The glow of my phone lit the dark room, pale blue against trembling hands. My breath stuck somewhere between my chest and throat as I stared at the words.

You can hide behind him all you want, Alina. But in the end, you’ll crawl back. You always do.

And beneath it, the second message, colder, sharper.

Check the window.

The air left my lungs in a rush. My fingers almost dropped the phone, the weight of those words heavier than the device itself. He was here. Watching. Maybe close enough to see my every twitch.

My body locked. I didn’t move. Couldn’t. It felt like if I so much as...