Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“So in a way you saved me?”
Something sour churns in my gut and I don’t know if that’s really the truth. Did I save her? Sure. But I also subjected her to a similar world. I used her, possessed her, claimed her. In many ways I was no better than my grandfather.
“I don’t know if you could ever consider what I did saving you. My grandfather was a very bad man, and sometimes I’m afraid I’m worse. Where he wanted you as a possession I took you for myself, and nothing and no one short of killing me will make me give you up. So if you want to see me as the hero in all of this I’m fine with that, just know that no matter the means necessary you’ll always be mine.”
CHAPTER 17
ELYSE
It's impossible to sleep, and it’s not because I’m not tired but because my brain refuses to shut off. My phone vibrates across the bedside table for the third time. I’m annoyed. More than annoyed. I quickly snag it before it hits the brass lamp and wakes Sebastian. Unknown Number flashes across the screen.
It might say Unknown Number, but I know the name of the man on the other end of that line. My fucking father. I tuck the phone under my pillow and try to ignore the hole his text messages have created in my chest. Hiding my phone from Sebastian, scanning the screen, and pretending I’m okay when I’m really not… It’s harder than you think.
I replay his texts back in my head.
This is your fault.
Your fault.
All your fault.
It’s all the same things he used to say to me as a child. That he was beating me for my own good, the punishment was my own fault, and if I had tried harder, or listened better, then I wouldn’t be punished. It wasn’t true. The harder I tried, the worse the punishments were, and the more depressed and exhausted I became. And even though deep down I know it's what he does—manipulating and cajoling—I can't help but think he's right. If you’re told something enough times in your life you start to believe it.
I roll over in the bed and skim the outline of Sebastian's body under the top sheet. He's sprawled on his side, legs up and bent. Seeing him sleeping is the only time he appears relaxed. Unguarded. It’s one of my favorite times to look at him because he’s himself. There is no mask, no front. He’s just Sebastian. Today, however, I can’t appreciate this moment of watching him sleep, not with my father’s voice ringing in my head, reminding me everything is my fault. That whatever happens to Sebastian will be my fault.
The phone vibrates again, and I flinch from the sudden jolt. I should block the number; that's the safest move. Shut him out of my life completely now he's no longer controlling me. It’s what any normal person with a stalker would do, right?
But my father isn’t normal. He’s far from normal, and he’s willing to do anything to get what he wants. Blocking him would only piss him off, and I don’t want to rock the boat more than it’s already been rocked.
Knowing sleep is out of the question, I gently slide off the edge of the bed and grab one of Sebastian’s T-shirts off a nearby chair. I slip into it, and with my phone in my hand, I walk towards the bathroom. I pause at the entrance and peer back over my shoulder to Sebastian.
He hasn’t moved, not even flinched.
Slipping inside I hit the button on the phone and watch with dread as the cascade of messages appear on the screen. They’re all terrible but it’s the last one catching my eye and makes me unlock the phone.
YOU'RE AN UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BITCH AND I PLAN TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR EVERY SECOND YOU'VE KEPT ME WAITING. P.S. I'LL KILL YOUR HUSBAND FIRST.
My hands tremble so badly, I nearly drop the phone. Breathing through my nose, I try to calm down, but the reminder of who he is and what he’s done to me in the past bubbles up and out of me.
Pressing my hand over my mouth I hold in the scream of horror. Why? Why am I stuck with his cruelty? What did I ever do to deserve someone so evil in my life—as my father, no less? I know I shouldn’t let my thoughts play out of control like this, that it’s only feeding into him, but it’s hard not to.
He's already gone after Sebastian once, and my biggest fear is that he's not going to stop until he gets what he wants...control over me. Worse, I fear he might retaliate in more permanent ways when his patience runs out.
I don’t care what happens to me, but I don’t think I could live with myself if something happened to Sebastian and it was my doing.