The Heart System

Chapter 855: Chapter 855

The conversation kept going, moving from one completely ordinary topic to another. We talked about what everyone wanted to do later, what food we should buy for dinner, whether we needed to restock anything in the kitchen, and how bad the weather was supposed to get.

At one point, Tessa started complaining about the rain making her hair frizzy, which somehow turned into Jasmine giving her advice about hair products. Kim joined in with her own recommendations, and within a few minutes, the three of them were having a full discussion about hair care that I understood absolutely nothing about.

I just sat there eating my pancakes.

Nala noticed my silence and smiled. "You’re awfully quiet."

"I’m listening."

"To what?"

"Honestly, I have no idea."

She laughed. "At least you’re honest."

"I’ve learned that pretending to understand things only makes it worse."

"That’s probably the smartest thing you’ve said all morning."

"Thank you."

The rain continued falling outside while we kept talking, and for once, I didn’t feel any pressure to hurry anywhere. The warmth of the house, the food on the table, and everyone’s casual conversation made the whole morning feel comfortable.

Eventually, I finished my breakfast and leaned back in my chair, letting out a satisfied breath.

For a while, we continued sitting around the table, enjoying the food and talking about whatever came to mind. Nobody seemed particularly interested in rushing off, and I wasn’t either.

Then the doorbell rang.

Everyone at the table turned toward the entrance.

I pushed my chair back and stood. "Let me get that."

I headed toward the door, thinking it was either Esme or Eleanor.

With a quiet sigh, I peeked through the peephole. "Delilah?"

I unlocked the door and opened it fully. Her eyes had been fixed on the ground, her hands clasped behind her back as she waited. As soon as I opened the door, she looked up and met my eyes, a small smile appearing at the corner of her lips.

"Morning," she greeted me. "I, uh... I stayed the night at Eleanor’s."

"You should’ve stayed here like I told you."

"I didn’t want to be a bother." She shrugged slightly. "May I come in? Eleanor was called into work last night. She just got home and is sleeping."

"Oh, yeah." I nodded and stepped aside. "Come in. We were just having breakfast."

"Thanks."

She stepped inside.

"I was going to prepare something, but I didn’t want to wake Eleanor up while doing that."

I closed the door behind her. "No problem. Go ahead and settle in. I’ll call Esme, alright?"

"Okay. Thanks."

"Yep."

I grabbed my jacket from the rack since even the hallway was cold and stepped outside. I descended the stairs to the floor below and walked over to Esme’s door.

I knocked a couple of times and waited.

She had probably just woken up. Considering how lazy she could be sometimes, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she was still buried under her blankets.

When I got no answer, I knocked again, this time harder, and took a step back.

Still nothing.

After a few seconds, I moved closer and pressed my ear against the door. I couldn’t hear anything coming from the other side.

Nothing. Nada.

"Hmm."

I pulled my keycard from my pocket and held it against the reader. The lock clicked, and I cracked the door open just enough to peek inside.

"Hey, Esme. I’m coming in, okay?" I called out. "Don’t freak out. It’s me. Evan."

I opened the door fully and stepped inside before closing it behind me.

I immediately went left toward the master bedroom and cracked the door open. The bed was already made, but Esme was nowhere to be seen.

I checked the bathroom next, then the kitchen. The living room was already visible from where I stood, and there was no sign of her there either.

The whole place was empty.

I sat down on the couch and dialed Esme’s number. The phone rang several times, but she didn’t answer.

Just where was she?

I tried calling again, but the result was the same.

I got up, left the apartment, and headed directly toward the elevators. Once inside, I pressed the button for the ground floor and leaned my back against the mirror.

This whole thing stank like nothing else.

Esme wouldn’t go anywhere without telling me. She knew I worried about her, especially after everything that had happened recently.

The elevator continued descending, and I pulled out my phone again, checking for any messages.

Nothing.

"Where are you?" I muttered.

The doors opened with a ding, and I stepped out before heading directly toward the reception desk.

"Hey, morning," I greeted the woman behind the desk. "Esme, one of my guests. Did you see her?"

"Yes." She nodded. "She exited about twenty minutes ago."

"Was she alone?"

"I didn’t see, I’m sorry." She frowned slightly. "Is everything okay, Mr. Marlowe?"

"Yeah, yeah." I forced a nod. "Thanks for letting me know."

"Of course."

I turned away from the desk.

No, everything wasn’t okay.

I needed to get to Cora’s house right now. Now that I knew what Cora was capable of, I couldn’t shake the fear that something had happened to Esme.

And if Cora had taken her, I had no idea what I was going to find when I got there.

⟁ ⟁ ⟁

I knocked on the door and waited again. This was my fifth time knocking, and each time, I got no answer from inside. I was becoming a nervous wreck because the thought of Esme getting hurt by Cora was impossible to ignore. If something like that happened, I knew I would be responsible for it. I had seen the signs that Cora wasn’t stable, and I had still let things continue because I kept telling myself that maybe she wasn’t as dangerous as I thought.

Praying that Esme was okay, I knocked again and waited, but there was still no response. I pulled out my phone and called her number, and this time, I heard the ringing coming from inside the apartment. That meant she was either inside or had forgotten her phone there.

"Fuck it."