The knock came again.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Not frantic.
Not violent.
Controlled.
"Arielle," Clara's voice called softly through the door. "We need to talk."
Daniel looked at me.
My heart was pounding so hard I could barely breathe.
Adrian was still on the phone.
"Do not open it," he repeated, his voice low and urgent. "Call security."
"She knows I'm here," I whispered.
"That doesn't matter."
Another knock.
"Adrian's with you, isn't he?" Clara's voice continued, almost conversational. "Tell him I'm tired of secrets."
My pulse spiked.
"She knows you're on the phone," I whispered.
Adrian went quiet for half a second.
Then: "She's bluffing."
The door handle shifted.
Just slightly.
Testing.
Daniel stepped in front of me instinctively.
"You're not opening that," he said firmly.
Clara sighed on the other side.
"You're making this dramatic," she said. "I'm not here to hurt anyone."
That was what unsettled me.
She didn't sound unstable.
She sounded… disappointed.
