“The password is Beauty,” he said quietly. I frowned, confused… until he turned his phone toward me. My breath caught. Seeing a picture of me... Intimate, vulnerable, in a moment I thought I was completely alone... was his wallpaper. “Oh… John… when did you take this?” my voice trembled. “That morning,” he said calmly, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “I wanted to keep it for myself. I didn’t know you’d hand me the sack letter that day and break my heart.” His thumb swiped across the screen slowly. “I have plenty of these… moments you don’t even realize I’ve noticed. I watch them in my head, remember every detail. It’s like you’re still here with me, even when you’re not.” My stomach dropped. My knees felt weak. He leaned closer, his presence overwhelming. “I remember everything, Beauty. Everything you try to hide, everything you think you’re doing alone. And now… you can’t hide from me.” The intensity in his eyes left me frozen. Shock, fear, and something dangerous and thrilling churned in my chest. The man I thought I knew, the man who drove me to work, made me laugh, teased me was far more… consuming than I had ever imagined. And now that I dared to sack him... he wouldn't stop claiming me.