Chapter 16
She thought I wouldn’t notice.
That she could fuck around with any man, let alone two of them, and I wouldn’t care.
But I noticed.
I always noticed.
It took nothing to get into her backyard. The gate latch was already busted. I didn’t even need gloves or a tool. I just slid it open, stepped through it, and took a slow walk around her pathetic little life.
The flowerpots were dead. The back porch light flickered. The kids left toys everywhere—like she couldn’t be bothered to keep shit clean.
I stood in the shadows for a long time, watching the sun go down behind her house and the light in her bedroom click on at nine.
She was alone. But she wouldn’t be for long. I could tell.
She was getting reckless.
Wearing her hair down, smiling like she had nothing to be afraid of, walking through town as people started talking about seeing her with one of them, and then the other. It was like she wanted people to see what kind of whore she’d become.
That was the part that pissed me off the most.
She looked happy.
Like she didn’t even feel guilty for what she’d done. For how she’d abandoned her place, forgetting where she came from. Forgetting who had already claimed her.
She was mine.
She’d always been mine.
And if she needed a reminder—well.
I’d leave one.
I didn’t go inside. Not yet.
That part would come later.
But I took something. Just one thing.
Her spare set of keys, hanging stupidly from the hook in the unlocked shed.
She’d notice that they were gone.
Not right away. But soon.
And when she did?
She’d know.
She’d feel it.
That someone was close.
Watching.
Waiting.
Breathing down her neck without ever making a sound. The first step always had to be the softest. The one that didn’t leave a mark. The whisper before the scream.
And I was so fucking close.