All Chapters of His Darkest Obsession (Haunted Kings #1): Chapter 1 - Chapter 4

“Paula is your ex?!” I screech like a banshee. Kenneth, my boyfriend, who’s just returned from the bathroom, stares at me like he’s just seen a ghost. And apparently that ghost must have gotten his tongue too because all the words he’s trying to string together come out sounding like he’s just got a stroke. “Jo…I, uh—It’s…not—“ My chest feels heavy, like an elephant has just sat on it. All that keeps running through my mind is You’re such a fool, Joanna! You’ve been fooled twice! Twice! Kenneth glances warily at the phone in my hand. It’s his phone. The one I’d just gone through while he was in the bathroom. I hate the way my hands are shaking as I keep scrolling through the texts he’d exchanged with his “best friend” just minutes ago. The weight on my chest becomes heavier with each line: Kenneth: you know i’ve always wanted it to be you, right? she’s lying here in my arms and all i can think about why we ever broke up. you were it for me. Paula❤

Two Weeks Later The apartment is dead silent, save for the steady hum of the refrigerator. For two full weeks, I exist in a liminal space of heavy, dreamless sleep and waking numbness. I exist entirely in oversized sweatpants, watching the shadows shift across my bedroom ceiling while playing the last year of my life on a torturous loop. I try as much as I can to block out the world. I try not to look at social media, but I can’t help stalking Ken and Paula’s Instagram. Ken hasn’t posted anything since our breakup, but Paula has been keeping her 2,000+ followers updated with her life. I feel bitter envy as I scroll through the pretty selfies she’s posted, and I am very analytical in comparing her looks with mine. Maybe if I was thinner and had clearer skin, Ken wouldn’t have thought twice before setting those boundaries with her. I’m also ashamed to say this (and I can’t even let Ria know about it), but I unblocked him sometime ago, desperate to hear from him. H