THE NAME THAT HAUNTS

The name hit Seraphina like a wave of ice water. She repeated,

“Marcus Webb…” Stephanie stared, waiting for her to say something…anything but she blinked.

She was waiting for recognition to flood her brain, waiting for some memory to surface, some moment of connection but absolutely nothing came. 

Just an ache in her chest where understanding should have been.

"Who the hell is Marcus Webb?!" she finally asked, her voice barely steady.

Stephanie shook her head slowly, scrolling through Adrian's message with wide eyes. 

"I have no idea. But Adrian says he works for Vale Corporation…for almost a decade. He's in middle management, completely unremarkable.”

“So he's like some ghost?”

“Yeah he does nothing that would make anyone notice him."

"No, no." Seraphina stood abruptly, pacing the small space with frantic energy. "There has to be something. Why would he do this? Why would he—" She stopped mid-step, a cold horror dawning. "Nine cameras. He said nine cameras, right?"

"Yeah."

"So he's been watching Adrian too. Watching us…in our bedroom." Stephanie's face went pale. 

"Oh my fucking God."

"If he had cameras in Adrian's penthouse..." Seraphina's voice trailed off, her mind racing. "Then he knows everything. Every fight, every conversation, every—" Her throat closed up. "He watched us and that creep saw everything."

Her phone buzzed again and both women flinched. Stephanie looked away immediately,

“Fuck no.”

"Read it," Seraphina said, her voice barely audible. 

“I'm scared too!”

"Please, Steph. I can't look at it."

Stephanie swallowed hard and unlocked the screen. Her expression shifted as she read.

“Oh what's it Steph?” But Steph remained quiet. She had confusion, then shock, then something that looked…like pity?

"Sera..."

"What?"

"The diary." Stephanie's voice shook. "Adrian sent photos of the first few pages. The writing..." She paused, struggling to find words. "It's not just a diary…it's like a timeline.”

“...what?”

“Girl every time he saw you, every interaction…going all the way back to high school."

Seraphina's legs gave out again, and this time she didn't even try to stand.

"He's been watching me for a decade?"

"Longer." Stephanie's face was grim. "The earliest entry is dated sixteen years ago."

Sixteen years.

She had been ten years old.

“... he's such a fuckin creep”

A sob escaped Seraphina's throat, ugly and raw. 

“He's been watching me for sixteen years…”

Sixteen years of watching, sixteen years of waiting…a man she had never noticed, had never spoken to, had never even registered as a presence in her life, had been documenting her existence like she was his personal obsession. She turned to Stephanie.

“I was so ugly then…so he saw that too?” Stephaine frowned.

“Girl, he's seen you and Adrian fuck…and that's what you're worried about?”

Her phone buzzed yet again. Stephanie looked at the screen and her eyes burning with pure fury.

"What now?" Seraphina whispered.

"Adrian says he's coming back and he's bringing the diary."

"Why?" Stephanie met her eyes, something scared in her gaze.

"He says we need to see the last entry."

“He can just send a pic or something…”

Seraphina didn't want to see it or him. Every instinct screamed at her to burn it, to destroy it, to never lay eyes on whatever that damned Marcus Webb had written but some part of her…the part that had been broken and rebuilt and broken again just knew she had to.

"Tell him to come," she said, her voice hollow. "And tell him to bring it all." She paused, a cold fury settling into her bones. "Because I'm done being hunted."