The Devil's Justice ( 🔞 )

| C H A P T E R - 4 |

ANASTASIA:

I woke up to the soft morning light coming through the curtains in my bedroom, making the walls look warm and golden. My bed, covered with comfy blankets and messy pillows, made me want to stay a bit longer. However, the new day called me, waking me up from my peaceful sleep.

I yawned and stretched in my bed, enjoying the warm sunlight on my sheets. My dark brown hair was messy from dreams, and my calm blue eyes felt tired from the night. With a satisfied sigh, I got up, feeling the soft carpet under my feet.

My room mirrored my personality—a mix of comfortable disorder and simple style, with a touch of organized mess. Books, files, and colourful sticky notes were cheerfully scattered on the nightstand, showing my love for thrillers and cases, no matter how messy they might seem to someone else.

In the corners, various sweaters were scattered from the previous night, each with its own colour and texture. I knew that, despite being a bit annoyed by my untidiness, Robert would bring order to this chaos, as he always did. He was my support in this mix of chaos and creativity.

But as I took a deep breath, I felt something was different in the air today. But I couldn't pinpoint what exactly.

Maybe because I finally slept without the nightmare. I don't know.

With a smile, I padded into the bathroom, greeted by the familiar scent of lavender. Last night, as usual, I had spent endless hours poring over case files, giving up on my sleep. A partial reason was that I was avoiding the dream, or maybe I just wanted to keep myself busy to divert my mind from my stalker. Only today I realize maybe that was a bad idea.

Who wants a bad skin day and puffy eyes anyway?

Thankfully, the hot water worked its magic, washing away the remnants of drowsiness.

I stayed back for half an hour, soaking myself in the relaxation.

It feels weird. After the last encounter with my stalker, it has been more than ten days, and he did not give me his usual sudden attendance. Was he finally scared to see me outside the police station that day? Or was he planning something else?

But for some reason, I knew that he wasn't going to go like that. I couldn't bring myself to talk about this mystery guy to my dad. One reason was that my dad was a busy man. Secondly, I didn't give it much thought until I moved here.

I had thought this would have ended in New York. But he did come all the way to Boston with me. But for what exactly?

Does he have something to do with the anonymous leads to my mother's case?

Possible and not possible.

I had to do a good few minutes of debate to finally settle on not possible.

If that was the case, why would he hide in the shadows?

Finally, as I emerged from the shower, I stared at an unexpected sight—a mark on my neck.

What the hell?

Panic and confusion flooded my thoughts. Looking closer, I realized it looked like a hickey! How could this be? It was impossible. I mean, I haven't met anyone who could probably give me one of those.

For the record, I never had a boyfriend. Since the very first lead to my mother's case, I promised myself that I would not be distracted by anything. Then how does this occur? That too, in this house!

I gasped. Did he come here last night? And he touched me?

But there were about ten guards and forty cameras in this house for someone to break in. I know, looking at the cameras would be a disappointment. It's clean like nothing ever happened.