CH003: The Darkest Obsession

[RAVEN]

“Oh my, Raven! It’s been forever! Look how much you’ve grown into such a fine young man.”

Nina, one of my mother’s friends, gushes over me as I’m forced to tag along with my mother at the engagement party the next evening.

“Thank you, Nina. You look lovely yourself.” I force a polite smile.

My gaze drifts over her shoulder to where Sydney stands a short distance away.

Her mother is dragging her around to greet guests while her best friend Maddie, stays glued to her side like a shield. Sydney doesn’t look like she’s enjoying any of it.

And she looks breathtaking tonight.

She’s wearing a sleek black off-shoulder dress that hugs her body perfectly, the neckline dipping low enough to reveal her elegant collarbones.

My eyes linger there. I want to trail my lips along them, taste her skin, and mark every inch.

“Isn’t that true, Raven dear?”

I blink and pull my attention back to Nina and my mother, who are both staring at me expectantly.

“Sure,” I reply with another fake smile. “If you’ll excuse me, ladies.”

I lean down, kiss the back of Nina’s hand, and walk away.

Retreating to a quiet corner table at the back, hidden enough from most eyes, I signal a server over. I take a glass of whiskey from his tray, and sip slowly while my gaze finds Sydney again.

She’s finally escaped her mother and is chatting with the bride-to-be. She laughs softly, and those deep dimples appear in her cheeks.

A small smile tugs at my own lips before I can stop it.

God, if she were a show, I could watch her every fucking day for the rest of my life.

She’s too pretty. Too perfect.

The first time I saw her, I was seventeen. It was right after the disaster that almost destroyed me.

Her family had just moved into our neighborhood and my mother had invited them over for dinner. I wasn’t allowed downstairs because of my condition, so I watched from the top of the stairs.

She was wearing an oversized sweater and baggy glasses, with her blonde hair cropped short. She sat quietly beside her brother while our mothers talked.

That single moment changed everything. For the first time in a year, I felt something.

My heart fluttered, my stomach tightened, and I felt real emotions. When she left, the feelings disappeared and I returned to my usual numb state.

But every time she visited again, the feelings came rushing back; stronger each time. I was overwhelmed with the urge to hold her, protect her, and never let her go.

When I noticed Hunter showing interest in her and saw how she blushed whenever he got close, blinding jealousy tore through me.

She didn’t even know I existed. I wanted her to notice me so badly.

So I started stealing flowers from my mother’s garden and dropping them down the stairs for her. She would pick them up, sniff them, and look around with that curious little smile.

Those were some of the best moments of my life.

I had planned to do more. One day, when my mother wasn’t watching, I would corner her, get on my knees, and ask her to marry me.

But the next day, my mother shipped me off abroad, claiming my condition was getting worse.

But I knew the real reason she did that.

She was scared of me. Scared of what I might become.

All those years abroad, I tried my hardest not to forget Sydney. But I was just a kid, and eventually her face started to fade.

Until two years ago.

Ellis applied for a partnership at my company without knowing I was the founder. As we reconnected and started working together, he casually mentioned Sydney again.

The moment her name left his mouth, that old electrifying flutter returned.

I tried to control it. I didn’t want to become that creepy, obsessed seventeen-year-old boy again.

But I lost the fight the day I answered one of Ellis’s video calls and saw her instead.

I quickly blocked my camera so she wouldn’t see me. She kept saying, “Hello, Ellis? Are you there?” over and over again.

I was completely entranced.

She had grown even more beautiful. Even in that messy baggy shirt while blow-drying her hair, she looked breathtaking.

In that moment, something darker awakened inside me. The kind of feeling I had always feared..

I wasn’t just craving her. I wanted to make her mine, by any means necessary. My wife.

I began gathering every piece of information about her. Her hobbies, the hospital where she worked, the people she spent time with, her daily routine. Everything.

I even flew to Manhattan a few times just to watch her for a few minutes, making sure she never noticed me. To her, I was still a ghost.

Until now.

I knew I couldn’t miss Ellis’s wedding for anything in the world. This was my chance to stop being invisible to the only woman who had ever made me feel anything.

As I flew here, I made myself a promise with a plan already mapped out in my head:

I am leaving this place with Sydney as my wife.

And despite our first fight yesterday, I don’t regret a single thing. What matters is that I finally exist to her now.

“Hey.” A voice says beside me, cutting off my thoughts.

I turn my head and see Chelsea, my personal assistant and close friend, walking toward me with a tablet in her hands.

She’s wearing a skimpy dress that’s barely appropriate for a wedding, but I don’t comment. That’s just how Chelsea is.

“Enjoying the party?” She asks as she sits beside me.

I nod and take a sip of my drink.

“Any update?” I ask, skipping the small talk.

“Not much,” she replies, signaling a server for a drink. “The victim’s family is pushing harder. They’re not after money. They want your ‘girlfriend’ to rot in jail.”

My eyes drift to Sydney.

She’s rolling her eyes while Ellis chats animatedly with her. I have always admired their strong sibling bond, and it makes me wonder how Ellis would feel if he knew what his sister is going through.

Not that I plan to tell him. That’s for Sydney to handle.

My focus is getting her out of this mess.

“Meanwhile…” Chelsea says, sliding the tablet into my hand. “We’ve got bigger problems. Bad reviews on our latest app.”

I raise an eyebrow and scroll through them. Someone’s religiously dropping lengthy reviews on how they used to love our company, but it’s now disappointing.

We rarely get negative reviews, so I can already tell that these are obviously fake. Planted by our competitors.

“It shouldn’t bother you,” I say, handing the tablet back. “We both know they’re fake.”

“Why don’t you check the name of that commenter first.” Chelsea replies.

Sighing, I look again.

“Charlotte Devereux?” I lift a brow. “Who’s she?”

Chelsea’s eyes widen in disbelief.

“You seriously don’t know who Charlotte Devereux is? The highly respected, socially untouchable adopted daughter of the old-money Devereux family? The woman who has access to every closed door in the city?”

“What’s your point?” I rub my temples, already tired of the conversation.

“What I’m saying is, when Charlotte speaks, people listen. These reviews will hurt us if she keeps pushing them.”

“So your point is…?”

“Let me set up a meeting between you two,” Chelsea says. “A face-to-face conversation might stop this once and for all.”

But I’m no longer listening.

My attention is fixed on Sydney, who has just gone back inside the house and Hunter who followed her less than a minute later.

That familiar, burning jealousy twists in my stomach again.

What’s that bastard up to?

I stand up immediately. Chelsea looks up at me, confused.

“Set up the meeting,” I say, already walking away. “I have something important to handle.”