Chapter 15 - The Lowest Point
Naomi contacted the insurer with me on the line.
The company confirmed that an active policy existed and agreed to review our documentation of possible application fraud.
The coverage had been presented as an employer benefit.
I had never knowingly completed its separate application.
The insurer would not release every record immediately, but it preserved the file for investigation.
By evening I felt more frightened than angry.
I had shared a bed with a man who concealed finances, invented family history, and apparently arranged insurance I hadn't authorized.
Naomi helped me change passwords, secure important records, and stay somewhere Eliam couldn't casually enter.
The next morning, my employer called.
An anonymous complaint had included fragments of genuine company files alongside false accusations.
Until they resolved the matter, I would remain on leave.
I sat on Naomi's sofa and cried for the first time.
Not because I believed Eliam would win.
Because the life I had built had begun collapsing before anyone formally accused him of a crime.
My mother arrived with groceries.
She sat beside me without making excuses.
“I should have listened,” she said.
I didn't tell her everything was fine.
It wasn't.
But I let her hold my hand.
At midnight, a message appeared from Eliam.
I KNOW YOU CONTACTED MY MOTHER.
Then another.
YOU SHOULD ASK MARA WHY LUKE REALLY DIED.
I called Mara immediately.
She answered with a shaking voice.
“Someone broke into my apartment.”
“Are you safe?”
“I'm at a neighbor's. The police are here.”
“Did they take anything?”
“Only one folder.”
I closed my eyes.
“Which one?”
“The folder with the original emergency call records.”
She took a breath.
“Ellen, there was a name in that folder I never told you about.”
“Whose?”
May you like
“Your mother's.”
