Chapter 3 - What Nora Heard Behind the Door
Nora remained hospitalized for four days.
Matteo visited every morning.
He never entered unless she allowed it.
She allowed it exactly once.
On the fourth morning, he stood beside the window while Nora packed her things.
“You're not coming home?”
“No.”
His expression tightened.
“Where are you going?”
“My sister's.”
“You'll have security.”
“I don't want your security.”
“Nora—”
“I said no.”
Matteo controlled his voice.
“You just left the hospital.”
“And I'm still capable of making decisions.”
He nodded slowly.
“Fine.”
She looked surprised.
No argument.
No command.
Matteo continued.
“Enzo will stay far enough away that you won't see him.”
“That isn't what I said.”
“I know.”
“Then respect it.”
Another pause.
Matteo nodded.
“No security.”
Nora zipped her bag.
“Thank you.”
She walked toward the door.
“Nora.”
She stopped.
“I haven't been with Claudia.”
Nora turned.
“You think that's the problem?”
“I thought you believed—”
“The problem isn't whether you slept with her.”
She stepped closer.
“The problem is that when I was frightened, your first instinct was to humiliate me.”
Matteo had no answer.
“You made me feel ridiculous for needing my husband.”
“I know.”
“No, Matteo. You know now.”
That landed harder.
Nora picked up her bag.
“I needed you to know then.”
She left.
---
That afternoon, Matteo returned to the mansion alone.
Maria waited in the foyer.
“Where is Mrs. Vellini?”
“With her sister.”
Maria nodded.
“Good.”
Matteo looked at her.
“Good?”
“Yes.”
Nobody spoke to Matteo Vellini that way.
Maria had worked for his family for twenty-six years.
She didn't care.
“She should be somewhere she feels safe.”
“This is her home.”
Maria's expression remained calm.
“A house can belong to someone without feeling like home.”
Matteo removed his coat.
“Maria.”
“You want me quiet because I work for you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She pointed upstairs.
“I found your wife crawling across that hallway.”
Matteo's face tightened.
“She was trying to reach someone because the person she called first had dismissed her.”
“Enough.”
“No.”
Maria stepped closer.
“I watched that woman wait for you night after night.”
Matteo stared at her.
“She stopped painting.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“She closed her studio six months ago.”
“I didn't know.”
“Exactly.”
Maria walked away.
Matteo remained beneath the chandelier.
He looked toward the staircase.
Six months.
He had lived in the same house and hadn't known.
---
That night, he entered Nora's studio.
Dust covered unfinished paintings.
One canvas stood near the window.
It showed their mansion at night.
Every window was illuminated except one.
The bedroom.
Matteo stared at it for a long time.
Enzo appeared in the doorway.
“You wanted me?”
Matteo didn't turn.
“Cancel tomorrow.”
“All meetings?”
“All.”
“That includes Romano.”
“He'll survive.”
Enzo glanced at the painting.
“What are you doing?”
Matteo finally turned.
“Something I should've done years ago.”
---
At her sister's apartment, Nora's phone rang.
Matteo.
She almost ignored it.
Then answered.
“What?”
“I won't ask you to come home.”
Nora waited.
“I won't ask you to forgive me.”
Silence.
“And I'm not going to tell you I've changed after four days.”
Her expression softened slightly.
“Then why are you calling?”
“To tell you something.”
“What?”
“Your studio is exactly as you left it.”
Nora looked away.
“I know.”
“I didn't.”
“No. You didn't.”
Matteo swallowed.
“I'm beginning to understand how much I didn't know.”
Nora said nothing.
Then Matteo added:
“Goodnight, Nora.”
He ended the call first.
May you like
For the first time in years, he had called without asking her for anything.
---
