Bella’s apartment felt suffocating that evening, the shadows long and oppressive against the soft glow of her floor lamp. She tried to focus on a book, tried to drown the tension in words, but her mind kept drifting back to the messages. Her phone buzzed again, and she froze before reaching for it.
The screen lit up with another note:
“He won’t save you in time.”
Bella’s heart thudded violently, her fingers trembling as she dropped the phone onto the coffee table. She felt a chill creep down her spine, the kind that made her skin crawl and her stomach knot. Her breath hitched as she replayed the events in her mind—how someone could know where she was, what she was doing, even when Damien wasn’t around.
She tried to convince herself it was just a sick joke, but deep down, she knew bette
