Page 103 of She will Always be Mine

All signs are pointing toward him. Even though I wish to be proven wrong that he wouldn’t stoop so low or harm Nyra, I’m not so sure anymore.

Looks like he and I need to have another chat.

“Come on, baby. I’ll take you to bed,” I whisper to Nyra as I rub her back soothingly. I fear I pushed her too hard tonight.

Carrying her bridal style, I walk us to the bedroom and gently lay her down on the bed. Since she’s already wearing her tiny sleep shorts and matching camisole, I pull the cover over her body. Taking off my T-shirt, I slide in beside her and tuck her against my chest.

She presses tighter against me like she wants to burrow herself underneath my skin. It pulls at my heart that only beats for her. I run my fingers through her hair until her tears dry out and she stops shivering.

She’s halfway asleep when she murmurs, “I called you because you keep the nightmares away.”

Her confession rocks me to my core.

I shouldn’t have let her leave. It’s as much my fault as the monster that she’s drowning in.

***

Around midnight, I carefully shift Nyra to the side while ensuring she doesn’t stir as I get off the bed. I place a pillow beside her in case she wants to hug and tuck the covers up to her chin before quietly walking into the living room.

Her phone is still on the table where she left it and I check to see if there are any new notifications but find none. Grabbing it, I make my way back to the bedroom and tilt the screen of the phone toward her face and sigh in relief when it immediately unlocks.

I expect guilt to surface for invading her privacy but none comes.

Once again back in the living room, I sit and open her recent texts but don’t find anything suspicious. I scroll up and down, searching for anything that looks sketchy. There’s a few from her dad, Monica, and some advertisements, but nothing useful.

“Fuck!” I curse. She must have deleted it.

I check in the junk folder. But of course, it’s empty.

I’m about to close all the windows and put it back when my eye catches on her gallery. Like a voyeur, I glimpse at her pictures and a smile plays at my mouth when I stare at the ones from today. She took quite a few with Monica and some other girls from her class.

Despite the sadness I often see, there’s also happiness on her face like she’s glad to be back.

Like she belongs here.

I chuckle low when I find out that she sneaked a photo of me from this morning while I looked sideways in the kitchen. Sudden realization dawns on me that we don’t have any recent photos of us together. I guess I’ll have to change that.

I search her albums if there are any more when I notice a hidden folder.

Curious, I tap on it and though I suspected pictures of Nyra, they are not what I imagined. My shoulders go rigid as I stare at her nudes with her face hidden but there’s no mistaking it is her. In fact, there are quite a few and the dates show they weren’t taken long ago.

Since it’s the first time I’m seeing them, it’s obvious they weren’t intended for me.

Did she send them to someone? If she did, then it explains why her face is hidden and the reason she believes she’s tainted. My mind goes to a dark place. Since I know Nyra will never cheat on me, it can only mean one thing.

She’s being blackmailed.

With everything I know till now, it’s the only harsh truth that makes sense. All this time, I thought she gave up on us and walked away because I wasn’t worth fighting for, when the glaring truth is… She’s trying to protect me.

As I ponder it over, I’m convinced that whatever dirt her blackmailer has against her, it would put the people she loves in grave danger. Nyra is smart.

She wouldn’t be foolish enough to send these to her blackmailer, right? However, the sinking feeling in my chest tells me otherwise. My grip around her phone tightens as rage consumes me.

I wish she’d come to me before she risked her life.

She should have trusted me instead of falling prey to amonster.

Chapter Thirty-Five

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