Page 75 of No Longer Mine

I could no longer hold it back, and the vomit came up. I bent over at the waist and spilled all the contents of my stomach right on his shiny leather shoes.

“You bitch!” He shoved me away and then thought better of it and grabbed me. He pushed me down into it. “You’ll learn from this.”

My body was sore from where he abused me and everything ached as I landed on my butt right below the stairs. It was hidden enough for Jameson to do what he wanted to me. I’d fought so many times, but there was no fight left in me. I just wanted it to be over with. If it wasn’t for Oliver, Cleo, and Vivi, I would have ended it a long time ago.

“Scarlett!” Dimitri called from behind me, and I blinked out of the memory. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was a sore subject. We could talk about it.”

The Uber pulled up in front of me.

A manic laugh bubbled out of me as I fought not to cry my eyes out in front of this man. I yanked the door open on the little car and shook my head. “Do I want to talk about the past that I had buried for a reason with a stranger that doesn’t know if he wants to kill me more than he wants to fuck me? No. I do not want to talk about being raped for years by the headmaster and his son. No. I do not want to talk about everything that I endured in that hellhole. And no, I do not want to share my past any longer. Let me know how much I owe you.”

My eyes filled with tears as I turned to leave.

“Scarlett, I didn't know.”

I couldn’t even look at him. I was so mortified. I was humiliated. I couldn’t believe this night had ended like it had. I got into the Uber and closed my eyes.

Oliver called. He texted.

I ignored every single one.

Dimitri hadn’t tried to call or text, which was surprising enough. I thought maybe he would have tried.

For a week, I barely moved. I didn’t cook. I lived off takeout and silence, burying myself under blankets and hoping the world would forget I existed.

Then, Cleo let herself in.

“I’m going to take it that you didn’t fuck him to death like we both hoped.”

I peeked out from under the blanket and shot her a scowl. “I had the codes and locks changed.”

“Oliver was worried about you too, ya know?”

I pulled the blanket back over my face. “I’m alive. Bye.”

The couch dipped under her weight. “Eventually, you’ll tell me what happened.”

“That day isn’t today.”

She rubbed my back through the blanket. “It couldn’t have been that bad. I mean, he let you live.”

“He knows about Vanewood.”

Before I could stop her or realize her intentions, the blanket was ripped off of me in one swift motion. “What does that mean?”

“He went there and found a picture of us.”

She gnawed on her bottom lip. “Uh, what else did he find?”

That was the worst part. I should have stayed so I could figure it out. He could have my entire file. He could know everything there was to know about me. He could know that I had nothing when they brought me there. That my parents were poor. He could know that Oliver transferred all of the money, which belonged to the Vanewoods, to me eventually. The manor shouldn’t have been mine, but it was. How could I explain that?

“I don’t know,” I breathed out as I curled into myself on the couch. “I ran before he could say anything else.”

“Red…”

“I’m not proud, but the memories… they came back, and before I knew it, I was swept away. What if he takes it public? I could go to jail. I could lose everything I’ve worked so hard for.”

Cleo crouched down in front of me and sighed. “If he wanted to do that, he would have.”