Ten
Their Obsession
Liv
T he water from the rainfall showerhead trickled down on me and rinsed away all my sins. All the wrongful doings I had committed with my phantom while he hid in the shadows. While he masked himself and left me exposed to everyone.
I felt disgusted. Deceived by my body. I hated how he made me come.
Sin made me seek forgiveness.
I shouldn’t be the one with regret. He should be. After all, Sin was the asshole stalking me. He preyed on me and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Unless I wanted Sebastian to find out about everything I had been doing and deal with his wrath. I was a strong woman, but I had a breaking point. I was only human .
Sin had sent me another text instructing me on how to dress. He had called it a “date” and in his crazed mind, he’d view the occasion as romantic. But there was no way I could romanticize any time spent with the devil.
A soul sucking hellion was more like it, and I was sure his best friend wasn’t any better. No man could be if he spent time with a man as cruel as Sin Cruz. He was probably Lucifer for all I knew, and he must have been aware of Sin’s harassing ways.
If he wasn’t, he was a damn fool. But if he was, he was a man I didn’t want to mess with. He might be even worse than Mr. Sin Cruz.
I exhaled a shaky breath as I let my nerves get the best of me and grabbed a towel to dry off. I wanted to be rid of the day I had endured and be clean before Sebastian came home.
For almost an hour after Sin left me alone, I waited for a phone call from my fiancé. Any text from him to inform me he had caught my indecent exposure. I even feared he’d come barging through the front door, but he never did.
And I still needed to cleanse. I needed to scrub away the smell—any scent of what I had taken part in with my phantom. Because I worried Sebastian would catch a trace of my risqué act.
I dressed in a cozy one-piece designer outfit for the evening and applied some light makeup. My highlighted hair dangled in a ponytail as I made my way to the walk-in closet and pulled up Sin’s last text message.
Unknown:
Be a good girl. Wear a short miniskirt with black stockings.
I cursed Sin. Normally, I’d wear whatever the hell I wanted to. But this wasn’t my choice to make. He held the cards and his best friend dealt out the deck. I was their winnings they’d collect and share at the end.
I picked out a black miniskirt, button-up purple blouse and black thigh-high lace stockings. I hid the undesired outfit behind some boxes on the top rack of the closet, out of sight from Sebastian. I didn’t even want to leave a hint of what I’d been forced into. Not a trace of what I’d be up to tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. sharp.
My ponytail swayed as I made my way out of the condo and toward my mailbox. The box was adjacent to the apartment and accessible in its own little building. I enjoyed the brief walk out into the sunset before nightfall came. The birds had calmed in the trees and the busy city streets wouldn’t be in a rush for much longer. Any moment now, Sebastian would be home, and I still hadn’t rounded up our mail. My last chore for the day to ensure everything was perfect for my fiancé’s return home. A happy spouse made a happy house.
Complete horse shit.
Our mailbox was a fairly large size to fit parcels in, along with any bills or unexpected surprises. I took out the new mail key I had ordered earlier in the day that had been delivered by building management. Relief fell over me when the key worked, and the mailbox door opened easily. But a surprise caught my eye.
One white rose.
The only thing in the box with a few envelopes. I looked at the numbers beside mine and for a split second I thought I must’ve opened the wrong mailbox. But I hadn’t. This was mine.
Despite being artificial, the rose was realistic in every sense. The petals were as soft as a rose and not a speck of dirt was on the purest part. The leaflets were small and came to a pointed shape. But the rose came without thorns.
I glanced at the mail that came with it, and every one had my address. This was, in fact, my mail, but there was no note indicating who this was from. Not a trace of ownership.
I locked the mailbox up with confusion reeling inside of my mind and headed back toward the condo. I’d take the rose straight to the trash first thing in the morning, hide it underneath disposed garbage so Sebastian wouldn’t find the lovely gesture.
The front door key worked with no issue, and I entered the main hallway, but stopped dead in my tracks. Expensive brown leather loafers were on the floor and a suit jacket was tossed on the sofa for me to clean up. Sebastian was home, and he stared right at me. But his brown eyes swirled with anger.
“You’re home early, darling.” I beamed and swallowed the lump in my throat as I closed the door behind me.
Time to play happy housewife, even if the huge rock on my finger didn’t signify marriage yet. Sebastian didn’t care. I was his to control, torment, and do with as he wished because my family had made sure of it.
“I’m home right on time,” Sebastian said as he took in the sight of me and stepped closer.
“I must’ve lost track of the time,” I said as I peered at the clock behind his head. He was home half an hour early.
The logic of the fact didn’t matter because I’d never be right in his eyes. Sebastian was. His answer was correct, and I had no reason to argue with that. If I did, abuse would be the result.
“It appears someone beat me home,” he snapped, on the verge of a snarl. “Who is this from? ”
“Oh, well, this is from your credit card company. There’s a bill from the hydro company and—”
“Don’t play dumb with me, bitch,” Sebastian sneered and grabbed the rose out of my hand.
I jumped, startled by his outburst, but I wouldn’t let him break me. Tears formed in my eyes, but I wouldn’t let the wetness show. I had to numb the fear. The terror he raged to life inside of me, I pushed back down and buried the fright. I locked the door to my soul and wouldn’t let the darkness inside. Even though his evil was right at my doorstep.
“The rose?” I asked and conjured up a lie. “It’s from my parents.”
“I don’t believe you, you ungrateful whore!”
First came the slap with the back of his hand and then the pain. The throbbing ache pierced through me and knocked on the locked door of my soul. Threatened to invade my essence and wrap around the goodness I secured inside. But I wouldn’t let him.
Sebastian wouldn’t take away the last part of me.
My dignity.
The pride I had in being worthy of respect. Of true love and a happily ever after, once he was long gone.
I imagined Sebastian’s death every damn day. Envisioned waking up, and he’d still be in bed. By my side, but stone cold as the darkness he let corrupt him. Sebastian Chamberlain, knocking on the devil’s door in hell, couldn’t come soon enough. But the time he met his maker had to wait because we had to be wed first.
For now, I let my head swing to the side and took several deep breaths before peering back at the evil in our home. A smile crept over my lips, and it hurt like a son of a bitch. But the pain was no match for the fight I had to battle daily.
“My parents informed me of their gift this morning, but you didn’t call, so I could tell you it was coming,” I breathed with fake happiness and felt utterly insane.
I had to ignore the slap of abuse and carry on as if the horrific event never occurred. Whether I was insane or not didn’t matter. I had to stay alive.
“I didn’t call because I was busy fucking my secretary at lunchtime.” He glared at me with a heat so fierce it’d burn through flesh, and he held the rose at the tip of my nose.
Sebastian always made it a point to inform me of his sexual encounters. Another way he owned all the control and did whatever he wanted. While he let me wither away into nothing. But I got attention too.
A phantom or two. Multiple encounters of my own. Unlike my fiancé, I concealed my affairs.
“Gloria?” I questioned without a care, and a woodsy scent filled my nostrils. “I always liked her. ”
“Yes, she’s sexy, unlike you. You’re pure poison ivy,” Sebastian insulted and popped the P on poison, resulting in spit splattering on my face.
I didn’t flinch.
“You don’t love the attire I wore for you today?” I asked.
Sebastian tilted his head to the side as his eyes roamed down my body. They burned through the clothes and made me feel exposed. Owned, uncherished, and used.
“It’s hideous, and I want it tossed into the garbage,” he answered as he pushed the rose into my chest and backed up a step. “But listen to me and listen to me good.”
“I’m listening, darling.”
“If you’re fucking around on me, I’ll find out,” Sebastian warned, with his index finger pointed right at me. “I’ll kill you in your sleep, smother you with your own pillow and no one would be the wiser. You’ll die because you were a whore. Understood?”
“I understand,” I whispered.
“I can’t hear you, bitch.”
Without warning, he slapped me again. This time with his large palm, and the force sent me backward down onto my ass. The pain radiated and pulsed as fast as my heartbeat, but I didn’t dare to glance up .
“I understand,” I answered louder and with more force.
“Good. Now get up, clean up my shit and go to bed,” Sebastian ordered.
I waited until he left the room until the tears finally fell. The wetness was uncontrolled without him around and solely from the pain he had inflicted on me. The hurt I dealt with daily.
I believed Sebastian when he promised to kill me in my sleep. He might look like he was on steroids, but he was still bigger than me. My petite form wouldn’t stand a chance against him smothering me in our bed and being rid of me once and for all. But Sebastian knew better.
My fiancé had me conformed just the way he wanted. A replacement for me wouldn’t come easily. If death came, it’d be because he was in a blinded rage. The leading cause of related abusive deaths, and I didn’t want to become a statistic.
I packed up Sebastian’s crap, ready to toss his jacket outside and throw his shoes into a framed picture of us. Our smiles were completely fake for the camera, and the twinkle in our eyes was dull. We were a lifeless couple with no inch of love for each other, only hatred.
With the tears on my face, I wiped them away in the bathroom and took off my outfit. I obeyed my fiancé’s word and tossed the undesirable clothing straight into the trash. But I thanked God the light was off when I made my way toward our bedroom.
Sebastian was sound asleep. He probably dreamed of money, chicks, and stuffing the rose down my throat. I laid down and prayed he wouldn’t throw a pillow over my face and put an end to me.
Somewhere between the moment I laid my head down and pleaded for my life, my cell phone vibrated once on the nightstand. The screen lit up, and I peeked over in fear the disturbance had woken Sebastian. But thankfully, the device hadn’t.
I heaved a silent sigh of relief. My attention turned back to my phone as I contemplated glancing at the message I had received. But I couldn’t rest until I knew for sure what the text was about and looked at it.
Unknown:
Did you like my gift?
The single white rose was from Sin Cruz.
Not a chance in hell I’d keep the artificial flower. I’d toss it in the morning. If I even lived to see the daylight.