Once, my paranoid love

“What exactly is he up to?” Anne wondered, her thoughts racing even as her oxygen-deprived brain struggled to function. She had never witnessed her son in such a state of frenzy and violence. It was as if he had become a stranger, unrecognizable from the son she had raised.

“I’m not going to let her go,” Paul shouted, his voice strained and distorted by his own inner torment. His grip remained unrelenting, but there was a flicker of indecision in his eyes, a glimmer of the son Anne once knew.

Anne whimpered, her words barely audible as she pleaded, “It’s… hurting, Paul.” Her voice held a mix of pain and desperation, a mother’s plea to her son to release her from his suffocating grasp.

In that moment, a battle raged within Paul’s tortured soul. His grip slowly began to loosen, his fingers trembling as they slid away from his mother’s throat. He staggered back, his breaths ragged and uneven, as if he had awakened from a dreadful nightmare.

“Cough!” Anne wheezed, her hand trembling as she touched her bruised neck. The room still echoed with the haunting memory of her son’s violent outburst.

‘Damn this boy,’ she muttered under her breath, her eyes filled with a mixture of anger and fear. ‘My son was seriously trying to kill me.’

Paul, in his frenzied obsession to find Elena, had unleashed a side of himself that Anne had never imagined. She realized that her son’s actions had crossed a line from which there might be no return.

Heaving a shaky sigh, Anne knew she had to act quickly. With trembling hands, Anne reached for her phone. She needed to make a call to reach out to someone who could help her navigate the treacherous waters she found herself in. It was a call born out of desperation, a plea for assistance in dealing with the volatile and unpredictable force that was her son.

She dialed a number, one that belonged to a person she had shared her darker dealings with in the past. A person who understood the depths of her desperation and the urgency of her situation. Anne knew that her crime partner was not one to be trifled with, but in this moment, she had no other choice.

[Derek’s office]

Obin entered the room with an urgent expression, and the tranquility of the space was shattered.

“Boss,” Obin began quickly, his tone laden with significance, “I have something important to show you.”

Derek’s brow furrowed as he set aside the paperwork he had been reviewing. Obin’s demeanor suggested that this matter required immediate attention, and Derek was not one to dismiss such warnings lightly.

“What is it?” Derek inquired, his voice steady but edged with anticipation.

Obin took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. “Ron Regan was with Madam that night,” he revealed, and as the words left his lips, he could see the transformation in Derek’s expression.

The mere mention of Ron Regan’s name was enough to ignite a fire within Derek’s chest. The man had already crossed lines by attempting to harm Elena, and now it seemed he was lurking in the shadows, continuing to cast a malevolent presence over their lives.

Derek clenched his fist, his jaw tightening with anger. “That jerk,” he seethed, barely able to contain his rage. “He dared to make an attempt on Elena? What gives him the right?”

Obin knew better than to interrupt his boss when he was in such a state of fury. Instead, he allowed Derek a moment to collect his thoughts and emotions.

After a few moments, Derek’s anger began to subside, replaced by a steely determination. “Obin, send invitations to everyone,” he instructed, his voice calm but resolute. “I’m planning a get-together, and now is the time to face Regan’s family.”

Obin nodded in acknowledgment, fully understanding the gravity of the situation. This gathering would not be a mere social event; it would be a confrontation, a reckoning with those who had sought to harm Elena and disrupt their lives.

“Understood, boss,” Obin replied, his loyalty to Derek unwavering.

With a final nod, Derek returned to his work, his mind now consumed with thoughts of the impending gathering. It was a calculated move, a way to bring their adversaries out into the open and expose the shadows that had plagued them for far too long.

As Obin left the room to carry out his boss’s orders, he couldn’t help but wonder what would transpire at the gathering. The tension between the Regan family and Derek was palpable, and the clash of wills was inevitable.

**

The call was answered on the second ring, and a voice on the other end spoke in hushed tones, “Anne?”

“How come you didn’t tell me you were back?” Anne’s voice carried a tone of frustration as she confronted the person on the other end of the line.

The response on the other end was calm and composed, a stark contrast to Anne’s agitated state. “I didn’t feel like telling you, Anne,” came the reply, laced with indifference.

Anne’s anger flared. “Yeah, why do you feel it now? You already have everything, after all,” she retorted, her words heavy with bitterness.

The person on the other end let out a sigh, as if weary of the tension that hung between them. “Please, Anne, you already know the truth. So don’t hold it against me,” he said, attempting to defuse the situation. “Let’s get down to business. What makes you want to call me?”

Anne knew that dwelling on the past would only hinder her current objectives. She had no choice but to cooperate with this man, at least for now. Suppressing her anger, she shifted her focus to the matter at hand.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Listen carefully,” Anne began, her voice low and filled with urgency. “I can’t handle him anymore. He’s become a danger to himself and others. I need your help.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and then a sigh. “Anne, you know everything. Don’t you think it’s a bit risky?”