determination in his voice left me with no choice. I pressed the button to unlock the building’s front door, allowing Logan to enter.

As I waited anxiously by my apartment door, I couldn’t help but glance around once more at the wreckage I had created. The torn cushions, overturned furniture, and scattered belongings were a dead giveaway to my paranoia.

For a moment, I considered trying to clean up, but it was too late. I could already hear his footsteps coming down the hall, hurried and loud.

The door swung open a moment to reveal Logan, his eyes widening in shock as they took in the chaos that had consumed my living room. He froze in place, his concern deepening as he stared at me and then at the mess.

“Holy shit, Ella,” he said, his voice a mixture of astonishment and worry, “what the hell happened in here?”

I bit my lip, feeling a rush of embarrassment and shame. With Logan standing here in front of me, I felt like a complete and utter fool for tearing my apartment up like this.

Ema had been right; if there were hidden cameras in my apartment and Marina wasn’t bluffing, I certainly wouldn’t have found them so easily. They could be in the walls, the pipes, anything. Hell, my phone could have been tapped.

“It was nothing,” I muttered, my voice barely more than a whisper. “I was just... looking for something, that;s all. And it got a little out of hand.”

“A little?” he asked incredulously as he stepped forward into the mess, stooping to pick up a novel that I had ripped several pages out of. He turned to face me with his brow furrowed, his concern evident in his eyes. “Ella, what really happened here?”

“Nothing!” I said, maybe a little more harshly than I intended. I cleared my throat and composed myself as I saw the astonished look in his eyes. “I mean, really, it was nothing. I’m just… not having a good day.”

He frowned, folding his arms across his chest. “Who tears up their apartment like this over a ‘bad day’?” he asked. “Be honest with me, Ella. You know I’m here for you.”

I hesitated, torn between the desire to confide in Logan and the fear of what would happen if Marina knew I told him.

For all I knew, a sniper was trained on my little sister right this moment. And if there were hidden cameras in here or if my phone was tapped, Marina would certainly send the order out in a heartbeat.

Logan let out a sigh when I didn’t answer, his shoulders slumping as he took a step closer to me. “Ella, I know you’re going through something, and it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it right now. But if it’s serious, if it’s hurting you, you should let someone in. You shouldn’t have to face it alone.”

I stared at Logan, his words hitting me like a punch to the gut. He was right, of course. I shouldn’t shut people out, but I had no choice but to keep it to myself. I wanted to scream, to cry, to tell him everything; but the fear of something happening to my baby sister gripped me, holding me tight.

Finally, I mustered the courage to speak, my voice trembling slightly. “It’s just... been a lot, Logan. I don’t know where to start,” I said quietly.

Logan’s expression softened, and he reached out to gently touch my shoulder, his touch offering comfort and support. There was a knowing look in his eyes as though he could sense that it wasn’t just that I wouldn’t tell him, but rather that I couldn’t tell him.

“Okay,” he said gently, nodding. “We don’t need to talk about it right now. Or ever, if that’s what you need.”

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I nodded, my voice choked. “Thank you,” I managed, even though it felt as though the world was tilting beneath me.

We stood there for a moment longer in silence before Logan finally pulled his hand away and looked around again at the mess that had become my apartment.

“Now,” he said, pushing his sleeves up, “should we clean this mess up?”