Chapter 1 - The Click of the Lock
The lock snapped into place while Nora stood barefoot in six inches of snow.
Her thin silver sleep dress clung to her freezing body. Water dripped from her long blonde hair, turning to icy beads against her shoulders. She wrapped both arms around herself, but the violent trembling would not stop.
Behind the glass, Liam’s face was hard with fury.
“Stay out there until you tell me the truth.”
Nora stared at him in disbelief.
Just minutes earlier, she had been standing beneath a warm shower. Then Gwen had pounded on the bathroom door, waving Liam’s phone and shouting about three bank transfers totaling eight thousand dollars.
Now Gwen stood safely inside the apartment, one hand resting on Liam’s shoulder.
“She stole from you,” Gwen said. “Your own wife has been draining your account.”
Nora pressed her palm against the glass.
“Liam… please let me explain.”
He looked away.
Gwen’s lips curved into a faint, triumphant smile.
Liam grabbed the cream curtain and yanked it halfway across the door.
“You should’ve told me before betraying me.”
The curtain cut Nora’s face from view.
Hours later, Liam woke on the sofa with his heart pounding.
The apartment was dark.
The curtain moved in the cold air.
He rushed across the room, threw open the balcony door, and froze.
Nora was gone.
Her damp shawl lay near the railing.
Her wedding ring rested beside a folded handwritten note.
“Nora?”
May you like
Behind him, Gwen stopped breathing.
👉 Then Liam noticed the wet trail crossing the wooden floor—and the shape of the footprints made no sense.
