Page 155 of Seven
"I really don't know what you're trying to say."
"It was pretty convenient for that ticket to materialize out of thin air and so quickly."
"My boss is an airhead. She mixed up the dates. I didn't want it to go to waste. I don't know what kind of explanation you're expecting."
"You've been really weird lately."
"Whatever." I needed to for this conversation to end. I couldn't let her continue with this suspicion. I had no way to explain any of this. Especially if she brought up her vandalized house situation.
"What's your friend's name? The one who's handling her case?"
"You know what?" I went on the offensive. "Just say you don't trust me instead of going in circles and coming up with some ridiculous ideas."Please don't be mad. I'm only protecting you.
"That's not what I mean. And you know it. You've distanced yourself from us. We have no idea what you're doing and what kind of people you're associating yourself with. We're all worried about you. Why don't you talk to us. We are your family."
This stung. I wished I could have explained. "I gotta go. I have to finish my work." I hung up, feeling wound up and irritated.
I worked out with the weights Seven had stashed in one of the closets, then returned to my iPad to check the news.
That's when the headline popped up, much louder than the ones I saw earlier.
EXCLUSIVE: Watch Video of Caius Valmont Assaulting a Woman
I froze.
My thumb hovered over the play button. My other hand was locked white-knuckled around the side of the iPad. I didn't breathe. Terror shot through me. My sisters and mother will see this for sure. This isn't some minor scandal. This will be huge. I only hoped they wouldn't guess the woman was me. No, they couldn't. My face wasn't in the frame. But my voice…
I felt my pulse in my teeth and the tremor in my body.
I wondered if I'd done the right thing—getting involved with Valmont again.
I waited a full sixty seconds before finally tapping the play icon. The video took its time to load, buffering, spinning, mocking me. Then it started. The camera angle was low and shaky at first, then it righted itself, replaying everything that has happened in that room from my point of view. Thankfully, my voice had been modulated and Valmont's dick had been pixelated too when he pulled it out of his pants. The video cut out the moment someone entered the room, ending with his face slacked and in shock. It was a perfect still of a man caught in the act.
I watched the whole thing twice just to make sure nothing gave me away. Nothing did. My voice sounded like a robot. I had no distinct beauty marks on my arms and legs. It could have been any woman.
For the first time in days, I exhaled, really exhaled. My lungs burned from the effort and from letting all this disgust and darkness out. I set the iPad down on the couch and ran both hands through my hair, squeezing the roots until it hurt.
He can't touch me anymore, I told myself.
But my hands were still shaking. The old panic was there, just running a new script. I knew I wasn't okay and probably wouldn't be for a whilebecause what I'd bought was against my very nature. But eventually, everything would right itself. It had to.
I picked up the iPad again and scanned the comments section beneath the article. It was a flood of outrage.
What a monster.
Burn in hell, Caius!
Guess his wife finally grew a spine.
Hope he rots in jail.
Fucking rich people think they can do whatever.
Hypocrite!
This girl took a beating. Hope she's okay.
I started to feel lighter, maybe even hopeful.
