Bound by the Past, Locked by the Heart novel Chapter 79

The next day, Willa went to work as usual.

When her shift ended, she deliberately stalled in the office lobby until the commuter rush thinned out, then strolled casually toward the bus stop.

She stood by the curb, pretending to be engrossed in her phone, while her peripheral vision swept the street.

It didn't take long.

The man with the baseball cap and black jacket was lurking behind a telephone pole half a block away.

Willa's heart kicked into overdrive, but she kept her face carefully blank.

When her bus arrived, she boarded. The man shadowed her inside.

She feigned ignorance, scrolling mindlessly on her phone.

A few stops later, she got off in the West Side district—a dilapidated, quiet neighborhood lined with decaying apartment buildings.

She ducked into a narrow alley and picked up her pace. The heavy footsteps trailing her instantly matched her speed.

Willa's heart was practically in her throat.

Her phone buzzed loudly in her palm. It was a text from Sophie.

[Here.]

Willa stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned around.

The stalker froze, immediately pivoting to walk back toward the main street.

Terrified he would vanish, Willa lunged forward. The second her fingers clamped around his jacket sleeve, the man violently spun around.

In that split second, she finally saw his face.

He was around thirty, wearing wire-rimmed glasses, looking entirely ordinary, like an average office worker.

Willa momentarily froze.

The man was equally stunned, clearly not expecting his prey to go on the offensive.

"What's your problem?" he demanded, his voice steady but annoyed.

"You're stalking me," she stated.

The man's brow furrowed in irritation. He yanked his arm back. "Lady, you've got the wrong guy."

He turned to leave.

Willa gritted her teeth, lunged forward, and grabbed his arm again.

"Don't move! You've been following me for days, from my office all the way out here. What the hell do you want?"

The man stopped and glared at her. "Let go."

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