Destroy Me Psycho

Engaged

Rose was curled against Daniel’s chest. The assistant stood there, utterly shocked. Daniel looked at the assistant in his stern voice and said, “Get out of here — now!”

Startled, the assistant stammered, “Sorry, sir — but who is this girl? Why is she acting like she has a claim on you? I’ve never seen you with her before.”

Without any expression, Daniel replied, “From now on you’ll always see her with me.”

He stroked Rose’s face and added, “You shouldn’t have done that.”

Clinging tightly to his chest, Rose said, “You belong only to me. No one else can come near you—only me.”

Daniel stared at her for a few seconds. The assistant, unable to accept what she’d seen, left the cabin angrily.

Evening had fallen. Daniel took Rose out of the office building, sat her in the car, and told the driver in a hard voice, “Drop her at home.”

The driver started the car. As Daniel prepared to step out, Rose grabbed his hand and asked, “Where are you going?” Daniel replied, “I have something important to do. I can’t take you there, so you’ll have to go home.”

Hearing that, Rose shook her small head and declared, “No—I won’t go anywhere without you.” Daniel snapped, “Why are you being so stubborn? I’ve told you I can’t take you with me. Why don’t you understand?”

Still pushing, Rose insisted, “I want to go with you—wherever you go, take me with you.” Daniel glared at her for a few seconds, then finally climbed into the car and said, “Alright. I’ll go home with you myself.”

A small smile lit Rose’s face. She scrambled into his lap and buried her head against his chest as the car pulled away.

Night came. Daniel carried Rose in his arms out of the car and into the house. She slept deeply. He carried her straight inside.

As soon as they entered, Diler — angry and loud — snapped, “Do you know your age? You’re only twenty-two, and you’re taking care of a child? Is your life only going to be spent on this? You have your own life. Why are you wasting it on this girl?”

Rose stirred and slowly opened her eyes at the raised voice. Daniel cut in sternly, “Exactly. I am not a toddler you can reason with. I’m twenty-two and I know what I’m doing. I don’t want to repeat myself. And regarding this girl, I won’t tolerate any comments from anyone in this house. I expect you understood that.”

With that he began to take Rose toward a room. Diler, grinding his teeth, added, “I’ve fixed your engagement. In two days you will be engaged to Alexa. Be prepared. You can’t refuse — we’ve already discussed it and you agreed. I don’t want to debate this.”

Then Diler left. Daniel paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and walked away without another word. After a while he laid Rose on the bed and covered her with a blanket. He was about to leave when someone suddenly grabbed his hand.

He stopped in his tracks, turned expressionless, and looked down at Rose. “You’re not asleep?” he asked. Rose blinked her long lashes and asked innocently, “What is an ‘engagement,’ Uncle?”

Without emotion he said, “You don’t need to know that.”

But Rose’s eyes turned red as she asked, “Will that bad aunty come back again? Please, Uncle, don’t leave me tomorrow. I won’t let you go anywhere.”

She gripped his hand tightly. Seeing her cling like that, Daniel snapped, “Since the day you came into my life, you haven’t left me alone for a moment. Why are you doing this? You’re a child—why don’t you behave like one? Are you mentally abnormal?”

Rose nodded her little head ‘yes’. Daniel’s eyes narrowed. Then Rose tugged at him. Daniel didn’t move an inch, but angrily said, “What are you doing?”

Lowering her head, Rose murmured, “You will not leave me.”

He controlled his temper and replied, “But I have something important.”

Pouting, Rose pleaded, “You can do that work later. First put me to sleep—because I’m very sleepy.”

She began to close her eyes. Daniel watched her for a few seconds, then finally sat down near her. Rose rested her head in his lap and clutched his scarf tightly. He simply looked at her for a moment.

Softly she asked, “Uncle — please tell me, what is engagement?”

Irritated, Daniel snapped, “An engagement is when we claim full rights over our partner. Got it? Now can you sleep?”

Rose fell silent for a few seconds, said nothing more, and closed her eyes. Daniel watched her for a bit, pulled the blanket back over her, and started to leave. Then, in a small voice, Rose said, “Why didn’t you give me a goodnight kiss? Daddy used to kiss me goodnight. Please… kiss me.”

Daniel stopped dead. His expression changed completely. Clenching his fists in anger, he said, “I am not your father to give you a goodnight kiss. Go to sleep!” Rose froze, frightened. Daniel walked out. Tears welled in Rose’s eyes. She hugged her pillow and began to sob.

Meanwhile, Daniel went down to the backyard where a man was chained to a stone. Several guards stood nearby. Daniel put on gloves, picked up a bottle of acid, and with brutal calm began pouring it onto the man’s body. The man screamed in pain, “Ahhh… please, sir! Stop! Please, sir — it hurts!” But Daniel kept pouring acid on him. The man’s screams echoed in the backyard until the flesh and bones were consumed.

Finally Daniel removed his gloves, looked at the ruined corpse and said angrily, “If you cross my work, this is the fate you’ll meet. I won’t tolerate anyone laying eyes on what’s mine. And you tried to look — now you will not see anything anymore.” He left. The guards began disposing of the remains, which resembled a skeletal shell.

At the gate Diler watched all this and thought to himself, “Just as I feared — he’s even crazier than I thought. He did this for a little girl. Who knows what he’ll do next. No — I must get that girl out of here, and away from my son, by any means. Otherwise she’ll ruin him.”

The next morning, Rose sat on the bed quietly sobbing. The door opened and Daniel entered without expression. “Why haven’t you had your breakfast yet?” he asked.

As soon as Rose saw him she raised her small hands in the air. Daniel sighed, picked her up, and asked, “I asked you something earlier. Will you answer now?”

Rose lowered her head and slowly shook it ‘no.’ Daniel’s eyes narrowed again. Then she looked down and softly said, “Maid aunty said she’s going away because you’re getting engaged. So will you get engaged to me? So you’ll always stay with me and I’ll stay with you?”

Daniel stared at her for a moment, simply looking.

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