37. She Is Obsessed With You

**Bianca**

I spun around with every intention of clawing their face off.

That’s what I wanted to do. But the only result I got was their mask slipping off after I slapped their cheek. At that moment, I lost control of my body and fell to the floor.

As I fell, I caught a glimpse of their face as they hurried to fix the mask. I recognized the features of their face thanks to the mountain of pictures in Conroy’s family album. There was no mistaking someone else for Jasmine.

I didn’t realize I lost consciousness until I woke up. She lifted my arm, seemingly unaware of me waking up as she examined it like she was considering the best way to cut it in half.

Despite being able to see, I failed to react efficiently to how she handled me. The only time I realized I was in a sitting position was just before Conroy returned. Two documents were resting on the living room table. I wanted to turn it. However, my body wouldn’t respond to me.

“Looks like you’re back,” I heard her say. “I was worried you would stay knocked out for the entire day. We don’t have long. He should have heard the news by now. Let’s prepare, shall we?”

Her gloved hand patted my cheek.

“I just need you to do one thing for me before you leave this world for good. I’m going to direct your hand on where to go.” Jasmine placed a pen between my fingers. “All you need to do is write your signature. If you can’t do that, then write your name instead.”

*My… name? Someone wants me to sign my name…*

She held my hand, leading it to wherever she wished. I followed her instructions and signed the documents with the little control I had. The only thing I could think of was that I had to write.

“Perfect!”

Jasmine dropped my wrist like a hot potato then fixed the papers to make sure that they were neatly stacked on top of each other.

Something in the air shifted.

I could sense a violent urge.

My fingers flinched, crying out in the place of a mouth that couldn’t do it on its own.

She turned to me, the seconds stretching as she did so. I braced myself for whatever might come next.

“I haven’t tested it on any Lycan,” Jasmine muttered. “But all the werewolves I used are dead. It would be great if you did the same.” She tapped her chin. A better thought crossed her mind. “Well, it doesn’t matter if you live. You’ll get to see him leave you. At the end of the day, he will return to me. But it will be quite difficult if you’re still in the picture, so I’ll use someone else to get close to him. She’ll obey every word I say.”

Jasmine lowered herself until she and I were face to face. “Count yourself unlucky that you happened to fall in love with what’s mine. He won’t miss you, Bianca. Not in the least.”

I couldn’t recall the entire one-sided conversation until months later. After she left, I waited and prayed for Conroy to come back home. He’d be the only person who could help me.

________

*Present time*

The group was silent once I was done. Avery's wide eyes had yet to return to their usual shape.

“You knew…” Avery said. “You knew all this time and you didn't tell me?”

I could hear the heartbreak in his voice. No doubt he thinks that I was purposely making us run around when I already knew who hurt me. Or worse, he thinks I didn't trust him enough.

I gingerly measured the weight of my words. “She was his sister. I didn't want to believe that so I kept looking at other options. But after staying in the hospital I came to terms that it was her. But I knew that no one would believe me. Conroy already didn't believe me when I told him I was poisoned. There was no way in hell that he would believe his sister came back from the dead. Also… I didn't want to break his heart. He talked about her like he adored her more than he did his parents. If he knew that she… she did *that*, it would break him, terribly.”

To know that his only living sibling chose to not contact him for years and decided themselves to create chaos instead, it would drive anyone to the brink. And despite how much the conflict with Conroy damaged my psyche, I wouldn’t want him to suffer in that regard. It would be too low of a blow.

Jasmine slowly crept behind her brother. I noticed it when the boys didn’t.

No, you’re not going to hide behind one of your victims. Over my dead body.

I hold out my hand. “Give me the book, Avery.”

He snapped back to reality, refocusing on the issue at hand as he went into his shoulder bag and gave me a light blue book. I passed it on to Conroy. “We found this inside her house. If you still don’t believe us, then take a look for yourself-”

He ripped the book right out of my hand and flipped through the pages like a hungry animal on the verge of finding food. His body was as stiff as a board. And I could tell he wasn’t shivering because of the cold.

“There are details about you and your life that I wouldn’t have known,” I stated. “So I couldn’t have written it. Only you can tell me if that’s your sister’s handwriting.”

Suddenly, Jasmine started sniffling.

“Connie, they rubbed my house. Are you really letting them get into your head like that? Give me my journal. Let’s leave this place and leave them here with their wild theories. I’ve had enough of them and I can’t handle staying here any longer!”

I hoped he caught on when she admitted that the diary belonged to her. But I feared he would give in anyway because he loved her so much.

As Jasmine pleaded with him, Conroy barely moved. His eyes were fixed on a page in the journal.

“Connie?” Jasmine tapped his shoulder. He didn’t even flinch. In fact, his face held no readable expression.

With no idea what would come next, I went on. I needed to give as much information as possible.

“As you can see, she went into detail about her plans. She has always been obsessed with you, Conroy. But she didn’t share the same love for your parents or your little brother. They hated them all and thought they were trying to replace her with him and give you another sibling to steal all your affection away. Her plan was to have them killed in an accident and disappear, returning years later with a completely new identity. She’s the one who convinced your parents to take that road and told Cinderella about that crazy plan to get your attention. Cinderella has secretly been taking videos of you two having sex using a hidden camera and sending those videos to Jasmine using flashdrives and SD cards. When she eventually came back, she planned to get rid of Cinderella and use your grief to sneak into your heart to raise your affection for her, turning it into romantic love. Her obsession has never ended. She’s the one who sent those text messages to Cinderella’s parents using her phone. She will do anything to reach her goal, and she doesn’t care who she hurts, even if it’s you.”

“She’s wrong!” Jasmine’s voice became broken as more tears streamed down her face. “Please, let’s go home! We’re finally together again. Don’t let this lying bitch ruin it.”

“What did you just call me?” For some reason, My anger shot up from 10 to 100. I already got annoyed at her putting on the waterworks. And now she has the nerve to act up and call me a liar to my face after everything I just said?

“Bianca, wait!” Avery yelled.

I didn’t listen to him. I headed straight for her, flames consuming my vision. I would get up into her face if I had to.

While I was only a meter away, Conroy blocked my path. I frowned in disappointment.

I said, “You don’t believe me, do you?”

Conroy shook his head. He glanced up with furrowed brows. “No, I believe you.”