Nocturne

"Souls do not meet by chance."

❁𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 19 : ❁

The sky had dimmed into a bleak sheet of gray steel, unmoving a silent reminder that winter was crawling in faster than anyone cared to admit and the streets reflected that change with their dry air, the sharp bite of wind that made people walk faster, heads down, coats clutched tighter.

Inside the car, where the heater hummed steadily and the windows dulled the outside world, Bella sat rigid, her body warm but her chest heavy with a pressure that made it hard to breathe, her stomach curling tighter with every passing moment, nausea simmering beneath the surface like it might rise and spill without warning.

Her leg bounced a nervous, relentless rhythm she couldn't stop no matter how still she tried to sit, her fingers laced tightly in her lap and her eyes stared out the window at familiar shops and corners that felt familiar, and the Adriano hadn't said a word since they left , with his hands firm on the wheel, his eyes locked ahead like she wasn't even in the car. And maybe that silence would've been better if it didn't feel so intentional and so she leaned forward just slightly, the quiet breaking under the strain of her voice as she said, steady but with a crack beneath it.

"Stop the car here. I don't want any trouble." No answer. The car kept moving, rolling past the street she had pointed out like she hadn't spoken at all and when he finally stopped , it wasn't because she'd asked it was because they had reached her house.

She didn't speak immediately, because deep down she already knew there was no point, that he'd made whatever decision he was going to make without needing her voice but when her hand reached for the door handle and pulled it but it didn't open, something new sparked confusion inside her.

She pulled again harder now and when it still wouldn't budge, her head snapped toward him and she asked sharply.

"Why isn't it opening?" and when he didn't even turn to her, she pushed further, sarcasm bleeding into her voice as she hissed.

"Is it stuck, or are you messing with it?" and finally like ice cracking under pressure, his voice came deep, steady in a way that chilled more than comforted.

"You haven't answered my question," he said and her brows drew tight together as confusion mixed with dread.

"What?" she said flatly, her voice rising, not out of fear now but pure disbelief and even though he didn't say anything more she understood exactly what he meant. Her chest tightened.

"Are you seriously doing this right now?" she snapped , her fingers yanking on the handle again.

"You're locking me in the damn car like a psycho because I didn't answer one of your questions?" She was already reaching her boiling point, but her breath froze halfway in her throat when she caught sight of movement outside her mother, stepping onto the porch, her expression shifting from curiosity to concern the moment she saw the unfamiliar cars now pulling up behind Adriano's, not one but two, then a third and the second her father appeared in the doorway, her stomach dropped.

"Open the door," Bella said again, more forcefully now, panic threading under her tone but Adriano didn't respond as he simply rolled down his window, pulled out a cigar like, lit it and exhaled smoke calmly . Her breath caught again and when she turned to him, voice trembling, she demanded.

"What the hell is going on?" but he didn't meet her eyes. Instead he stared forward and repeated.

"What were you doing in there?" and this time, the weight of the words hit like a punch because he didn't say them loudly.