Chapter ten- The Brad problem
1709 Words
Angelica’s point of view
I should be happy Chloe is home.
That’s what normal people would feel.
Relief.
Gratitude.
Peace.
Instead, I feel dread.
Because Chloe being home means Brad knows she’s home.
And Brad has never known how to let anything go.
I’m sitting on my bed staring at my phone when the screen lights up.
“Chloe 💕”
My heart jumps into my throat.
I stare at the name for a long second before answering.
“Hello?” My voice sounds too careful.
“Angelica!” she breathes. “Oh my God. Where have you been? I’ve been losing my mind.”
Guilt hits me instantly.
“I’m okay,” I say quickly. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I mean… I think so. That whole thing was weird. I don’t even understand what happened.”
Neither do I.
Not in a way I can explain.
“I’m just glad you’re safe,” I whisper.
There’s a pause on the other end.
“Angelica,” she says slowly, “Brad came to see me.”
My stomach drops.
Of course he did.
“What did he want?” I ask, even though I already know.
“You.”
My grip tightens around the phone.
“He keeps asking where you are. He said you disappeared and that something’s wrong.”
Something is wrong.
But not in the way he thinks.
“I told him I didn’t know,” Chloe continues. “Which is true. Because I don’t. Where are you?”
The question hangs in the air.
Where am I?
In a mansion that feels like a fortress.
Under protection that feels like ownership.
Safe but not free.
“I’m… staying somewhere,” I say carefully.
“Where?”
“With someone.”
“Who?”
My heart pounds.
If I tell her the truth, she becomes a target again.
If I lie, I become the kind of friend I never wanted to be.
“Angelica,” Chloe presses gently, “you’re scaring me.”
“I’m okay,” I repeat.
“That’s not what I asked.”
I close my eyes.
Brad is not just curious.
Brad is persistent.
He’s charming when he wants something.
Pushy when he doesn’t get it.
And dangerous in small, subtle ways.
He doesn’t threaten.
He pressures.
He convinces.
He manipulates.
“Is he still asking?” I whisper.
“Every day.”
My heart sinks.
“He showed up at my house yesterday,” she continues. “He brought coffee like he was just being nice, but he kept asking questions.”
“What kind of questions?”
“If I’d heard from you. If you were in trouble. If you were hiding from someone.”
Hiding.
The word echoes in my head.
“Angelica,” Chloe says softly, “are you?”
I swallow.
Yes.
No.
Both.
“I just needed space,” I say.
From debt.
From being sold.
From becoming property.
“From Brad?” she asks carefully.
My silence answers for me.
She exhales slowly. “I knew it.”
“Knew what?”
“That he was too much.”
Brad had always been loud.
Confident.
The kind of guy who filled a room and expected applause for it.
At first, it was flattering.
Then it became suffocating.
He didn’t like when I didn’t answer immediately.
He didn’t like when I made plans without him.
He didn’t like when I said no.
He never hurt me.
He just made me feel smaller.
“He thinks someone took you,” Chloe says.
Technically…
“He said if he finds out someone’s keeping you somewhere, he’ll handle it.”
My heart stops.
Handle it?
Brad doesn’t understand the world I’m in now.
If he starts digging, he won’t just find me.
He’ll find Leon.
And Leon does not tolerate threats.
“Chloe,” I say carefully, “you need to stop talking to him.”
“I can’t just block him. That’ll make it worse.”
“She’s right.”
I freeze.
Leon’s voice comes from the doorway.
I didn’t even hear him enter.
Chloe’s voice is still in my ear. “Angelica? What was that?”
“Nothing,” I say quickly. “Hold on.”
I pull the phone away slightly and glare at Leon.
“Don’t,” I whisper.
He ignores me and steps fully into the room.
His expression is calm.
Too calm.
“Brad,” he says quietly. “Persistent. Predictable. Emotionally reactive.”
“You’ve been listening?”
“Yes.”
“Rude.”
He tilts his head slightly. “You’re not whispering.”
I sigh and put the phone back to my ear.
“Chloe?”
“I heard a man.”
My stomach twists.
“He’s… the person I’m staying with.”
Silence.
“Angelica,” she says slowly, “who are you with?”
I look at Leon.
He doesn’t speak.
He just watches.
This is the moment.
Tell her.
Protect her.
Lie to her.
“His name is Leon,” I say quietly.
Another pause.
“Is he your boyfriend?”
The word feels strange.
“No,” I say immediately.
Leon’s eyebrow lifts.
“He’s… helping me.”
“With what?”
“With things.”
That sounds ridiculous.
Chloe exhales. “Are you in trouble?”
“No.”
“Yes,” Leon says at the same time.
I glare at him.
Chloe goes silent again.
“I need to know if you’re safe,” she says.
“I am.”
“Then why won’t you tell me where you are?”
Because if Brad knows, he will come.
And if he comes, Leon will respond.
And if Leon responds, Brad won’t win.
But he won’t walk away clean either.
“Because,” I whisper, “the less you know, the safer you are.”
Her breathing changes.
“That’s not how friendship works.”
“I know.”
“Angelica…”
“I’m choosing this,” I say softly.
That part is true.
She doesn’t respond for a long moment.
“Is he making you say that?”
“No.”
Leon doesn’t move.
Doesn’t interrupt.
He just watches me.
“I don’t like this,” Chloe whispers.
“Neither do I.”
“What about Brad?”
The name feels heavier now.
“I’ll handle Brad,” I say.
“How?”
I don’t know.
But I can’t let him keep circling her.
“I’ll talk to him,” I decide.
Leon’s eyes sharpen instantly.
“No,” he says.
Chloe hears him. “Why is he telling you no?”
“Because it’s not your responsibility,” Leon replies calmly, loud enough for her to hear.
“Then whose is it?” Chloe demands.
“Mine.”
The confidence in his voice is steady.
Unshaken.
Chloe is quiet again.
“Angelica,” she says carefully, “do you trust him?”
The question hits harder than anything else.
Do I?
I look at Leon.
At the man who built me a garden.
Who tracked a phone.
Who said no one touches what’s mine.
“I do,” I answer.
And I realize it’s not a lie.
Chloe exhales slowly. “Okay.”
Okay.
Not convinced.
But accepting.
“If Brad asks again,” I continue, “tell him you don’t know anything. Because you don’t.”
“And if he pushes?”
“Let him.”
Leon steps closer.
“If he escalates,” he says calmly, “I’ll intervene.”
Chloe goes silent again.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” she mutters.
“You don’t need to,” he replies.
I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“Chloe, just promise me you won’t tell him anything. Not guesses. Not theories. Nothing.”
She hesitates.
“Promise.”
“I promise.”
Relief floods through me.
We talk a few more minutes about normal things, classes, groceries, how prom went.
It feels fake.
But it feels comforting too.
When we hang up, the room goes quiet.
Leon is still standing there.
“You weren’t supposed to say you trusted me,” he says.
“Why?”
“Because you shouldn’t.”
I frown. “That’s not how this works.”
“How what works?”
“Us.”
He studies me carefully.
“There is no us,” he says automatically.
The words sting more than they should.
“Then why do you care about Brad?” I ask.
“Because he is reckless.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
He doesn’t answer.
Instead, he walks to the window.
“He will push,” Leon says quietly. “Men like him always do.”
“And?”
“And pushing has consequences.”
My stomach tightens.
“I don’t want him hurt.”
“I don’t intend to hurt him.”
“That’s not the same as promising.”
Leon turns to face me.
“If he stops, nothing happens.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
His silence is answer enough.
I wrap my arms around myself.
“This is my fault,” I whisper.
“No.”
“Yes. If I hadn’t disappeared…”
“If you hadn’t disappeared,” he interrupts calmly, “you would not be here. And he would still be pushing.”
He steps closer.
“Angelica,” he says quietly, “you are not responsible for how other people react to boundaries.”
The words settle into my chest slowly.
“I just don’t want Chloe in the middle,” I say.
“She won’t be.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I won’t allow it.”
There’s that certainty again.
It should scare me.
But instead, it steadies me.
“What are you going to do?” I ask.
“Observe.”
“That’s it?”
“For now.”
I nod slowly.
For now.
But I know Brad.
He doesn’t let go.
And I know Leon.
He doesn’t lose.
And I’m standing in between them.
The problem isn’t just Brad asking questions.
The problem is that he thinks I need saving.
And the only person who can decide that…
Is me
- Writer
