I blinked. “What?”
He lifted both his palms. “I admit, I put a camera in your room, a keylogger and tracker on your phone and laptop, and I followed you around a lot. Watched you constantly. And yeah, I broke into your dorm a few times,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “But I didn’t send you threatening messages, and I didn’t do that other shit, either. With the blood.”
My mind reeled. “It really wasn’t you?”
“No. I swear on my fuckinglife.” The intensity in his gaze was almost overwhelming. “I scared you with the stalking. I know that. But Ineverthreatened you. Never tried to intimidate you.”
“But if it wasn’t you, then that means…”
The words died in my throat as the implication sank in.
My heart started hammering hard against my ribs, and I pushed myself to speak again, my voice hollow. “That means I’ve had another stalker this whole time.”
38
Violet
For a moment,I couldn't move. Couldn't do anything but sit there with those shocking words echoing in my head.
Another stalker.
The room tilted slightly, and I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself. All this time, all these weeks, I'd been so certain it was Julian behind everything. So focused on him as the threat that I'd never even considered...
“Violet.” Julian's deep voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. He was already on his feet, moving around the table toward me. “Look at me. Breathe.”
I let out a shaky exhale.
“Okay,” he said, crouching beside my chair so we were at eye level. His hands found mine, warm and solid. “I need you to tell me everything. Every detail you can remember.”
I nodded, trying to organize my scattered thoughts. “The messages... they came from some sort of anonymous service. It always said 'number withheld' when they came through.”
“How many were there?”
“Only a few. But they scared the shit out of me, because it was obvious that the person who sent them was the same person whopainted that message on my dorm wall.” I closed my eyes, trying to remember. “They were about me needing to be taught a lesson if I kept snooping around.”
Julian's jaw tightened, but he didn't interrupt.
“Another weird thing,” I continued. “The messages didn’t stay on my phone for long. They would just vanish, maybe five or ten minutes after I read them. It was like they'd never existed.”
“Self-destructing messages,” Julian muttered, expression darkening. “There are apps for that. Anonymous, untraceable, and easy to find.”
“So it could be anyone.”
“Yes. But it’s not me,” he replied. “I messaged you once, but I used my real number, and I told you it was me. Remember?”
My brows drew together. “What? When?”
“When you were looking me up on the student portal. I texted you asking if you were thinking of me, because the keylogger on your laptop tracks everything you type.” He paused. “But that's my point exactly. I used my real number for that text, and I told you it was me. I wanted you to know it was me.”
He was right. I'd forgotten about that message in the chaos of everything else, but now that I thought about it...
“You didn't really try to hide,” I said slowly. “You wanted me to know you were watching.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I wanted you to be aware of me. To think about me. To know I was paying attention.” His voice roughened. “I never wanted to scare you. Not like that. When I find out who did this shit…”
The difference between him and my other stalker was suddenly clear.
Julian had been obsessive, invasive, and completely inappropriate. But he'd never been anonymous. He'd never made threats.
