Chapter 3 3- The Web Of Manipulation

His words sent a wave of shock through my body. The ring I was wearing on my chain belonged to him. I don't remember wearing it. I don't even remember buying anything of that sort before. 

When he started pulling back, I reacted on my instincts. Before I could think twice about my actions, I wrapped my fingers around the collar of his worn-out jacket and pulled him back. His eyes glinted menacingly. 

"No," my voice shook as I held on to him like he was the last thread of my sanity. "You don't get to leave like that after saying something so outrageous!" 

He raised his eyebrows at my words, and my eyes moved to the students looking at us with terrified curiosity. Swallowing the bile that kept rising in my throat, I dragged him away from the sight of the students. 

Surprisingly, he let me drag him. Even when he could've easily fought me, he didn't. But the moment we were out of the students' sight, he changed our position with such ease that it terrified me. 

"You think your amnesia warrants you a free pass, don't you, Chloe Bennet?" He asked me, his voice raspy and terrifying, but I didn't back down. Not when the unanswered questions kept scaring me. 

"Who are you, Julian?" I asked him, and his lips lifted in a dark smile as he leaned closer to me. His cologne reminded me of something I couldn't put a finger on. 

"Why did I think of only you when I woke up in the hospital with no memory of my past? Why am I wearing your ring when my friends said I've never spoken to you before? Tell me!" I didn't care how desperate I sounded in that moment, but the answers I was looking for could only be given by him. 

Something shifted in his dark eyes. Something that looked dangerously akin to satisfaction. But he masked it within seconds. 

"You want to know why I am in your head, little Bennet?" He asked me, a cruel smile gracing his face. 

"I can tell you. I really can. But then where's the fun in that?" He was enjoying my misery; I could see it. 

His sadistic pleasure in seeing me suffer made me wish to puke. I was about to grab him again, demand answers, but something bright blinded my eyes before I could force the answers out of him. 

FLASH! 

"Chloe Bennet! We heard that you were the last person Rachel was with before she was murdered. Is it true?" A man in his mid-fifties asked me, almost shoving the microphone in my mouth. 

I flinched when the camera flashed again. A sharp pain jolted in my temple, and I stumbled back. 

"Did you really lose your memories, or are you pretending your condition to prevent testifying against Julian Sinclair?" He asked me again without giving me time to recover from his previous question, let alone answering it. 

"I—I—" I stammered, surprised by the sudden arrival of the journalist and his cameraman. His questions felt like a physical blow to me. 

With memories betraying me, truth playing hide and seek, his words stabbed me in the wounds that had barely healed. 

"Get off her!" Julian snarled, standing in between us. His hands slammed down the camera harshly before pushing the reporter away with a force that sent him slamming against the wall behind. 

"Get that fucking camera out of her face before I break it." His voice turned lethal. 

He looked so terrifying in that moment that, despite saving me, I felt myself trembling. Maybe it was also due to the sudden questions thrown my way, but a major part of my fear was dedicated to the boy shielding me. 

Without warning, he grabbed my wrist and pushed me behind him, completely hiding me from the men in front of him. They gulped at seeing Julian so angry, because I was no different than them in that moment. 

"You— you can't attack a journalist like that! I am just doing my job." The cameraman argued, and Julian smiled so darkly at him that he took a couple of steps back. 

"Try doing your job again, and I will break that camera on your fucking neck!" He promised, taking a step forward, and they took a couple of steps back.  

The threat was delivered so perfectly that the journalists stood frozen for a couple of seconds before they sprinted out, not caring about the camera they left behind. 

Julian walked towards the camera and crushed it with a stone, his chest moving rapidly as he tried to control himself. When he turned around to look at me, the rage hadn't vanished completely. It was simply directed towards me. 

"Did you kill her?" I asked him, breathless. 

My question triggered something inside him. Walking towards me, he closed the distance between us, making me freeze to the cold concrete. He hooked his finger around the silver chain once again and tugged on it sharply, pulling me flush against him. I hissed at the chain digging into my skin, but he didn't care. He simply looked into my eyes as if he was searching for something. 

"I did," he admitted, his voice terrifyingly calm. "And I'd do it again if you don't stop digging into businesses that aren't your concern, Bennet." 

He threatened me. 

After saving me from the nosy journalists, he threatened to kill me. But the promise behind his words was so strong that it made me shiver. 

"Rachel was my best friend, Julian. If you killed her, it's very much my business. You stabbed her five times! Five times, Julian." My voice trembled as I imagined the pain she must've gone through. 

Dark amusement crossed his eyes as he looked at me with a predatory gaze. 

"The police have closed the case, Bennet. The media doesn't know how many times I stabbed her. The public only knows that Rachel was killed. So, tell me, Chloe, how do you know she was stabbed five times?"