Bethany Warns Brooke: “What If Isaiah Comes After You?”

Brooke quietly opened the front door and stepped inside.

She had barely taken a few steps when she noticed Bethany and Larry sitting in the living room. Neither of them looked happy.

Bethany was staring at her with a mixture of anger and disbelief, while Larry had his arms crossed and a serious expression on his face.

The moment Brooke looked at them, she knew they already knew.

“Brooke,” Bethany said sharply, “what did you do?”

Brooke stopped.

“What are you talking about?”

Larry stood up.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. You slapped Isaiah.”

Brooke looked down.

She didn’t answer.

Bethany immediately became more upset.

“You actually went there and hit him? What were you thinking?”

Brooke slowly put her bag down.

“He deserved it.”

Larry shook his head.

“That isn’t the point.”

“Then what is the point?” Brooke asked.

“The point is that Isaiah is your ex-boyfriend,” Larry replied. “You don’t know what he’s thinking right now. What if he gets angry? What if he decides to come after you?”

Brooke tried to remain calm.

“He’s not going to do anything.”

“How do you know?” Bethany asked.

Brooke looked at her.

“Because I know him.”

Bethany stepped closer.

“No, Brooke. You knew him. That’s different.”

Those words hurt more than Brooke expected.

She looked away.

Bethany continued, “He’s with Mariah now. You don’t know what kind of person he’s become. You can’t just walk up to him, slap him, and assume everything will be fine.”

“I didn’t go there looking for trouble,” Brooke said quietly.

“Then why did you go?”

Brooke remained silent.

Larry noticed her expression.

“You’re hiding something.”

Brooke shook her head.

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are,” Larry said. “I’ve known you long enough to see it.”

Brooke finally sat down.

For a few seconds, nobody spoke.

Then she quietly said, “Isaiah contacted me.”

Bethany’s expression changed.

“He contacted you?”

Brooke nodded.

“He asked me to meet him.”

Larry immediately asked, “Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Bethany looked frustrated.

“You don’t know, but you still went?”

“He said it was important.”

“And you believed him?”

Brooke looked at the floor.

“I thought maybe he wanted to explain something.”

Bethany sighed.

“Brooke, that’s exactly what worries me.”

Larry sat beside her.

“Listen to me. Whatever happened between you and Isaiah is over. You need to let it stay in the past.”

Brooke looked at him.

“I know.”

“Then promise us you won’t meet him again.”

Brooke didn’t respond.

Bethany immediately noticed.

“Brooke?”

“I can’t promise that.”

Bethany’s eyes widened.

“Why not?”

Brooke slowly looked up.

“Because something felt wrong.”

Larry frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“When I saw him, he wasn’t acting normally.”

Bethany crossed her arms.

“Maybe he was angry because you slapped him.”

“No.”

Brooke shook her head.

“He looked scared.”

Larry became completely silent.

“Scared of what?”

“I don’t know.”

Brooke reached for her phone.

“I wanted to ask him, but everything happened so quickly.”

She unlocked her phone and looked through her messages.

Then her face suddenly changed.

Bethany noticed.

“What happened?”

Brooke didn’t answer.

Larry stood up.

“Brooke, what is it?”

Bethany stared at the screen.

“What does he mean by ‘not safe’?”

“I don’t know,” Brooke whispered.

Larry immediately became concerned.

“This is exactly what I was talking about. You shouldn’t get involved in whatever this is.”

Before Brooke could respond, another notification appeared.

This time, it wasn’t from Isaiah.

It was from an unknown number.

Brooke opened it.

Brooke’s hands began to shake.

Bethany saw the message and immediately grabbed her arm.

“Who sent that?”

“I don’t know.”

Larry took the phone from Brooke and looked at the number.

“Don’t reply.”

Brooke stared at him.

“What if this is connected to Isaiah?”

Larry looked at her seriously.

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t contact anyone.”

Bethany suddenly noticed something outside the window.

She walked toward it and looked through the curtains.

A dark car was parked across the street.

“Larry…”

Her voice was barely a whisper.

Larry walked over.

“What?”

Bethany pointed toward the car.

“That car has been sitting there for several minutes.”

Brooke stood up.

Her heart began beating faster.

“Do you think someone is watching the house?”

Nobody answered.

The car remained completely still.

Then, suddenly, its headlights turned on.

Brooke stepped backward.

Larry immediately locked the front door.

“Stay away from the windows.”

Bethany looked at Brooke.

“This isn’t about the slap anymore, is it?”

Brooke shook her head slowly.

“I don’t think it is.”

Her phone vibrated again.

Everyone froze.

Brooke looked down.

Another message had arrived.

Brooke stared at the words.

Then another message appeared.

Brooke’s eyes widened.

She looked at Bethany and Larry.

But before she could say anything, the lights in the house suddenly went out.