Dark Obsession

𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕺𝖇𝖘𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓 Chapter 1-10

DARK OBSESSION

EPISODE 1 — THE RETURN

The rain had turned the streets of London silver.

Isabella Hart stepped out of the taxi and stared at the enormous gates surrounding Blackwood Estate.

She hadn't been there in three years.

Three years since she had left for university.

Three years since she had promised herself she would never again allow the Blackwood brothers to treat her like a child.

Yet here she was.

She adjusted the strap of her handbag.

Her brother had called that morning.

"Come home, Bella."

Those had been his exact words.

She had immediately known something was wrong.

Her brother never asked her to return without a reason.

As she walked toward the house, the front doors opened.

A man stood waiting.

Tall.

Immaculately dressed.

His dark hair was slightly wet from the rain.

His expression was unreadable.

Alexander Blackwood.

Isabella stopped.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then Alexander said quietly,

"You came."

His voice was deeper than she remembered.

Isabella lifted her chin.

"My brother asked me to."

Alexander's eyes remained on her.

"You've changed."

"So have you."

Something almost resembling a smile appeared on his face.

"Have I?"

"Yes."

She smiled faintly.

"You look more serious."

"I was always serious."

"No."

She smiled.

"You used to smile."

Alexander looked away.

"Perhaps I had fewer reasons not to."

Before Isabella could respond, another voice echoed from inside.

"Isabella!"

Her brother, Daniel, rushed toward her.

She smiled immediately.

"Daniel."

They embraced.

For a moment, everything felt normal.

Then Isabella noticed the other men standing behind him.

Nathan.

Ethan.

Julian.

Marcus.

Four men who had once been her closest childhood companions.

They were all staring at her.

Not rudely.

Not disrespectfully.

But differently.

Isabella felt the change immediately.

She suddenly wished she had stayed at university.

---

Dinner was uncomfortable.

Daniel talked about business.

Nathan discussed politics.

Julian made jokes.

Ethan remained unusually quiet.

Marcus kept checking his phone.

Alexander said almost nothing.

Isabella finally placed her fork down.

"Why did you ask me to come home?"

The table became silent.

Daniel looked at Alexander.

Alexander looked at Isabella.

"There has been a threat against the family."

Her smile disappeared.

"What kind of threat?"

"We don't know yet."

"Then why am I here?"

Daniel answered this time.

"Because your name was mentioned."

Isabella's stomach tightened.

"What?"

Daniel reached for a folder.

He pushed it across the table.

Inside was a photograph.

Isabella picked it up.

Her face went pale.

It was a picture of her leaving university.

Someone had been following her.

On the back was a handwritten message.

The Blackwood family will lose what it values most.

Isabella looked up.

"What does this mean?"

Alexander's expression hardened.

"We don't know."

"But you think I'm the target."

"Yes."

"Why?"

No one answered.

Then Alexander spoke.

"Because you're the one person they believe we would risk everything to protect."

Isabella stared at him.

The words should have frightened her.

Instead, something else frightened her more.

The way Alexander had said them.

As though protecting her wasn't simply an obligation.

As though it was personal.

---

EPISODE 2 — THE FIVE

The next morning, Isabella woke to the sound of voices downstairs.

She opened her bedroom door.

Nathan was standing in the hallway.

He smiled.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

He looked at her for a moment.

"How did you sleep?"

"Not very well."

"Understandable."

He hesitated.

"Are you afraid?"

"Should I be?"

Nathan gave her a serious look.

"Probably."

She laughed softly.

"I appreciate the honesty."

He smiled.

"That's one thing I always liked about you."

Isabella studied him.

"What happened to everyone?"

"What do you mean?"

"When I left, you were all practically family."

"We still are."

"Then why does everything feel different?"

Nathan didn't answer.

Instead, he said,

"Because you grew up."

Isabella's smile faded.

"What does that mean?"

Before Nathan could answer, Alexander appeared at the end of the hallway.

"Isabella."

She turned.

"Yes?"

"Come with me."

Nathan stepped aside.

Isabella followed Alexander.

They entered his study.

The room was enormous.

Dark wooden shelves covered the walls.

A fireplace burned quietly.

Alexander closed the door.

"I want you to understand something."

"What?"

"You are not a prisoner here."

"I never thought I was."

"But you are being watched."

Isabella frowned.

"By whom?"

"My security team."

She folded her arms.

"I don't need a bodyguard."

"You do now."

"I can protect myself."

"I know."

His answer surprised her.

Alexander walked toward the window.

"I don't doubt your strength."

"Then what?"

He turned.

"I doubt the people who want to hurt you."

Isabella stared at him.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then she asked quietly,

"Why do you care so much?"

Alexander's expression changed.

Only for a second.

Then the wall returned.

"Because you're Daniel's sister."

Isabella knew he was lying.

She just didn't know why.

---

EPISODE 3 — THE RULES

By noon, Isabella had received a list of security rules.

She stared at the paper.

"Are you serious?"

Alexander nodded.

"No leaving the estate alone."

"Ridiculous."

"No accepting packages without inspection."

"Fine."

"No unknown visitors."

"Fine."

"No walking outside after dark."

"Absolutely not."

Alexander looked at her.

"Isabella."

She folded the paper.

"I am twenty-four years old."

"I know."

"I can make my own decisions."

"I know that too."

"Then stop treating me like a child."

Alexander became very still.

"I am trying to keep you alive."

The words silenced her.

For a moment, his eyes revealed something beneath the cold exterior.

Fear.

Real fear.

Isabella had never seen Alexander afraid.

She softened.

"I don't want to live in fear."

"Neither do I."

"Then don't make me."

Alexander looked at her for a long time.

Finally, he nodded.

"I'll change the rules."

She smiled.

"Thank you."

He walked toward the door.

Then stopped.

"One rule stays."

"What?"

"If you feel threatened, call me."

Isabella raised an eyebrow.

"Why you?"

"Because I'll answer."

He left.

Isabella stared at the closed door.

Her heart was beating faster than it should.

---

EPISODE 4 — THE UNKNOWN CALLER

That night, Isabella's phone rang.

Unknown number.

She hesitated.

Then answered.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Who is this?"

A man's voice finally came through.

"Do you know why you're really home?"

Isabella froze.

"What?"

"Ask your brother what happened ten years ago."

The call ended.

She immediately called Daniel.

No answer.

She tried again.

Nothing.

Then she heard footsteps outside her room.

The door opened.

Alexander stood there.

"What happened?"

Isabella showed him the phone.

"Someone called me."

"What did they say?"

She repeated the message.

Alexander's face became expressionless.

But his eyes changed.

"Where is Daniel?"

"I don't know."

Alexander pulled out his phone.

He made one call.

"Find Daniel."

He ended the call.

Isabella watched him.

"What happened ten years ago?"

Alexander didn't answer.

"Alexander."

"Not tonight."

"Why?"

"Because you don't know who you can trust."

She stared at him.

"Can I trust you?"

He looked directly into her eyes.

"You shouldn't."

The answer hurt more than she expected.

Alexander walked away.

But before he disappeared down the hallway, Isabella heard him say quietly,

"Not because I would hurt you."

He stopped.

"Because I would destroy anyone who did."

---

EPISODE 5 — THE SECRET IN THE LIBRARY

Isabella couldn't sleep.

At two in the morning, she left her room.

She wandered into the library.

She had spent countless childhood evenings there.

She remembered hiding behind the bookshelves while the five boys searched for her.

She smiled at the memory.

Then she noticed something unusual.

One of the bookshelves was slightly open.

Isabella pushed it.

A hidden compartment appeared.

Inside was a metal box.

Her heart began pounding.

She opened it.

There were photographs.

Newspaper articles.

Letters.

And one old photograph of five young men standing beside a woman.

Isabella recognized the woman immediately.

Her mother.

She stared at the photograph in disbelief.

Her mother had always told her she had never known the Blackwood family before Daniel became friends with them.

That was a lie.

Isabella picked up a letter.

The handwriting was unmistakably her mother's.

Alexander,

If anything happens to me, protect Isabella.

Isabella's hands began shaking.

Another letter lay beneath it.

She opened it.

She must never learn what happened that night.

A floorboard creaked behind her.

Isabella turned.

Alexander stood in the doorway.

His face was pale.

He had seen the letters in her hands.

"Put them down."

Isabella stepped backward.

"What happened that night?"

Alexander didn't move.

"Isabella."

"What happened to my mother?"

Silence.

She held up the letter.

"Why did she ask you to protect me?"

Alexander closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, the man she knew was gone.

For the first time, Isabella saw grief in his eyes.

"Because your mother knew the truth."

"What truth?"

Alexander took a slow breath.

"The night your father disappeared..."

He stopped.

Isabella waited.

"...your family wasn't the only family involved."

Her heart sank.

"Who else was involved?"

Alexander looked at the photograph.

"Mine."

---

EPISODE 6 — TEN YEARS AGO

Alexander finally told Isabella part of the truth.

Ten years earlier, Daniel's father and Isabella's father had been business partners.

A major investment had collapsed.

Money disappeared.

Someone had betrayed them.

Then Isabella's father vanished.

Everyone believed he had fled.

But Alexander knew that wasn't true.

"He didn't abandon you," Alexander said.

"Then where is he?"

"We don't know."

"You're lying."

"I'm protecting you from a truth I don't fully understand."

Isabella shook her head.

"I've spent my entire life being protected by lies."

Alexander said nothing.

She walked past him.

"Never do that to me again."

He watched her leave.

For the first time, Alexander understood that protecting Isabella might require something harder than keeping her safe.

It might require telling her everything.

---

EPISODE 7 — THE MAN BEHIND THE THREATS

The person threatening the Blackwoods was finally identified.

His name was Victor Kane.

He had once been a close associate of Isabella's father.

Now he was a powerful businessman with a reputation for destroying anyone who stood in his way.

But Victor wasn't after money.

He wanted revenge.

And Isabella was the final piece of his plan.

---

EPISODE 8 — A DANGEROUS PROMISE

Alexander confronted Victor.

The meeting was brief.

Victor smiled.

"You still think you can protect her?"

Alexander's expression remained calm.

"I don't think."

Victor laughed.

"I know you care about her."

Alexander said nothing.

Victor leaned closer.

"That is your weakness."

Alexander looked him directly in the eyes.

"No."

His voice was quiet.

"She is my reason."

---

EPISODE 9 — THE NIGHT OF THE STORM

A violent storm hit the city.

The estate lost power.

Isabella became trapped in the old library.

Alexander found her.

She was frightened, but she refused to show it.

"I hate storms," she admitted.

"I remember."

She looked at him.

"You remember?"

"I remember everything about you."

The words surprised both of them.

Alexander stepped back.

"I shouldn't have said that."

Isabella smiled sadly.

"Maybe you should start saying what you mean."

He looked at her.

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because once I start, I don't know if I can stop."

---

EPISODE 10 — THE LINE THEY COULDN'T CROSS

Isabella realized the truth.

Alexander had feelings for her.

And she had feelings for him.

But their history made everything complicated.

He was her brother's closest friend.

He had protected her since childhood.

And now they were standing on opposite sides of a line neither dared cross.

Alexander made the decision for both of them.

"I will never ask you for something you don't freely choose."

Isabella looked into his eyes.

"Good."

He stepped away.

But neither of them could forget the moment.

Something had changed.

And neither could undo it...