Chapter 108: Obsession I
Chapter 24 - OBSESSION I
Jude
I looked down at the woman who called herself Rosie’s sister, my blood boiling as I gently placed Mia down into River’s arms before immediately turning on my heel to run after Rosie.
In all the time I had known her, in all the years I had spent watching her from the shadows, I had never once seen her look like that. She was a woman who never cried, a woman who always held her head high no matter how hard life hit her, but seeing her look so broken inside pulled at my heart immensely. It shattered something deep inside me, and the raw pain on her face made me vow that I would never allow that expression or those tears to touch her face ever again.
Before I darted down the hallway, I quickly ruffled Mia’s hair and pressed a kiss against her cheek, whispering a quiet, "I’m coming right back, princess," as I caught my mother’s eye. I exchanged a look with both my mum and Kira, silently signaling them to throw that vile woman out of the penthouse immediately. I would deal with Sophia later on for making my wifey cry because right now, my wifey needed me.
Fuck, my chest tightened as I threw open the bedroom door and found her standing, wiping at her face while her chest heaved with ragged breaths. I forced my pace slowly into the room, keeping my footsteps light so I wouldn’t spook her.
She turned around to face me, trying her best to pull a small smile together despite the fact that the rims of her eyes were bloodshot, her face was puffy, and her nose was red. "I ruined Mia’s birthday, didn’t I?" she asked, her voice trembling, and without waiting, stepped forward and pulled her into my arms, holding her against my chest as her body began to shudder.
"I ruined her very first birthday that we were comfortable to celebrate," she sobbed out, the words tumbling from her throat as I wrapped my arms tighter around her body.
"No, you didn’t, wifey. You didn’t ruin anything," I murmured softly against her hair.
She reached up and grabbed the front of my shirt with both hands, burying her head against my chest as she let the wall crumble, crying out loud with pure pain as I dropped my hands down her sides, just standing there and letting her release every ounce of emotion. Every raking, breathless sound that tore from her throat and every sniffle felt like an arrow shooting into my heart, twisting the blade.
After what felt like an hour or so of crying, she slowly raised her head and let out an awkward laugh, staring at the wet patch on my chest. "I’ve stained your clothes," she muttered, trying to lighten the air between us. My shirt was soaked through with her tears, but that was the least of my concerns right now.
Once she settled down, I walked out into the living room and noticed that the living room had already been cleaned and packed up. My mom, dad, Kira, and River had already gone, giving us space, and when I pulled out my phone, I saw a text message from my mum. I’ve taken Mia along with us for the night. How is Rosie doing now? Is she okay? Looking at the message warmed my heart, and I quickly typed back a brief response: She’s okay, thank you.
I went into the kitchen, mixing a mug of warm water with a spoonful of honey to soothe her throat before walking back inside the bedroom.
She collected the mug from my hands, wrapping her fingers tightly around the ceramic. "You are surprisingly caring," she muttered in a hoarse, rough whisper, raising the glass to take a slow sip.
After a while, she fell asleep on the mattress, still holding my hand tightly against her chest. I sat quietly on the edge of the bed for over an hour, completely captivated as I watched the steady rise and fall of her chest, the sweep of her lashes against her puffy skin, and the soft lines of her face. I gently reached over to brush a stray strand of hair away from her forehead, leaning down to press a soft, lingering kiss against our joined hands.
When I finally noticed that her tight grip on my fingers had relaxed, I slowly and carefully extracted my hand from hers. I paused for a second when she shifted slightly under the covers, but she simply turned over onto her other side, falling back into a deep slumber.
Stepping away to the corner of the room, I pulled out my phone and scrolled down through my contacts until I hit the name of the loan shark, Josh. Ever since the day I had witnessed him chasing Rosie on that street, I had taken matters into my hands. I had my men take him to a secluded location and question him until I got the full story. I had paid off every dime of Rosie’s debt, and I had strictly ordered him to refund every cent of hard-earned money Rosie had paid him over the years back into her account—though I told him to hold off on doing it immediately because it would look too suspicious, and I knew Rosie would despise it.
She hated to be seen as weak, which was why she fought so hard to handle everything on her own. Through the interrogation details that were extracted from Josh, I had my men track down Sophia’s general whereabouts, but I had no idea the reckless woman would have the audacity to show up at my penthouse. If I had known she was going to show up, I would have intervened before today, but she still managed to ruin things.
But now that the real culprit was back, the plan had to change. The loan shark was no longer going to return Rosie’s money out of the blue. It would be because Sophia was back, so it would be because she was back. Rosie’s money would be sent back. That was an opportunity.