Her Darling | L.W.

Chapter 34

The first thing I notice is the taste of wine on Miss Thornhill's lips. I'm completely frozen in place, absolutely shocked.

But once I regain my senses, I gently push her away by the shoulders, staring at her with a gentle, but questioning look.

I spot how her bottom lip begins to tremble, and her beautiful eyes start welling up with tears. She lunges herself to me, wrapping her arms around my neck as she starts sobbing. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry, Y/N... I didn't mean to... Forgive me..."

I pull her inside the room and close the door, trying to calm her down. "Shhh. It's okay, I'm not mad at you. S'okay... I'm not mad."

After a moment, she raises her head from the crook of my neck to gaze into my eyes. "What is going on?" I ask, concern showing all over my features.

"I-" her gaze lingers on me for a while longer, and then she pulls away, clearly unable to look at me right now. "There's something I need to tell you. It's more than just an admission of guilt. It's about the feelings that led me down this path."

I frown, "What are you talking about, Marilyn?"

She closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath, preparing herself for what she's about to unveil. "It started with admiration, this yearning and need to be close to you. But it grew into something else, something I never intended."

She turns around at last, staring deeply into my eyes as she takes a step closer, all the emotion visible in her face. "Y/N, I... I care about you in a way that goes beyond reason. And every single twisted attempt to get closer to you, it was fueled by this confusing mix of emotions,"

I narrow my eyes, trying to understand where she's going with this.

"I need you to know," Marilyn continues, her voice barely above a whisper, "that I was the one sending those letters. It was a twisted way of expressing feelings I couldn't convey properly. I never, ever intended to harm you, Y/N. I just wanted you to notice me, to make you see how much you mean to me."

And it all makes sense. Oh, God.

"But why?" I breathe out, my throat bobbing with rising panic.

She looks down, visibly ashamed of her actions. "I thought if you knew someone cared about you that much, you'd... then you'd maybe consider me in a different light. I was foolish, and I hurt you instead."

I stare at her in disbelief, betrayal showing all over my face. She takes in a deep breath, "There's something else."

"What?" I snap, eyes filled with unshed tears. "What else could there possibly be, Marilyn?"

Her eyes show nothing but deep remorse, "The game I played, the letters, everything—it got out of my control. Someone took it from me."

My eyes widen with fear, "What are you on about?!"

"I don't know who it was, but they knew what I was doing and used it against me. They escalated things, took the whole thing to a new, much darker level. I never wanted it to go that far, Y/N, I'm so sorry."

A horrible realization dawns upon me, and I feel like my whole world will crumble in a matter of seconds. I clutch my stomach as an attempt to ground myself, but it doesn't work. The threats, the stalking— it isn't all Marilyn's doing. There's someone else out there. Laughing in my face, just watching how amusing it might be to see how I struggle to figure the truth out.

"Why didn't you tell anyone? Why keep it a secret?" I demand as a thousand thoughts are racing through my mind.

"I was scared! Scared of what would happen if the truth came out. I thought... I thought that I could fix it on my own."