Chapter 33%
“Ethan… alive?” she whispered, her voice faint and brittle. “No, that’s impossible. We buried him. We…..“N
“Buried him?” I echoed, disbelief thick in my voice. “But he’s alive. I met him. He was sitting right across from me today.”
“Jocelyn, this is not something we can discuss over dinner,” Ryan’s father said, his voice now a measured, icy calm. “It’s… complicated.”
“Why?” I demanded, my heartbeat thundering in my chest. “Why is it complicated? Please, just tell me the truth.”
Ryan’s father exchanged a dark, meaningful glance with his wife. She looked ready to shatter, her gaze flitting between me and her husband, desperate for him to take control of the situation.N
“We thought you would never have to know.” His words were sharp, calculated, as if trying to cut through the panic rising in the room. “You were supposed to be safe from him.”
“Safe?” I repeated, feeling the weight of their words crush down on me. “What are you really trying to protect me from?“!
Ryan’s mother’s eyes filled with tears as she reached for my hand, her touch ice–cold. “Jocelyn, please. We’ve been trying to protect you from him. From his madness. Ethan… he’s not well. He never was.“N
Her voice trembled with each word, desperation bleeding through her gaze. “He was always… different, dangerous, and unpredictable. We did everything we could to help him, but…“}
“But what?” I snapped, frustration gnawing at my sanity. “What did you do?”
Ryan’s father’s face turned to stone. “He became a threat. Not just to us, but to you. We had no choice but to… handle the situation.“}] “Handle?” The word was a knife in my gut. “You’re talking about your son. Your own child. How could you just… get rid of him like
that?”
Their silence spoke louder than any confession.
Ryan’s mother looked away, her shoulders trembling as if she could not bear the weight of her own sins. “It was the only way to keep everyone safe.“}
I could not believe what I was hearing. The people who had shown me such kindness and warmth were admitting to something so vile, so unforgivable that time.
Ryan claimed Ethan was dead. His parents claimed Ethan was a monster. And Ethan claimed Ryan was a thief and a liar.”
Nothing made sense anymore.
I fled the restaurant, my heart pounding against my chest as if trying to break free from the madness that had taken hold of my life.” Everything I thought I knew, everything I trusted, was crumbling before me. The truth was slipping through my fingers like sand.
I shut myself in my bedroom, curling up on the bed with the sheets clutched against me like a shield. No matter how tightly I wrapped them around myself, the coldness would not leave my bones.}
Where could I go?”
Returning to the US would not change anything.
If Ethan was as dangerous as they claimed, then there was no safe place. But if it was Ryan who was dangerous… then I was trapped even deeper.
The shadows of doubt crept into every corner of my mind, leaving me with nothing but terror and confusion. I could not run and hide, since I was caught in a web of lies, unsure of who held the strings.”
That night, the nightmares came.}
I dreamt of a boy standing over a lifeless cat, his hands stained red. His laughter echoed in the air, sick and twisted. I ran, screaming, stumbling over branches and stones until my legs gave out beneath me.”
I woke up gasping, drenched in sweat in the morning. But worse than the nightmare was the sight of Ryan standing beside my bed, his gaze locked on me with concern.}
“Are you alright?” His voice was gentle, but it only made me flinch.
A scream tore from my throat before I could stop it. I scrambled backward, pressing myself against the headboard as if that could somehow keep him away.”
“Hey, hey, it’s me,” Ryan said, his hands raised in a gesture of peace. “It’s okay, Jocelyn. It’s me. What were you dreaming about?“}
“Don’t touch me!” I shouted, my voice trembling.”
Ryan’s shoulders sagged, and he slowly lowered himself into the chair beside my bed, his expression shifting from concern to something colder.
“What did Ethan and Leo tell you at the cafe that made you distrust me?“}
“How…?” The word slipped out before I could stop it. “You had someone follow me?“}}
“Jocelyn, instead of assuming I’m trying to control you, maybe you should consider that I’m trying to protect you,” Ryan said, his voice low and sharp. “I warned you not to approach Ethan. He’s dangerous, Jocelyn. More dangerous than you can imagine.“}
“Then why didn’t you tell your parents about him?” I shot back, my anger bubbling to the surface. “They were confused last night! They didn’t even know Ethan was alive. Where were you all this time?!“}
Ryan’s gaze shifted away from mine, a flicker of something unreadable passing over his face. “I don’t have time to argue with you. From now on, I’m tightening your security.“@
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་་དང་བད ང, it o-་་་་་ས ཚང་ པསད་བྱེW
“Tightening my security? Or imprisoning me?” I spat. “Why should I trust you when you keep hiding things from me?”
“I’m doing this for your own good, Jocelyn,” Ryan snapped, his voice edged with frustration. “Ethan is a manipulator. A skilled liar. He
enjoys breaking people’s minds before destroying them completely. That’s the kind of monster he is.”
I shook my head, his words swirling in my mind like poison. Everything he said was the exact opposite of Ethan’s version of events. They both hurled accusations without any proof, leaving me tangled in a storm of endless questions.
But I did have proof. Proof of Ryan’s own deception.
I reached for my phone, my fingers trembling as I unlocked it and pulled up the video Leo had given me. I turned the screen toward Ryan, watching his expression shift from annoyance to something darker.N
“If Ethan is the monster you claim he is, then what does that make you?” I said, my voice cold and steady. “Because as far as I can see, you’re not the innocent one in this mess either.“N
