Claire's body went stiff. "So it was you," she whispered. "You scared them off."
Mathew swallowed hard. "They weren't right for you, Claire. But I am."
"No." Her voice broke. "This isn't love, Mathew. It's obsession."
Her words hit him like a slap. His mind spun, searching for a way to fix this.
She doesn't mean that. She's just confused. I need to make her stay. I need more time to show her.
"You're wrong," he said desperately. "I love you, Claire. More than anyone ever could."
Claire's eyes filled with tears. "Mathew, if you ever cared about me, at all, you'll let me go."
She turned, but Mathew's hand shot out, gripping her arm with bruising force once again.
"Claire, wait—"
"Let me go!" she shouted, panic rising like a tidal wave.
Mathew's grip tightened. "You don't understand—"
"If you don't leave me this moment, everyone is going to hear about this——"