Becoming My Ex’s Mother in Law by Aurora Starling

Chapter 41

That night, I fell asleep without any problems. I was exhausted from the busy day we had at the bridal shop, and I was so content with our success that I relaxed enough to fall asleep immediately. My dream, however, made me wish I had never fallen asleep at all.

1 dreamt that I stood alone in the alley outside Ever After Weddings’ store after dark. There was no source of light, not even the moon or the stars, and I didn’t have my phone. The hairs on the back of my arm rose as I felt a masculine presence approach me.

1 turned to face the man as he stalked closer and closer to me. My eyes adjusted to the lack of light, and I could tell that it was Bob. I tried to run away, but in every direction, I was met by a brick wall..

My back hit one of the walls as Bob closed in on me. He carried rope in his hands, and as if by magic, my hands were instantly tied behind me. He whipped me around to force me to face Ever After Weddings, which was now on fire.

“All your friends are in there,” Bob hissed in my ear. “I made sure of that. Their deaths are on your hands.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks. I tried to scream out for help, but I couldn’t find my voice. Even Susan seemed out of my reach now.

Bob turned me to face him. A knife appeared in his hand. He dragged the tip down my cheek.

“You’re mine now.”

He cut off my dress, letting it fall to the ground around my ankles. I squirmed, but his grip on me was strong. I could not escape his grasp or his creeping

eyes.

“You should have known better than to mess with me, Crystal,” Bob growled as he groped my breasts.

I cried, I shouted for Susan, I begged the Moon Goddess for mercy. None of it helped. I could not count on the Alpha King driving in like my knight in shining armor this time.

ob took the knife and placed the tip between my breasts.

If only you had taken me up on my offer, then everyone would have gotten what they wanted. Now, Ever After Weddings is destroyed, your friends are dead, and soon, you will be dead, too.”

He chuckled that horrific chuckle that had haunted me ever since that day he assaulted me.

“And no one will ever believe that it was me. Not even your precious Andrew.”

Bob raised the knife and plunged it into my chest.

I awoke with a gasp. Tears stained my cheeks. My chest hurt where Bob had stuck me with the knife.

the dream haunted me at work the next day. I could barely focus on the tasks in front of me, to the point that Terri asked me what was wrong. I elected to tell a half-truth and..

that I had a bad dream that robbed me of sleep the night before, and her go-to remedy was coffee-and lots of it.

By lunch, I was dragging and glad for the reprieve from clients and coworkers alike. Like always, I hid myself away in the employee lounge while Terri and the others went to a nearby restaurant. All I wanted was to enjoy my sub sandwich in peace and, hopefully, escape the recurring visions of the burning shop, Bob, and his knife for a few minutes.

As soon as I sat down, I pulled out my sandwich and began to devour it. The pastrami, mustard, mayonnaise, tomato, and pepper jack were like heaven on my tongue. I had almost lost myself in my meal when something sharp and jagged cut at my tongue and the roof of my mouth.

Without hesitation, I spat my mouthful of food onto a napkin, along with flecks of blood. Inside the mushed food was a shard of glass the size of my thumbnail.

I paled. Grabbing my water bottle, I rushed to the sink and rinsed out my mouth, hoping to remove any more miniscule shards that might be remaining. I wanted to vomit as I watched the water, tinted pink with blood, run down the drain.

After a quick inspection of my mouth, I was glad to only find superficial cuts, one on my tongue and one on the roof of my mouth. It could have been a lot worse. If I hadn’t stopped chewing when I did, it would have been.

I returned to my table and inspected the rest of my sandwich. I didn’t find any other pieces of glass, but I still didn’t trust it and decided to throw the sandwich away. Then I wanted to search the rest of my lunch for any other contaminants, just in case.

As I reached inside the bag, I felt something that I hadn’t noticed before: a piece of paper. When I pulled it out, I discovered that it was a Sticky Note with a short message written in bold red ink on it:

Watch where you keep your lunch.

No signature. No indication of who it was from. And yet I knew exactly who had left it.

Bob.

It might have been Lisa, but I doubted that she would stoop this low. No, this had Bob’s fingerprints all over it.

A chill ran down my spine. Images of Bob with the knife flashed through my mind. I hoped that the dream was not as prophetic as it seemed to be.

I put my face in my hands. My shoulders shook in dry so bs. I couldn’t keep this to myself; I had to talk to someone.

But who?

Everyone I knew would only insist that I call the cops, and the cops wouldn’t believe me when I told them who I thought was doing this to me. My own friends probably wouldn’t believe me. But I couldn’t be alone with these feelings anymore.

My first instinct was to call Andrew. He would probably be the last person to believe my suspicions-Bob was going to be his son-in-law, after all-but he was the closest thing I had to a savior at this moment. He was the only one who could protect me and understand me.

I took a deep, shaking breath and called him on video chat.

“Hello? Crystal?” Andrew answered immediately. “Is something wrong?”

Why do you assume something’s wrong?” I asked with a weak smile.

Well, you don’t normally call me during the middle of a workday, and you look pretty shaken. Am I that far off?”

I shook my head.

“No, not really.”

“What happened?”

Seeing the concern in his eyes even over video chat, I decided that it was best to sk ip over the part about the glass and the note. It would only distress him, and I didn’t want to do that to him when he should be working.

“I had a really bad nightmare last night, and it’s been sticking with me all day. I guess…it’s silly, but I guess I thought that talking to you might calm me down a bit.”

I blushed.

He grinned, but the concern never left his eyes.

“It’s okay. I sometimes have bad nightmares, too. Do you want to talk about yours?”

I shrugged.

“You remember when I was assaulted?”

Andrew stiffened.

“Yes.”

“Well, I dreamt that my attacker attacked me again last night, but this time he burned down Ever After Weddings and…”

“And what?”

“And he killed me.”

11

I thought I heard a low growl emitting over the phone, but it stopped so quickly that I must have imagined it.

“Rest assured, I will not let that happen,” Andrew said, his voice and b*dy

entirely composed-a little too composed.

Thank you. I know you won’t.”

Thoped that I sounded more convinced than I felt.

And speaking of your attacker, now that some time has passed, I was wondering if maybe you remember anything that could help identify him?”

1 froze. I could tell him now that I thought Bob had assaulted me, that I had smelled him that night, and that I thought he had put glass in my lunch. But would he believe me on either accusation?

If he didn’t, would he still let me stay at the mansion while I looked for a new apartment?

I couldn’t take that risk.

“No,” I said quickly. “Nothing at all. Sorry.”

Andrew seemed to eye me for a moment, but it might have been my imagination.

“It’s all right. It was a traumatic event. It would be unreasonable to expect your to remember much.”

I smiled.

“Thank you, Andrew.”

“For what?”

“For listening. For being there for me.”

“Any time.”

I heard the front door to the shop open.

“I should probably get back to work.”

“Me too. Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks again.”

“No problem. See you at home.”

“See you at home.”

After we hung up. I threw out the remainder of my lunch. Talking to Andrew may have calmed me down, but I still didn’t know what-or who-to trust. Even things that I have checked with my own eyes.

“See you at home.”

After we hung up, I threw out the remainder of my lunch. Talking to Andrew may have calmed me down, but I still didn’t know what-or who-to trust. Even things that I have checked with my own eyes.