Page 57 of The Devil's Wrath

NINETEEN

WRENLY

Iwoke up, stretching my arms above my head, and searched for Theo. His spot was empty beside me, the sheets cold and disheveled. As the sun descended below the horizon, I slipped out of bed, my bare feet landing with a thud on the hardwood floor, and peeked into the adjoining bathroom.

Empty.

“Theo?” I called out, my voice still husky with sleep.

No response.

I reached for my phone, but then I remembered I’d left it at the house when we’d rushed out earlier. Glancing around the room, my eyes landed on a laptop sitting on the desk in the corner. With nothing else to do while waiting for Theo to return, I decided I would check my iCloud messages on his laptop.

I sat in the chair and opened the laptop, tapping a key to wake it from sleep mode. I quickly navigated to the iCloud login page and entered my credentials.

As I waited for it to load, a pop-up at the bottom of the screen appeared, saying,“Movement detected—Wrenly’s Front Door.”

My curiosity piqued, I clicked on the notification. A file opened with a recording of the mailman dropping off a package on my frontporch. Why was a camera set up at my front door? More importantly, why was the feed sent to Theo’s laptop?

I minimized the window and began searching through the other files on the desktop, looking for any clues that might explain what the fuck was going on. There were folders labeledWrenly’s Kitchen, Wrenly’s Living Room, Wrenly’s Backyard, and Wrenly’s Bedroom.

With a shaking hand, I double-clicked on each folder, and a series of video thumbnails appeared on the screen. Each was time stamped with a different date and time, going back several weeks. I clicked on one in my bedroom, and my heart nearly stopped as I watched myself get into bed. The video version of me reached into my nightstand and pulled out a vibrator, slowly sliding it under the covers. My face flushed with embarrassment and rage as I realized Theo had been spying on me, watching my most intimate moments without my knowledge or consent.

With trembling fingers, I clicked through more of the videos, each one a further violation of my privacy. Tears blurred my vision as I watched myself going about my daily life, completely unaware of the cameras capturing my every move.

The sound of Theo’s bedroom door opening startled me, and I knew it was him before he even said a word.

“How long?” I asked, not bothering to turn around.

His footsteps paused behind me, and the silence stretched between us.

“Wren, I can explain,” he finally said, his voice tight.

I spun around in the chair. “How fucking long, Theo?”

He shifted uncomfortably, refusing to meet my gaze. “It’s not what you think.”

“Not what I think?” I scoffed, gesturing to the laptop screen. “You have videos of me fucking myself in my bedroom, but it’s not what I think!”

He ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident on his face. “I was trying to protect you, Wrenly. I set up those cameras because I was worried about your safety.”

I let out a humorless laugh. “Protect me? By watching me touchmyself in my bedroom? How exactly does that protect me, Theo? So I’ll ask you one last time. How long have you been watching me?”

He sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “Since the day after Connor hit you. I used the spare key after changing your locks and installed them while you were in class.”

I stood, my fists clenched at my sides. “I trusted you. I let you into my life, into my heart. And this whole time, you’ve been watching me like some fucking pervert.”

He reached for me, but I jerked away from his touch. “Baby, please. Just let me explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain,” I spat. “I don’t want to see you again.”

I pushed past him, grabbed my purse, and headed for the door, but he seized my arm and pulled me back. “Wrenly, wait!”

I yanked my arm free, glaring at him with all the fury and betrayal I felt. “Don’t touch me. Don’t ever fucking touch me again.”

I stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me. Tears streamed down my face as I ran down the hallway, desperate to put as much distance between myself and him as possible. My feet carried me down the front entrance stairs, the stones cold and unforgiving beneath my bare soles, until I reached my car. I dug through my purse for my car keys, half expecting to see him following behind me, but he wasn’t.

I didn’t know if that made me happy or sad. All I knew was I needed to get the fuck away from here before I had a panic attack. I got into my car, slamming the door shut behind me. My hands shook as I jammed the key into the ignition. The engine roared to life, and I pressed down on the gas pedal, speeding out of the roundabout and down the lane. I’d thought he’d been different and that he’d genuinely cared about me. But it had all been a lie. He was just another manipulative, possessive asshole who had no respect for boundaries.

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