”I’ll be there in five.”

Was all you wrote back. He knew no matter what you told yourself, you would come running back to him in a heartbeat. Zane had played his cards well enough to imprint a part of him into your mind. There was no escape.

After two years of manipulation and gaslighting, you had found the strength to leave. You moved to a new apartment, changed your number, and blocked every trace of him from your life. It was supposed to be over.

But Zane didn’t believe in endings.

It started with small things—anonymous calls in the middle of the night, the sound of breathing on the other end. Then, the feeling of being watched, a shadow lingering too long near your building. A bouquet of lilies-your least favorite flowers, but Zane’s favorite to give—left at your doorstep without a note.

You refused to let fear consume you. You focused on therapy, your new job, and, eventually, someone new—Avery. They were gentle where Zane had been cruel, patient where he had been demanding. With them, you felt like you could finally breathe again.

Then came his messages.

They’re lying to you. You think they love you the way I do?

You tried to ignore them, but his presence loomed like a storm cloud. Avery noticed your flinching at shadows, your restlessness at night.

You wanted to tell them, but how could you? Zane had spent years making you believe he was all you needed and deep down you believed it, which only made you sickeningly yearn to have him again.

The moment you responded back to him, you peeled back the sheets, moving inch by inch so the mattress wouldn't shift and wake Avery up. Step by step, you made your way downstairs and towards the door.

The drive through the empty city was excruciating, your grip around the steering wheel growing tighter, the nagging voice in the back of your mind telling you to stop and turn back, grew louder with every passing moment. Then finally, you arrived at the home you once loved.

There he stood, watching from the window, awaiting your arrival.