Chapter 6: When Care Turns Heavy
Marcus starts to change in ways that were easy to miss.
For example , it was questions. Small ones. Gentle ones.
"Who was that man at the café today?"
"Why did he smile at you like that?"
"Do customers flirt with you often?"
Rosalyn answered calmly. "It's just work," she said. "You know that."
"I know," Marcus replied quickly. "I just worry."
Worry became a good excuse. It made control sound like love.
He started picking her up after work without asking, He waited outside the café, leaning against his car, watching through the window eyes never leaving her .
"You didn't tell me you were closing late," he said one evening.
"I didn't know I had to," Roselyn replied softly.
He laughed, but his eyes stayed sharp. "You don't. I just like knowing where you are." in a possessive way.
She nodded, letting it pass.
At his house, Marcus became quieter. He watched her more. When her phone buzzed, his eyes followed the sound.
"Who's that?" he asked once
"A friend," she said.
"Which friend?" He asked in whisper.
She paused, just for a second. "Someone from work."
His smile returned, thin and careful. "I don't like people who don't know their place."
Rosalyn felt something cold settle in her chest. Not fear. Recognition.
Later that night, he held her tightly, as if afraid she might disappear.
"You're mine," he whispered. "You know that, right?"
She rested her head against his shoulder. "I'm here," she said.
That seemed to calm him.
But when she lay awake after he fell asleep, Rosalyn understood the truth. Marcus didn't want a girlfriend. He wanted certainty. Ownership. Someone who would not leave.
And men who wanted ownership always made mistakes.
She didn't rush. She didn't react.
She waited.
Because the tighter Marcus held on,
the easier it would be to make him fall.