{"id":24000,"date":"2025-12-13T22:08:49","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T22:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=24000"},"modified":"2025-12-13T22:08:49","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T22:08:49","slug":"24000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=24000","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Darius was acting strange. Not just strange\u2014suspicious. He had become overly attentive, overly caring. It was unusual and felt more unsettling than if he had simply been rude or hostile.<\/p>\n

On Friday, he bought her flowers, a big bouquet of white and yellow blooms wrapped in crinkly cellophane, \u201cjust because.\u201d Kiana took the bouquet, thanked him, and went to find a vase. Her hands were shaking.<\/p>\n

In their five years together, Darius had only bought her flowers twice\u2014on her birthday and sometimes on Mother\u2019s Day\u2014and even that had been inconsistent.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you like them?\u201d he asked, peeking into the kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery much,\u201d she replied, trimming the stems with scissors. \u201cThey\u2019re beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Darius was acting strange. Not just strange\u2014suspicious. He had become overly attentive, overly caring. It was unusual and felt more unsettling than if he had simply been rude or hostile. On Friday, he bought her flowers, a big bouquet of white and yellow blooms wrapped in crinkly cellophane, \u201cjust because.\u201d Kiana took the bouquet, thanked…<\/p>\n

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