Chapter 13

You step outside the sisters' apartment building and immediately pull out your phone, dialing Maria's number. She answers on the second ring, her voice breathless and eager.

"Dr. Stern! How can I help you?" Maria's voice carries that distinctive blend of professional efficiency and submissive eagerness that you've carefully cultivated in her.

"Maria, I need you to arrange something immediately," you instruct, keeping your voice low as you walk toward your car. "Contact Professor Whitman in the Physics department. Tell him there's an urgent issue with Isabella Valentini's quantum mechanics research that requires immediate attention. Make it sound serious enough that he'll call her right away, but vague enough that she'll have to come to campus to resolve it."

"Of course, Dr. Stern," Maria replies, her typing audible in the background. "Professor Whitman has office hours today. I'll tell him there's a critical error in her latest calculations."

You smile at her efficiency. "Perfect. Make it happen within the next fifteen minutes."

As you end the call, you glance back at the apartment building, picturing Isabella behind her partially opened door, her analytical mind piecing together fragments of what she overheard. Too dangerous to leave unaddressed. Better to keep her distracted until tonight's events can unfold as planned.

Inside the apartment, Isabella sits on the edge of her bed, her slender fingers trembling slightly as she tries to organize her thoughts. The snippets of conversation she overheard swim in her mind like disconnected puzzle pieces. Dr. Stern's voice had taken on a strange, rhythmic quality she'd never noticed before, and Giorgia's responses had seemed almost robotic. Something about a "video" and "feeling powerful" and a name—Gia? Why would her sister call herself that?

She runs her pale hands through her disheveled brown bob, trying to make sense of it all. The events of last night flash through her mind in disjointed fragments—arriving at the party, meeting Tyler, drinking something that tasted strangely sweet, and then... gaps. Blank spaces where memories should be. No, if she had to be honest with herself, it felt... good.

Her phone rings, startling her so badly she nearly drops it. The caller ID reads "Prof. Whitman - Physics Dept."

"Isabella? This is Professor Whitman," comes the gruff voice when she answers. "I've just been informed by the guidance department that there's a serious discrepancy in your quantum entanglement calculations from last week's submission. The error could impact your peer review if not addressed immediately. I need you to come to my office right away."

Panic floods through her, temporarily washing away her suspicions about Dr. Stern. "I'll be right there," she promises, already reaching for her shoes.

As she hurries past Giorgia in the living room, she barely registers her sister's distant expression. "Emergency with my research," she explains hastily. "I have to go to campus. We'll talk later, okay?"

Giorgia nods absently, her mind still swimming in the lingering effects of your hypnotic suggestion, completely unaware of the manipulation unfolding around her.