Chapter 208 Your obsessed stalker

Chapter 208 Your obsessed stalker


"Did you order something?" he demanded, his voice dropping an octave, heavy with immediate suspicion as his eyes raked over the quiet street, searching the empty neighboring yards. "Or did Sally drop this off?"

"No," I whispered, my breath catching in my throat. "Sally was with us the whole time."

Tobias crouched down, but he didn't touch it right away. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the basket like it was an explosive.

Slowly, he picked up the white envelope, turning it over in his large hands.

"There's no return address. No delivery stamp," he said, his voice dangerously low. His gaze locked onto mine, dark and sharp with a rising panic. "Someone walked right up to your front porch and left this here, Lisa. While you were gone."

My pulse stuttered, dropping like a stone into my stomach a suffocating tension settling heavily over the porch. I stared at his face, searching every line of his forehead, the slight twitch in his jaw, the deep intensity in his grey eyes.

Was he acting? Was there a flicker of recognition hidden beneath that concern? Was this the boy who had loved me so fiercely in that bed last night, or was he secretly the person who had been leaving my deepest secrets on my doorstep?

I couldn't read him. There was no tell. No slip of the tongue. Just raw, mounting worry that was rapidly morphing into anger.

"Who knows you were at the cabin?" Tobias pressed, standing up slowly, his body looming over me. The tension in his chest was palpable as he stared down at me. "Do you have a stalker, Lisa? Is someone following you?"

"No! Of course not," I lied quickly, the words tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Then what the hell is this?" He held out the envelope, his thumb brushing over my printed name. "Because this doesn't look like an accident. Someone is paying attention to you."

My fingers trembled as I snatched the envelope from his hand, quickly tucking it behind my back before he could insist on opening it himself.

Panic flared in my chest. I couldn't let him read whatever was inside. If he saw the nickname, if he saw the details, everything would explode.

"It's... it's from Nurse Mandy!" I blurted out, forcing my voice to steady as I offered him a tight, reassuring smile that felt completely fake on my lips. "From the hospital. The one taking care of my dad."

Tobias froze, his brows pulling together into a deep, doubtful furrow. "Nurse Mandy sent you a gift basket to your house?"

"Yes," I insisted, nodding frantically as I smoothed down my skirt with my free hand. "She... she knew I was stressed about my dad's bills and everything lately. She told me last week she was going to leave a little care package for me when she had a shift nearby. I just... I forgot she said she'd drop it off today."

Tobias stared at me, his grey eyes piercing straight through me. The silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating, as he weighed my words. He didn't look convinced. His jaw remained clenched, his eyes darting from my face down to my trembling hands hidden behind my waist.

"Nurse Mandy," he repeated slowly, testing the lie on his tongue.

"Yes," I breathed, swallowing the lump in my throat, keeping my eyes locked onto his, praying he wouldn't push further. "I promise, Tobias. It's fine. It's just a sweet gesture from the hospital staff."

He didn't move for three agonizing seconds. Then, he let out a harsh breath through his nose, rubbing a hand down his face. "You nearly gave me a heart attack," he muttered, though the suspicion in his eyes didn't fully extinguish.

He reached out, his warm hand settling over my nape, pulling me in until his forehead rested against mine. "If anyone ever creeps around your house, Lisa, you tell me immediately. You hear me? I mean it."

"I hear you," I whispered, my pulse racing for an entirely different reason now.

He lingered for one more second, pressing a tight, protective kiss to my lips before stepping back toward the stairs. "Lock the door behind you. Call me as soon as you're inside."

"I will."
I watched him walk down the driveway, waiting until he climbed into his car and drove down the street before I finally let out the breath I'd been holding.

Turning back to the front door, my knees shaking, I brought the envelope out from behind my back.

My fingers trembled as I unfolded the heavy cardstock, my eyes tracing the clean, familiar cursive as a cold knot tightened in my throat.

“Your birthday is in two days, little witch. You’ll finally be an adult—even though you’re months behind me. But it’s fine; I’ve been an adult long enough for the both of us.
Anyway, this is just a tiny reminder that you have a hopelessly obsessed fan in your corner. You have me, little witch. Even when you’re as annoying as a fly buzzing around my ear, you have me. For life. For as long as you want me here.
I’ve been right beside you all along. I know all these little gifts and notes have been confusing, appearing at the weirdest times and seasons, but that was always the plan. By your eighteenth birthday, I wanted you to have a room full of tiny reminders of my love for you.
Happy birthday in advance, little witch.
— Your very obsessed stalker.”

A sharp, ragged breath hitched in my chest. I clutched the paper against my ribs, my thumb tracing over the ink where little witch was written, over and over again.

My lungs squeezed tight, every muscle in my body locking up

Every word on that page radiated a terrifying, effortless warmth, a possessive, undeniable devotion that made my head spin. 

I’ve been right beside you all along.

I looked down the empty driveway where Tobias’s car had just disappeared around the corner. My mind raced, trapped in a dizzying whirlwind of sheer panic and overwhelming emotion.

The handwriting, the voice behind the words, the nickname... everything pointed to him. It had to be him. But how could a boy who couldn't even remember our first kiss have planned something so elaborate, so calculated, spanning months before his memory ever fell apart?

Was he secretly playing a cruel game with me?
Was he protecting me on the porch while hiding the truth right behind his back? Or had my past Tobias set all of this in motion before the accident, completely unaware that his present self would stand beside me today, looking at the same gift with clueless, furious eyes?

I sank onto the top step of the porch, clutching the note tightly against my heart, completely unable to tell where the line between my lover and my stalker truly began