Found Obsession

Chapter 38: Raven's Wish List!

October 31, 2004

Rose woke with a gasp, her heart pounding in her chest, drenched in sweat. Those grey eyes-she'd seen them again, haunting her dreams. She sat up abruptly, clutching the necklace around her neck, her fingers trembling as they wrapped around the small key hanging from the chain. It was the one thing she had kept hidden, terrified that it would vanish like everything else.

Her breath came in short, sharp gasps as she looked out the window. The night was still, cloaked in darkness. The clock on her nightstand read 3 a.m. Goosebumps prickled her skin as a chill swept through the room, though it wasn't just the cold.

It was Halloween.

Rose shivered, but not from the cold. There was something about this night, something unsettling. She felt it in her bones. It was as though those grey eyes were still watching her, lurking in the shadows.

She couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was coming.

Rose poured herself a glass of water from the jar she'd brought up from the kitchen and turned on the night lamp, casting a soft glow around the room. The dim light did little to calm her racing thoughts. These past months had felt suffocating. Ever since her mother, with her connections to a famous designer, had roped her into helping, things had spiraled out of control. It all started when the designer's main model had an accident, and time was running out.

Kasey, the designer, had seen her once and immediately begged her mother to let Rose step in. Having just been bailed out of jail by her parents, Rose didn't have the heart-or the leverage-to say no. She agreed, thinking it would be a one-time favor. But as the days passed, more people started asking for her. Magazines, newspapers, perfume brands-everyone seemed to want a piece of her.

It was overwhelming.

What had started as a way to repay her mother's favor had turned into a whirlwind she couldn't escape. She had wanted time to think, time to breathe, but the more she was thrust into this world of wealth and glamour, the more she realized how much she missed her job. Her real job. The life of a detective had challenges, but at least there, she felt she was doing something.

In these big, extravagant events, Rose could see a world where people did as they pleased, without a care or consequence. It was shallow, empty. She didn't belong here.

That's when it hit her-perhaps the old Rose, before losing her memories, had become a detective to escape this very emptiness. To feel alive. To fill the void that came with this shallow, glamorous life.

Her old self...

That was it. After today, she would tell her mother this was the last modeling gig she'd ever do. She was sick of it-sick of the attention, the stares, the constant pressure to be someone she wasn't. Rose had enough.

She laughed bitterly, almost hysterically, when she saw herself listed as one of the "Top 10 Most Gorgeous Women." As if that meant anything to her. It had only pushed her mother even further into setting her up on blind dates, parading her in front of men with empty heads and hollow souls. They bragged about their money as if she didn't already come from wealth, as if that would impress her.

It didn't. It never would.

Rose lay back in bed, frustration building inside her. It seemed like no matter what she did, she couldn't find peace. One moment she was drawn to Raven, and then in the next, she missed Riley. She was so confused, torn between two different versions of herself, neither of which felt quite right.

She felt lost, unsure of who she truly was or what she really wanted. But one thing was certain-her old self and her new self both despised the world of wealth she was now trapped in. And that was another source of irritation: who wouldn't want to be rich? Yet, it wasn't the money that bothered her. It was the extremes.