Page 103 of Surrendering to the Obsession

Someone else added:

‘Imagine if Mr. Graves saw our old messages—when half the guys in the office were fighting over getting her number.’

More panicked texts followed:

‘Guys, please don’t ever tell Mr. Graves that I tried to switch departments to get closer to her. I don’t want to die young.’

Another chimed in with the same fear. ‘Same here, bro. Mr. Graves cannot know I was asking around about her department to stalk her.’

The chat exploded with laughter.

‘Why am I not even surprised that the girl everyone was crushing on is actually our boss’s wife?’

Janet kept staring at the chat with shock frozen on her face. Her eyes darted between the photographs and the flood of messages. Her hands shook so badly that the phone nearly slipped fromher grip. She couldn’t blink. She couldn’t breathe. It felt like her entire world had suddenly tilted.

Just then, a man walking past collided sharply with her shoulder.

Janet’s body wobbled from the impact. She stumbled backward, her heel catching on the pavement before she fell hard onto the ground.

For a moment, everything went blank, a strange buzzing filling her ears. After a few seconds, her eyes fluttered open again.

She blinked, unfocused and dazed.

“How… how is that possible?” she whispered under her breath. “Isn’t he supposed to be with me? I am the one who was special to him… He kept me by his side for five years… How can he abandon me suddenly and marry someone else?”

Her mind raced in circles. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. Nothing made sense.

Then her gaze shifted—

and she saw a woman walking by with a little girl holding onto her hand.

Something inside Janet jolted.

As if struck by electricity, she forced herself off the ground, scrambling unsteadily to her feet. Her breath was shaking, her limbs weak, but she ran—she ran toward the hospital.

***

Three days later, Janet stumbled along an empty road. The sky was dark, streetlights flickering weakly, and her body seemed just as dim—unkempt hair, dirty clothes, trembling legs.

Her steps were uneven as she staggered backward and hit a cold concrete wall. She slid down until her back pressed against it, her breath breaking apart. “Mom is already dead… What reason do I even have now… to get into a contract and borrow money? How can I talk to Alexander?” She whispered, confused and lost.

She muttered to herself, voice cracking in the silence:

“Why did things become like this? My life shouldn’t be like this?This is not what I wanted… I wanted mom… I wanted Victor. A big house… a mansion. I wanted to sit in the VIP private areas…”

“I don’t want that contract to end… I really don’t want it to end…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I like Alexander… I’m… in love with him… I shouldn’t have given him to someone else…”

She pressed a trembling hand to her chest as if trying to hold herself together. Then, suddenly, she pushed herself up from the ground, her mind spiraling into chaos.

Her eyes were glassy, unfocused.

“It’s fine,” she muttered, breathing fast. “If someone like Alexander Graves can fall in love with me… then any other man will too. I just need to find another rich man. Yes. Another rich man. Another CEO. A CEO. Yes… a CEO… then I can sign another contract.”

Her breathing grew fast and frantic.

“I just need to find one and sign a contract with him…”

Her hair was messy, her clothes stained, and her entire appearance looked like she had been lost for days. She turned around wildly, eyes darting in every direction.