Chapter 4

Nora's POV

It’s been a week. A week since my entire world collapsed. A week since my parents were ripped away from me, a week since a drop-dead gorgeous murderer casually stepped into my dorm room and left me alive as a silent witness.

Peace, boredom, absolute sorrow—I was feeling all of it at once, a tangled web of numbness I didn't even have the words to describe. Maybe the heaviness was a mix of raw grief and the terrifying paranoia that the killer might still come back for me.

I would do what my parents raised me to do. Graduate with honors. Get a stable office job. Earn an honest living through my own sweat and tears. Buy my own house, get my own car, find a decent man, and have children of my own.

That was the blueprint they mapped out for me, and I was going to follow it to the letter. I wouldn't dare deviate from it. That's why I was studying.

I was reading more intensely than I ever had in my entire life. I never imagined I'd retreat this deeply into myself, turning into even more of an introvert just to survive the noise inside my head.

Just when I had started thinking about finally branching out and exploring the campus social scene, my parents were snatched away. And now, there was a ghost haunting my steps because I happened to be in the wrong place at the very worst time.

He didn't need to worry. I had zero intention of marching down to the station with a wild story I couldn't prove. Shaking the dark thoughts from my head, I forced my focus back to my desk, opened a textbook to a fresh page, and began to read.

A sharp jingle of keys broke the silence, and the dorm door swung open. "You alive?" Matilda’s voice rang out.

She dropped a takeout container on my desk, tossed another onto her own, and slumped onto her bed. I lowered my highlighter and looked over at her. Matilda was practically my exact opposite, loud, chaotic, and unapologetically unfiltered—yet somehow, we clicked. We were two opposing poles that managed to orbit each other without blowing up.

It reminded me of that Indian drama series Made For Each Other. Just thinking about it made me want to binge-watch the whole thing again. Though if I did, I’d definitely skip straight to the episodes without Komolika. Gosh, I despised that woman more than any real person I’d ever met.

Directors really need to stop casting gorgeous actors as absolute villains because it leaves innocent viewers with lifelong grudges. Right until hell freezes over, I would hate that fictional woman.

"Penny for your thoughts," a hand snapped sharply right in front of my face. I blinked, instantly hissing, "You could have just jammed your fingers straight into my eyeballs, Mally."

I glared at her as I reached over and popped open the container on my desk, revealing a stack of hot KFC chicken.

"Did you buy this, or did you steal it?" I arched a brow, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Eww, no! Why is your default assumption always that I’m a thief?" she scoffed, crossing her arms.

"Because you're notoriously light-fingered, Mally," I shot back, already pulling a piece of chicken out and taking a bite as I finished the sentence.

"Yeah, whatever. I stole it, and you're eating it, which technically makes you an accomplice," she rolled her eyes, snagging a piece for herself.

Once we finished eating, I tossed the empty container into the trash bin, walked over to the corner mini-fridge, pulled out a bottle of water, and chugged it all in one go.

Instantly, I regretted every life choice that led to that moment. My stomach violently protested, bloating like a balloon under the sheer volume of liquid.

"You look like you're smuggling a drum under your shirt," Matilda observed with a sarcastic smirk, watching me with far too much amusement. I ignored her, wiped my mouth, threw the empty bottle away, and trudged back to my desk to crack open my textbook.

Before my eyes could even focus on the text, a hand slammed the book shut. "Now you listen to me, Nora Browns."

Matilda grabbed the back of my swivel chair, spun me around to face her, and dragged her own chair right up close. She leaned in, fixing me with those ridiculous, heavily winged eyeliner strokes she refused to give up.

"You really need to dial back on the eyeliner," I blurted out before my brain could stop me.

"As if I ever would," she scoffed, licking her lower lip. "You're coming out with me tonight."

I almost choked. I tried to suppress the laugh bubbling up in my throat, but when I looked into her dead-serious expression, the humor died fast.

"You're joking, right?" I raised a brow, bracing myself.

"I mean you are coming to a frat party with me tonight. And whether your stubborn ass likes it or not, we are going." Her tone left zero room for argument.

"Funny joke, but I'm not laughing," I cleared my throat, reaching for my phone to stand up, but she shoved me firmly back down into the seat.

"And what part of my face made you think I was joking?" she snorted.

"Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't go anywhere. My parents never liked—" I stopped, swallowing hard.

What was I even saying? My parents never approved of parties, and Matilda had always respected that boundary. But now that they were gone, did she really expect me to instantly shatter every rule they built for me? No way. Absolutely not.

"Are you an absolute doormat? Sorry to break it to you, Nora, but your parents practically kept you locked in a medieval tower! Yes, they did," she snapped, her eyes flashing with frustration.

I frowned, the defense rising in my chest. "Screw off, Matilda. They never let me go out because they wanted me to focus on my education. Look at me, at my age, I haven't even had my first kiss." I said it defensively, but the words hung in the air, suddenly sounding pathetic even to my own ears.

"Exactly my point!" Matilda threw her hands up in disbelief. "You're twenty-one years old, and you've barely ever breathed fresh air! What kind of life is that? And don't give me that crap about them protecting you. You don't even know half the stuff real families do because you were isolated!"

I opened my mouth to argue, but the words died on my tongue. My mind wandered backward, searching through eighteen years of strict curfews, zero social life, and endless nights locked in my bedroom with textbooks.

She wasn't entirely wrong. I had never attended a party. Never stepped foot in a club. Never had a close circle of friends. I had never been free. It hit me with a sickening thud: I was caged.

"You were caged, weren't you?" Matilda pressed gently, her voice softening just a fraction as she watched my expression crumble.

I looked down at my hands, the bitter truth settling in my chest. "Yes... they caged me," I whispered, keeping my voice as calm as I could. "But that was just their way of keeping me safe."

That was the conclusion I always came back to. They weren't monsters. They didn't lock me in a basement or abuse me; they kept me inside so I could study my way into a brilliant future. They shielded me from a world they believed was too dangerous. They weren't villains in some dark fairytale.

"Are you even sure they were your real parents?" Matilda blurted out.

My head snapped up, my eyes locking onto hers as my brows shot straight up to my hairline.