Gabriel's Obsession

Innocence Amidst Darkness

Gabriel's possessiveness, once hidden beneath charming words and stolen touches, had erupted into a raging tempest of obsession and control. The air in the room was thick with tension, a suffocating force that pressed down on me, making it difficult to breathe.

I stood frozen, my body trembling with the weight of everything I had just heard, my mind struggling to comprehend the brutal reality of the situation. My heart pounded wildly, an erratic rhythm of fear and disbelief. This wasn't the Gabriel I had fallen in love with, the man who had once held me in his arms and whispered sweet nothings against my skin. This man—this stranger—was looking at me with a fire that didn't speak of love, but possession.

"You're scaring me, Gabriel," I  whispered, my voice barely audible, like fragile glass on the verge of shattering.

For a fleeting second, something flickered in his eyes—remorse again? But just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, replaced by an intensity that sent shivers racing down my spine.

He reached out, his fingers brushing gently against my cheek, a soft caress at odds with the storm brewing beneath his exterior. "I'm sorry, love," he murmured, his voice low and laced with a deceptive tenderness. "I didn't mean to frighten you. You know how much you mean to me."

The words, once a source of comfort, now felt like chains tightening around my throat. This wasn't love. This was control. And I had been blind to it for too long.

A bitter realization clawed its way into my chest. Maybe Adrian had been right when he warned me. Maybe I had been too afraid of Gabriel's wrath to see the truth. Adrian had his own darkness, his own dangerous attraction to me, but at least he had seen what I refused to acknowledge—Gabriel was not the man I thought he was.

My fingers curled into fists at my sides, anger simmering beneath the surface, boiling over as I thought about the years of deception, the web of lies that had ensnared me.

"You keep saying you've changed," I spat, my voice shaking with fury. "But you're still the monster I met the first time. You're still your father's puppet—spineless, doing whatever he tells you, even when it means betraying me."

Gabriel's expression darkened, his mask of indifference slipping. His jaw clenched, his body coiled with restrained rage.

"Watch what you say, Amelia," he warned, his voice low, dangerous.

But I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.

"You let them announce your engagement to Anna!" I continued, my voice rising. "Did you even think of me? Of our daughters? Or was I just convenient until something better came along?"

His breathing turned ragged, his fists clenching at his sides. "I told you," he growled, "I didn't want this!"

"Then why didn't you stop it?" I fired back.

His silence was deafening.

And then, without warning, his hand lashed out.

The force of his slap sent me stumbling backward, my vision blurring with pain. A metallic taste coated my tongue, the sting spreading across my cheek like fire. My breath caught in my throat, my body frozen in shock and disbelief.

He had hit me.

Gabriel had hit me.

Tears welled in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I forced myself to look up at him, my expression hard, unwavering.

"Is this what you do when you can't control me?" I demanded, my voice thick with defiance. "You resort to violence?"

His chest heaved, his hands trembling as if he regretted his actions, but he said nothing. He didn't apologize.