*Chapter 5: Morning After*
The sun came up ugly.
Pale light slipped through the curtains of the Carter house and landed on an empty bed.
The guest room smelled like spilled punch, cologne, and something sour underneath it.
Grandma Rose was the first one up.
She always was. 5am. Tea. Prayer. Then she checked on Jane.
She knocked on the guest room door. No answer.
“Jane, honey?”
Nothing.
She pushed the door open.
The bed was unmade. The window was cracked open. The glass of punch on the nightstand was still there, lipstick on the rim.
But Jane was gone.
Grandma Rose’s chest tightened.
She walked to Jane’s real bedroom. Empty. Closet open. A duffel bag missing. Her passport gone from the drawer.
Her hands started to shake.
“Thomas!” she yelled down the stairs. “THOMAS!”
*7:20 AM - Kitchen*
Thomas Carter came down in a robe, rubbing his face. Victoria and Chloe followed, both in silk pajamas, both looking like they’d slept fine.
“What’s all the yelling?” Thomas asked.
“Jane’s gone,” Grandma said. “Her bag’s gone. Her passport’s gone.”
Victoria’s face flickered. Just for a second. Then: concern. “What? Are you sure? Maybe she went for a walk?”
“She doesn’t walk at 5am,” Grandma snapped. “And she doesn’t take her passport to walk.”
Chloe crossed her arms. “Maybe she got embarrassed and ran off. After... you know.” She said it pointedly, eyes on Grandma.
Grandma stared at her. “After what?”
“Nothing,” Chloe said quickly. “Just. Teenagers do dumb stuff.”
Thomas was already dialing his phone. “I’ll call Ethan. Maybe she went to him.”
The phone rang 4 times. Voicemail.
Thomas frowned. “He’s not picking up.”
“Call Bella,” Grandma said.
Bella picked up on the first ring. Too fast.
“Hello?”
“Is Jane with you?” Grandma asked.
A pause. “No. I haven’t seen her.” Bella’s voice was steady. Too steady.
Grandma knew that tone. It was the same tone Bella used when she was lying to protect Jane in high school.
“Don’t lie to me, child,” Grandma said quietly.
“I’m not,” Bella said. And hung up.
Thomas slammed his phone down. “Damn it. I’ll call the police.”
“No police,” Victoria said quickly. Then softer: “I mean... let’s not make a scene. She’s 19. She’ll come back when she’s hungry.”
Grandma looked at all three of them. Really looked.
Victoria wouldn’t meet her eyes. Chloe was picking at her nails. Thomas was sweating, even though the AC was on.
And the guest room door was still open upstairs.
*Meanwhile - Airport*
Jane sat by Gate B12 with a hoodie pulled over her head.
Bella sat next to her, holding her hand.
“You sure about this?” Bella whispered.
Jane nodded. She hadn’t slept. Her eyes were red, but her hands weren’t shaking anymore.
“I can’t stay,” she said. “If I stay, they’ll do it again. Or worse.”
The flight attendant called: “Boarding for Flight 418 to London.”
Jane stood. One duffel bag. $3,200 in cash from Grandma. Her locket around her neck.
Bella hugged her so hard it hurt. “Text me when you land. Every day. Promise me.”
“I promise,” Jane whispered. “And Bella... thank you. For believing me.”
“Always,” Bella said, crying now. “Come back when you’re ready to burn them down.”
Jane managed a small, broken smile. “I will.”
She walked down the jet bridge without looking back.
*Meanwhile - Sterling Penthouse*
Ryan Sterling woke up on his own couch.
Mira, his secretary, was standing over him with coffee and an expression that said _we have problems_.
“Sir,” Mira said. “You missed the board meeting. You also... you were found at the Carter residence last night. Security dropped you off at 3am.”
Ryan sat up, groaning. His head was splitting. “What?”
“You were at a party. You had two drinks. Then you disappeared. Cameras show you walking into a house on Elm Street. The Carter house.”
Ryan frowned. He didn’t know any Carters.
“I remember... a room. A man on the floor. And... perfume.”
“What kind of perfume?”
“Vanilla. Something light.”
Mira wrote it down. “Do you remember a woman?”
Ryan closed his eyes. Tried to.
There was a shape. A person. Running out of the room.
“No,” he lied. “Must’ve been the wrong house.”
But for the rest of the day, he couldn’t get the smell out of his head.
*8:00 PM - Carter House*
The police didn’t come. Thomas decided it would “look bad for the company.”
Dinner was silent.
Chloe kept glancing at her phone.
Victoria kept refilling her wine.
Thomas kept calling Ethan. No answer.
Grandma Rose didn’t eat. She sat by the window, knitting, watching the street.
At 9pm, her phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
*Unknown*: _She’s safe. Don’t worry. -B_
Grandma closed her eyes and exhaled for the first time all day.
Upstairs, in the guest room, the glass of punch was still on the nightstand.
No one had cleaned it.
No one wanted to talk about why.
Thomas finally said it out loud. “Where the hell did she go?”
No one answered.