Chapter 2 The Stranger I Love

Christabel POV.

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The door creaked open and there he was-Cole. Tall, handsome, familiar. My safe place.

I should've run into his arms. But I didn't.

Instead, I stood frozen, my heart pounding like a war drum.

"Babe," he said, setting his suitcase down. "I got here as fast as I could. How's your dad? You okay?"

I nodded, slowly. "Yeah... yeah, I'm okay."

I wasn't.

He pulled me into a hug. Too tight. Too warm. For a moment, I let myself melt into him.

Until my phone buzzed.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: Ask him about Madrid. You don't know who's watching.

My blood turned to ice.

Madrid. The place he first told me he loved me. The place I gave him all of me.

I pulled away from the hug before I could drown in it.

"You mind if I shower first?" he asked, already heading toward the bathroom.

"Sure," I said, barely above a whisper.

The moment I heard the water running, I moved.

His suitcase sat half-open by the door. I dropped to my knees beside it. Clothes. Cologne. Chargers. A neatly packed laptop.

And something else.

A sleek black folder. No markings. Just clean leather, slightly worn at the edges.

I stared at it for a second. Then opened it.

Inside-photos.

Of me.

At school. At work. Leaving my apartment. Buying coffee. At the hospital.

Everywhere.

My stomach flipped.

Then came the pages-typed, clinical, precise.

SUBJECT: CHRISTABEL WILLIAMS OBJECTIVE: OBSERVATION. EMOTIONAL INVOLVEMENT. POSITIONING.

I swallowed the rising panic.

What the hell was this?

The last page stopped me cold.

Filed for: D.B.

No name. Just initials.

But I knew.

I didn't know how. I just knew.

And suddenly, I couldn't breathe.

Behind me, the shower stopped.

And then-

"You weren't supposed to see that," Cole's voice said from the hallway.

Low. Flat. Dangerous.

I turned slowly.

He was standing there, towel around his waist-dripping, calm, eyes unreadable.

And in his hand-

His phone, still lit up with a message.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: Plan compromised. Handle it.