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As Bella entered her room, answering the call from her phone, Daniel's name immediately appeared on the screen. Anger and an indignant type of fear gripped her as the vibration buzzed in her palm like an icy callback to the situation she was in. She held the phone for a moment, her jaw tight. She didn’t want to listen to him, didn’t want to hear his threatening and manipulative voice that had already begun to wrap around her life, but there was no way of simply refusing him. However, she did not want to turn him down. So, unwillingly, she picked up the phone.

“What do you need, Daniel?” she said sharply, annoyance coloring her tone. “Can’t you just leave me alone?”

Daniel had the nerve to respond in that irritation and plead tone, “Now, Bella, is that any way to speak to me? You sound quite distressed, did something go wrong with your feast of love, Fred?”

This time, she didn’t stifle her displeasure. “Don’t you dare pretend to know anything about Fred or what’s happening between us