Page 98 of Surrendering to the Obsession

Every time, the same loud red beep. The card didn’t work.

Her chest tightened. Panic shot through her. She looked around quickly, and when she saw a man entering with his ID, she immediately rushed behind him, trying to slip in before the door closed.

But before she could step through, a firm hand grabbed her arm and yanked her back.

“Madam! What are you doing?” the security guard snapped, pulling her away from the door. “You can’t enter without an ID. You’re not allowed to enter this building without permission!”

“I work here!” Janet burst out frantically, struggling against his grip. “Let go of me! I need to talk to Alexander!”

The security guard frowned at her. “If you work here, where is your ID? Why aren’t you using it to get in?”

“Iamusing it!” she cried as she shoved the card toward him.

The guard took her ID, checked the number, and typed something into his tablet. His brows pulled together. After a few seconds, he slipped the ID into his pocket and looked at her sharply.

“You’ve already resigned, Miss. You don’t work here anymore. Why are you trying to get in? You’re not allowed inside without a special permission now.”

Janet shook her head desperately, her voice trembling. “I’m telling you—I know Alexander personally! He knows me! I want to meet him. Let me go inside. I need to talk to himright now!”

“You’re not allowed to go in!” the guard snapped, losing patience. “You don’t work here anymore!”

“I need to see him—please—”

“And Mr. Graves isn’t even here today!” the guard cut her off, annoyed. “He’s at home with his wife. He hasn’t come to work for the past two days. The entire company knows this!”

Janet’s heart stopped for a moment.

“He… he’s not here?” she whispered.

“No!” the guard repeated sharply. “He didn’t come to work today.”

“When will he come back?” Janet asked, her voice shaky, eyes stinging with panic. “I need to talk to him.”

The security guard looked at her like she had lost her mind.

“How the hell would I know?” he scoffed. “Maybe he won’t come to work for a week. Maybe a year. It’s his company. He can take off anytime he wants—spend all day with his wife if he feels like it.” He waved her away. “ They’re enjoying their honeymoon phase right now. They’re newly married. Stop disturbing them and go home.”

Janet scrambled and took one step back, her body going rigid as if someone had poured ice-cold water down her spine. Her breath shook, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

“H-How… how is that possible?” she muttered, her voice thin and trembling. “He is really living a married life… with that woman?”

The words slipped out of her mouth like a broken whisper as the security guard grabbed her arm again and pushed her completely out of the company’s entrance.

She stumbled into the open space outside, almost losing her balance. Her chest tightened painfully. Her trembling hand shot up to her hair, fingers digging in as she dragged her hand through it roughly.

Her voice cracked as she muttered under her breath, “How can he get married? Didn’t he stay with me for five years? Didn’t he keep me by his side? Didn’t he love me all this time?”

Her lips shook uncontrollably. “He was so madly in love with me… he never let any other woman get close to him? He kept me by his side for five years? He wouldn’t even look at any other woman. Then how… how can he marry another woman?”

Her breathing turned frantic. Her hands were trembling so hard that even she noticed it. She pulled out her phone with shaky fingers and dialed Alexander’s number again.

This time—shockingly—the call went through.

“Hello?” Alexander’s voice came from the other end, deep and heavy with sleep.

Janet’s heart thudded so loud she could hear it in her ears. Her voice dropped, low and filled with a desperate kind of disbelief. “Alexander… you… you are really living together with that woman?”

***