Chapter 3

Toby knew I was guarding against him.

So, for the rest of the afternoon, he insisted on clinging to me.

"Stella, let's see who can flick their marble the farthest."

"Stella, I'll give you this biggest one."

"Stella, let me draw a kitty for you."

For every word he said, I took a step back.

Whenever he got close, I hid behind Chloe.

Chloe tried to coax me at first.

But seeing my cold face, her tone turned slightly reprimanding.

"Stella, you don't have to play if you don't want to."

"But you can't keep being this rude."

Toby immediately waved his hands.

"It's fine. I'm used to it."

"People always find me weird when they look at me."

He made himself sound so pathetic.

Chloe's guilt deepened.

But I only felt disgusted.

In my past life, the police had found an old notebook at his place.

It recorded exactly what time Chloe went grocery shopping, what time she hung the laundry, and whether she turned off the living room lights before bed.

It was a stalker's log.

As evening approached, the air grew even stuffier.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the hot wind pushed through the gaps in the window.

Toby's phone rang.

He didn't walk away to answer it.

He even turned up the volume on purpose.

On the line, a woman's impatient voice came through: "Your dad and I can't make it back tonight. The road to the countryside is blocked. You're on your own."

Toby murmured, "Mom, I'm a little scared to be by myself."

"You're an adult and you're still afraid of the dark? Stop annoying me!"

The call disconnected.

He clutched his phone, sitting in the corner of the sofa, silent.

As expected, Chloe asked, "Your parents aren't coming back tonight?"

He nodded.

"Yeah."

"The breaker tripped at my place a few days ago. It gets pitch black at night, and I can't sleep."

He looked up at Chloe, his eyes slightly red.

"Chloe, can I just sleep on your living room floor tonight?"

My brain went entirely numb.

That was the exact line.

In my past life, Chloe had set up a bed for him because of this very excuse.

And then, in the dead of night, he had sneaked into her room.

I rushed in front of Chloe. "No!"

"He can't sleep in our house!"

"He will hurt you!"

Chloe's expression changed.

"Stella!"

I screamed through my tears, "I'm serious! He'll get up in the middle of the night."

"He'll stand right outside your door."

Toby's face turned pale for a second.

Then he lowered his head to grab his bag.

"Chloe, forget it. I'll go home."

"Stella doesn't like me. I can't make things difficult for you."

He moved very slowly.

Chloe closed her eyes.

"You can sleep in the living room."

"Just head back tomorrow morning."

I looked at her in disbelief.

"Chloe!"

She knelt down and took me by the shoulders.

"Stella, I'll lock our bedroom door."

"You sleep with me tonight."

"Nothing will happen."

Nothing will happen. She had thought the same thing in our past life.

While Toby was in the bathroom washing his hands, I immediately dragged Chloe into the kitchen.

I kept my voice low, trembling with urgency.

"Chloe, I had a nightmare last night."

Chloe blinked.

"What dream?"

"I dreamed he slept in our house."

"I dreamed he didn't sleep at night."

"I dreamed he stood outside your door."

Chloe wanted to comfort me.

But I beat her to it. "I also dreamed he did bad things to you."

"Then a lot of police came."

"You kept crying and hiding."

"Mom cried, and Dad cried too."

Chloe's expression finally shifted.

A six-year-old child shouldn't be saying things like this.

Her throat bobbed.

"Stella, dreams aren't real."

I gripped her tightly.

"Then watch him. Look at his eyes."

"The way he looks at you is not how a kid looks at an older sister."

The running water in the bathroom stopped. Toby was coming out.

Chloe bent down to grab a dishcloth from the table.

I saw Toby standing by the door, his eyes locked dead on Chloe's waist. His gaze was intense and unwavering.

Chloe noticed it too.

Her hand holding the cloth paused for a second.

I knew that doubt had finally taken root in her mind.