Chapter 109: Obsession II
Obsession II
I was going to take her and make her pay back every cent of sweat, tears, and humiliation that she had forced Rosie to experience while raising her child alone.
I dialed the number, pacing silently around the room while keeping the corner of my eye fixed on the steady rise and fall of Rosie’s sleeping form.
"Hello, sir," Josh’s voice came through the receiver, sounding subservient, and I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I was still furious for whatever shit this man had made my wifey go through over the years, but I forced myself to keep my voice leveled.
I merely grunted in response to his greeting. Although the man had learned his lesson, just with his two fingers that would be a constant reminder of what happens when you touch what belongs to me, and the memory of Rosie mentioning how she was almost assaulted because of this debt made me grit my teeth in rage.
I honestly should have requested far more than just two of his fingers. I pinched the bridge of my nose tightly, forcing my breathing to calm down so I wouldn’t wake her. "Sophia left here some hours ago," I said coldly into the phone, my eyes scanning the bed to ensure Rosie was still in the same position. "She is your client, so you can do whatever the hell you want to her to get your satisfaction. Just make sure you return everything back to my wifey..." I ordered. "Do what I asked you to do."
"Do you pity me?"
The sudden sound of Rosie’s voice cutting through the silence from behind me made me jolt as I slammed my thumb down on the screen, hanging up the call immediately as my chest began to thump with an unknown panic. Since when had she been awake? How much of that conversation did she actually hear?
I turned around slowly to face her. Her blue eyes looked empty as she blinked up at me through the dim light of the bedroom, and I swallowed hard, the silence stretching between us.
"Am I just a charity case to you, Jude?"
I gulped, quickly shaking my head as I took a step closer to the bed. "No," I responded honestly, my voice thick with emotion. "No, I have never once thought of you like that. I admire you. You are the strongest woman I have ever met, and the truth is, I’ve been watching you from afar for years."
She furrowed her dark brows in confusion, her head tilting slightly against the pillow. "What do you mean by that?"
I blinked, swallowing down the lump in my throat. I knew it was finally time to let the cat out of the bag. There was no turning back now. "I have loved you for years now,” I uttered softly, watching her head tilt further. "I’ve loved you for seven years, eight months, and twenty-four days. I’ve counted every single day since the first night I saw you."
The confusion on her face only deepened, her eyes narrowing.
"I wanted you so badly that I became obsessed when I lost you until...," I confessed, the truth pouring out of me. "Until the day I finally saw you again at the train station, and you accused me of being a pervert. After that, I started following you. I stalked you because I was so desperate to be near you, but I had no idea how to approach a woman like you normally. When my parents tried to force me into an arranged marriage with Kira, I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so I met with Mia, who made our paths cross."
Her eyes widened in shock at the mention of her niece. "Mia?" she whispered, her fingers clutching the edges of the duvet against her chest.
Seeing the disbelief on her face, I fell to my knees right beside the mattress, looking up at her with vulnerability. "I am so sorry for stalking you, Rosie, but I just couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t bear the thought of not knowing how you were doing, or if you were safe, or if you needed anything... and I..." I swallowed hard, searching her eyes for any sign of anger or disgust, but her expression remained closed off, unreadable.
I swallowed again, forcing myself to continue. "I planned the crashing of the wedding too," I confessed. "I will accept anything but leaving you. I can’t do that. I am so sorry for being so deranged like that." I spoke honestly. I didn’t think I could ever forgo the life we had started to build together, and as I knelt there, I realized I didn’t mind begging her, or even crying at her feet, if it meant keeping her with me.
That was the reason why I had spent years planning all of this after our second encounter. I still remembered the day I saw her standing on the crowded street corner, wearing that ridiculous bunny costume, handing out flyers in the heat.
Since then, I made it a point to mark my attendance to watch over her from a distance. I had been satisfied with just watching her from afar until I noticed her debt with Josh, but I couldn’t pay it all off because I saw how hard she was trying her best to survive, and I admired her strength, her courage, and the woman she was. She was so lovable.
A suffocating silence descended in the bedroom as I stayed frozen on the floor, waiting for her to yell, to scream, or to throw me out.
Instead, Rosie simply let her head fall back against the pillows as she slowly closed her eyes. "I think I am hallucinating," she mumbled under her breath.
Without another word, she reached down, grabbed the edge of the duvet, and pulled it over her head, cutting off my view of her face.
I remained shocked, still on my knees by the edge of the bed as I slowly raised my chin, staring blankly at the lump under the covers as the sound of her steady, soft breathing filled the room. She had actually fallen back asleep after the truth I had just confessed to her.