AN HOUR LATER
ISABELLA
I wiped the counter for the third time. It was already clean because the memory had crept in, quiet, nasty, and accurate. After the gala, that was when it was supposed to happen. In the original timeline, after the gala, Xavier Stoneheart didn't linger at cafes. He didn't bring daily roses like a man with a floristry subscription and unresolved feelings. He courted Wanessa. He was off path and not in a small way. I glanced sideways. Wanessa was still there, perched on a stool like she had all the time in the world, stirring her iced coffee even though it was already mixed. She caught my look instantly. She tilted her head, watching my face like someone reading subtitles only they could see, and from her face, I could tell she knew that I noticed it.
"You remembered." She said lightly.
I didn't answer, I didn't need to.
"In your version." Wanessa continued, tone casual. "This is where he starts looking at me."
I swallowed.
"You don't look surprised." I said quietly.
"I was." She replied. "At first."
Michael passed behind me with a tray.
"Surprised about what?"He asked.
"Nothing." I said too fast.
"Narrative discrepancies."Wanessa smiled at him.
Michael nodded like that explained anything and walked away. Wanessa leaned in a little closer, lowering her voice.
"You are not supposed to be interesting to him." She said gently. "You are not supposed to be visible."
"I am aggressively trying not to be." I muttered.
"And yet." She added, eyes flicking to the rose again. "Here we are."
My chest tightened.
"So why?" I asked. "Why me?"
Wanessa studied me for a long moment, not teasing, not amused, thoughtful.
"In my timeline." She said slowly. "Xavier fell for control. For someone who fit into the shape of his world."
She met my eyes.
"You don't fit." She continued. "You resist without trying. You look at him like he's a problem to solve, not a prize to win."
"That's because he is a problem." I hissed.
"Exactly."Wanessa laughed softly.
"This is bad. This is really bad."I exhaled, rubbing my temple.
"For the story?" She asked.
"For me."I sighed.
She straightened, picking up her cup.
"Yes." She agreed. "It is." Then she smiled, not smug, not cruel, but curious. "But it's also fascinating."
"You are enjoying this."I groaned.
"A little." She admitted. "Because in every version I have lived, he chooses certainty and now." She said. "He's choosing chaos."
I stared at the counter, at the cups, at the life I was trying desperately to keep small.
"And you are okay with that?" I asked.
Wanessa stood, slipping her coat back on.
"I am more than okay." She said calmly. "Because I know something you don't."
"I hate when you say that."My stomach dropped.
She paused by the door, glancing back.
"He doesn't realize it yet." She said. "But he's already past the point where he was ever going to court me."
The bell jingled as she left, and I stood there, heart pounding, hands shaking slightly, and realized, with a sinking certainty, that the most dangerous thing about Xavier Stoneheart wasn't his obsession. It was that he had changed the route without noticing, and I was standing right in the middle of it.
My apartment was quiet in the way only cheap apartments get quiet, thin walls holding their breath, pipes clicking like they were gossiping about me. I kicked off my shoes, dropped my bag by the door, and leaned my forehead against it for a second. The room looked the same: a small table, a couch with one leg shorter than the others. Stack of notebooks I hadn't opened since reincarnating because I was afraid they had opened me back.
I poured water, took a sip, and froze. The air had shifted, not dramatically, not cinematically. Like the second before a migraine hits, when your vision hasn't blurred yet, but your brain already knows. Then the screen appeared, not projected, not floating politely in front of me. It forced itself into my vision, overlaying reality like an intrusive thought with UI design. I dropped the glass, it shattered, water everywhere, but I barely registered it.
"No." I whispered. "No, no, no-"
In my books, there were no systems, no blue screens, no quests, no helpful, soulless interface to explain the madness. There was only obsession, slow, human, and inevitable. This, this was new.
"SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE. WELCOME, AUTHOR ISABELLA MOON."The system said.
My stomach dropped so hard I thought I might actually throw up.
"Don't." I said weakly. "You don't get to use that name."
"AUTHOR IDENTIFIED. Role: Anomaly. Status: Unregistered Variable. Threat Level: Undetermined."System said.
My hands shook, I backed up until my calves hit the couch.
"I didn't write you." I whispered. "You are not part of the story."
"CORRECTION. You are no longer the author. You are inside the narrative."System explained.
The words felt like a slap. Inside, not controlling, not observing. Trapped. A memory hit me then, sharp and awful. Every time readers had begged me for a system, every comment asking for stats, routes, bad endings clearly labeled and I had refused. Because obsession didn't need rules, but pparently, the world disagreed.
"NEW ROUTE DETECTED. STONEHEART: UNBOUND. The route was not present in the source material. Progression unpredictable. Termination conditions: UNKNOWN."The system said.
My vision swam, unbound. That wasn't a route name. That was a warning.
"I didn't give him this." I said hoarsely. "I never-"
"NOTICE: Male Lead fixation exceeds narrative threshold. Original Female Lead displaced. Target of interest: YOU."System said.
The room felt too small, the walls leaned in like they wanted spoilers.
"No." I breathed. "He was supposed to choose Wanessa. He was supposed to-"
"QUESTION: Do you wish to initiate an escape protocol?"System asked.
I laughed. A brittle, terrified sound.
"Escape?" I said.' From what? A man who brings roses and kisses hands like it's polite to ruin someone's life?"
The screen flickered.
"WARNING. Obsession does not require hostility to become lethal. Affection based fixation detected."The system said.
My phone buzzed on the table. Once, I didn't want to look, twice, and I already knew. Slowly, like checking under the bed for monsters you're too old to believe in, I glanced down.
"Did you get home safely?"Xavier sent me a message.
The SYSTEM pulsed brighter.
"FINAL NOTICE FOR TODAY. The story has begun. You are not prepared." The system said.
The screen vanished, and the apartment went silent again. I stared at my phone, heart hammering, and for the first time since reincarnating, I understood something with terrifying clarity. I hadn't written a system, but the world had built one anyway, and it was watching him, and it had just pressed START.