He Dreamed I Had Come for Him

Dealing with a woman who couldn’t speak and whom everyone dismissed as mad would be easy for Julian.

He had plenty of ways to make her wish she were dead.

Fortunately, my mother still had enough sense left to flee.

She stumbled away.

“Mr. Whitmore, are you all right? Do you need a hospital?”

The manager hurried to help him up.

Several cuts marked Julian’s body. There were scratches on his face too.

He looked a mess.

His expression dark, he shook off the manager’s hand.

“I tried to warn you she was back,” the man said awkwardly. “I wanted you to be careful.”

The guards who had gone after her returned empty-handed.

“It’s bizarre. That crazy woman disappears like a ghost. Turn a corner, and she’s gone.”

I breathed in relief.

Thank God.

My mother had escaped.

“She comes after you every time, Mr. Whitmore. For your safety, I think we should call the police.”

Julian stopped him.

“Forget it. She’s a pitiful woman. Confused, and she can’t even speak. She hasn’t really hurt me. Let her go. Just increase the patrols.”

“You’re too kind. A violent woman like that? If someone killed her defending themselves, she’d have brought it on herself.” The manager kept urging him. “Let’s report her, so she can’t keep bothering you.”

“No.”

Julian rubbed between his brows as if utterly exhausted.

“I don’t even know if my wife will survive. I don’t have the energy to deal with this too.”

He was afraid.

Afraid that if he handed my mother over to the police, they would discover who she was.

Seeing how firmly he refused, the manager gave up.

“All right. Don’t worry, sir. I’ve arranged extra patrols around your house. What happened tonight won’t happen again.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

After they left, Julian slowly turned toward the place where my mother had disappeared.

“You think you can get away from me, you old bitch?”

The cold malice in his eyes chilled me.

He wasn’t going to leave her alone.

Thunder rolled again.

Without warning, heavy rain swept down, blotting out the sky.

I stood in the cold rain, then slowly crouched and curled into myself.

My mother’s weathered, grief-stricken face wouldn’t leave my mind.

I used to think being born had been my first mistake.

That was why my parents abandoned me.

But it wasn’t true.

My mother loved me.

She loved me so much.

What must she have suffered all these years, trying to find me?

She wasn’t a crazy woman.

Looking for me had driven her mad.

Julian had found her first.

To stop her from telling me who she was, he had cut out her tongue.

That animal.

I shook with fury.

Worst of all, she had been right beside me, suffering.

And I had known nothing.

I had treated the man who hurt her as my family.

My love.

I was a fool.

A complete, hopeless fool.

It felt as though countless hands were tearing my soul apart.

The pain was unbearable.

Even when Julian cut out my heart, I hadn’t hated him this much.

It hadn’t hurt this much.

I couldn’t accept it.

I couldn’t.

He went inside, headed upstairs, and showered.

Then he changed into pajamas, lay down, and quickly fell asleep.

The bastard could still sleep.

I stood at the head of the bed and stared at him.

More than anything, I wanted to become something powerful and vengeful.

Something that could wrap its hands around his throat and kill him.

But his sleep wasn’t peaceful.

His brows drew together. My name left his mouth.

He seemed trapped in a nightmare.

“Stella, no!”

He jolted awake, drenched in sweat.

Terror filled his eyes.

Looking at him, I knew what he had dreamed.

I had come to collect the life he owed me.

So even a monster without a shred of conscience could feel fear.