Page 10 of Imprisoned Obsession

I stroke the bruise on her neck. The faint hand impression makes me smile as I feel her pulse jump at the light pressure of my thumb.

The fight in her diminishes just as quickly as before. Her body is sensitive and knows I will choke her again. It still won’t be a pleasurable experience for her.

It won’t be pleasant for a while, not until she accepts that I’m permanently in her life.

I taunt despicably, “You don’t have a home anymore, darling.”

The apartment building is burned beyond recognition. Several arsonists helped me find the best accelerant for causing maximum damage.

There is no chance the building will be salvageable.

“If you go back home,” I stress with a disarming smile, “You will be arrested.”

Her breath catches, and her pulse rattles under my finger. Willa swallows nervously as confusion shows in the thin line of her pursed lips.

“The fire started in your apartment, implicating you in the murder of Janice.”

“I didn’t!” she refutes. “You killed her!”

“Who will the police believe?” I ask as if expecting a genuine answer. “Your neighbors will disagree that your relationship with her was amicable. It’s going to be twisted into malice aforethought, darling.”

Her pink lips tremble. Willa has this stunningly tearful expression that chips away another part of my self-control.

“Your actions resulted in the homelessness of many victims. And dare I say, the death of several others,” I add cruelly.

She cries hysterically, “I didn’t—you did. You did. I didn’t do anything!”

Her way of thinking is the reason she can’t defend herself against my baseless accusations. Everything I said was speculation, and at most, grasping at straws.

If Willa was level-headed right now, she would find the flaw in my allegations.

She has an alibi. The cake shop will confirm it.

No one can forget seeing Willa. She’s such an exquisite girl, very noticeable.

“What do you want from me?” Willa asks with a trace of finality in her broken voice.

A triumphant grin comes to my face, undoubtedly frightening her even more. Her skin stretches, taut and unyielding, but the pulse under my thumb stays strong.

“Let me take you in,” I suggest adamantly.

She blinks, incredulously troubled. “Why?”

Why did I plan this? Why did I burn down her apartment? Why did I crassly end a life? Why am I doing this to her? Why am I taking her choices away?

There are a lot of questions she doesn’t have answers to, and I don’t plan on giving them to her.

She just has to know that I did it for her and for us.

“You need me.”

Willa needs me to protect her, to guide her to the right path, and to be mine. Under duress or not, that’s completely up to her.

Chapter Three

Willa

I’m still alive. I’m unharmed.

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