Chapter 10
Graham
In an instant, all the colors Maya injected into my life dissolved back into an endless sea of suffocating grey. All my days look exactly the same now.
My object of fixation disappeared.
And I am currently doing everything in my power to find her so she can give me back the life she stole the second she fled.
Valeria seems to be losing her goddamned mind more and more with every passing day.
Because no matter how desperately she wanted Maya out of this mansion, she's addicted to her.
She relies on her victim to exist, just like I'm addicted to my prey.
And seeing her lose her mind over my property pushes me to insanity.
Because Maya is only mine.
She's not Valeria's punching bag.
She is my possession.
Mine.
With no one left to spit her frustrations on, and no one left to blame for her own sadness, Valeria has become a nightmare.
She snaps at the staff. She drives to high-end boutiques just to scream at the cashiers.
It's the first time in her life she's been without Maya under her thumb, and the truth is finally setting in.
She's realizing the reason she's miserable isn't because of her sister.
It's because that's exactly what Valeria is at her core.
A sad, miserable, pathetic little bitch.
A bitter teenager forever trapped in a woman's body.
But I don't really give a fuck about her breakdown.
All I care about is hunting Maya down and dragging her back into my life so she can fill the hollow cavity in my chest. The void that remains constantly empty without her there to inject it with those strange, volatile things normal people call "feelings. "
"AHHHH!"
A demonic shriek rips through the air behind me, followed by a weight slamming into my back. Fragile fists begin to rain down on my spine.
"Give me back my credit cards!" she screams.
Goddamn, this bitch is completely unhinged.
"Get me Maya back," I shrug, peeling her off my body and shoving her away.
Unlike her usual self, she is a total disaster. She hasn't touched her roots in days, the brown hair growing out from the top of her bleached locks. Her teeth are bared like an animal, her overfilled lips dry and visibly cracked. It seems she only ever liked to dress up to taunt her sister.
With Maya gone, Valeria has lost her entire purpose.
But her purpose isn't going to be my Maya any longer.
Maya is my purpose.
Mine.
Mine.
Fucking mine.
"Are you crazy?!" Valeria hisses, her chest heaving.
"I was willing to overlook your little fixation on her!
It's fine, whatever, no marriage is perfect!
But taking away my cars? Freezing my accounts just to force her back?
What the actual fuck, Graham?! Maybe you should have just married her instead! "
Well, I am marrying Maya.
Very soon, in fact.
As soon as I get rid of Valeria, Maya won't have a single soul left in this world to look to but me.
"You get her back, and I give you your funds back," I growl. I dust off my suit where her fingers touched me and turn to walk away.
Her nails dig into my wrist.
"I had nothing to do with her running away! Maybe she just got sick of you! Maybe she's completely creeped out by you, Graham! Have you ever even thought of that?!"
Impossible.
Fucking impossible.
I fling her arm away from me. Valeria loses her footing, stumbling backward until her spine hits the edge of the dining table. Her back is going to be bruised a deep, dark shade of blue and purple by tomorrow.
Good.
"She ran because of you!" I roar.
The laugh she lets out makes me want to tear her throat out with my bare hands.
"No! She didn't run from me, you creepy fucker! She ran from you!"
She always knew I was fixated on her sister. She knew I was obsessed. But in the past, she was more than willing to look the other way because of my bank accounts. Now? With zero funds and no Maya around to absorb her abuse, she doesn't give a single fuck about appearances anymore.
We are two monsters starving for the same girl.
Her hands claw at the shelves.
Smash. Crash. Shatter.
I watch with a snarl as she pulls down a stack of my imported white porcelain plates.
"I am starting to think something is seriously wrong with you," I say, folding my arms across my chest.
Valeria's pupils are dilated like those of a cat about to attack. She hurls a crystal vase at the brick fireplace.
"Something is wrong with me?!" she shrieks. "Something is wrong with me?! You married me to get closer to my sister! You think I don't know that?! You think I'm blind?!"
A sigh passes my lips.
"My dear wife... I think you are completely, irrevocably unstable."
I pull out my phone and tap the screen twice. A second later, the feed appears on the massive flat-screen mounted on the dining room wall.
The display divides into sixteen live camera feeds—every corner of Maya's bedroom, the hallways, the bathrooms, even the backyard.
"There's more than enough proof of your insanity here, Valeria," I murmur. "You're a danger to yourself. And a danger to this family."
"No... no, you set me up!" she screams, backing away.
Two burly men step into the room, accompanied by a private physician I've had on my payroll for months.
"Get away from me!"
Valeria fights, kicking and biting like a dog as the men drag her away.
"Graham, you bastard!"
"Shh, calm down, sweetheart," I hum. "It's okay. They're going to fix you. You're going to a quiet place where you can't hurt anyone anymore. I'll take care of everything at home. Especially Maya. Don't you worry about a thing."
Valeria spits in my face, her screams turning into sobs as they force a sedative into her arm and slam the doors of the medical van shut. The tires crunch over the gravel driveway, carrying my wife away to a private institution she will never, ever be allowed to leave.
I pull a handkerchief from my pocket and slowly wipe her spit from my cheek.
With Valeria removed from the equation, Maya has no one left to run to. No sister to protect her, no family to shield her, and no plan B.
When I bring her back, she will have absolutely nothing left in this world but me.
It's closer than it has ever been.
I can already taste her on my tongue.