Chapter 10
725words
In truth, I'd found out about the skeleton in his closet the second week into our relationship.
Dean had a phone that he never let out of his sight. I could still remember that one time he couldn't find it anywhere. He'd become extremely agitated as he turned his office upside down, making me wait for him in the car.
His phone was in the car, having been wedged in a gap. When I pulled it out, the screen had been filled with BDSM slang and talk about switching bedpartners among friends.
That was when I found out that they filmed everything. They then used the footage to control the victims, preventing them from reporting their activities to the police.
I later overheard him on the phone mentioning an island. He was a frequent visitor there. Every time before his trip there, he would become unusually excited. When he returned, he would have a spring in his step that would last for quite a while.
I eventually suspected that the island was where they held their little get-togethers.
These wealthy scions had bought an island just to vent their desires. They'd built several houses there, greedily indulging themselves whenever they had the chance.
I deliberately behaved like an obedient and boring little lamb whenever I was around Dean, playing up on my meekness. As a result, he had never been very interested in me.
I had met him through my academic advisor, who had quite a close relationship with Dean's father.
People could say what they wanted about Dean, but there was no doubt that he was a filial child. That was also the reason why I'd risk so much on this gambit.
I hadn't been able to sleep well for the past six months. Whenever I managed to catch a wink, I would promptly be dragged out of my slumber, kicking and screaming due to the nightmares.
I was terrified out of my mind as my relationship with him continued. So, I "accidentally" let it slip to Mom that things were getting serious between us.
Everything had gone according to my plan. Every move the pieces on the chessboard made had been within my calculations.
I schemed for Erin to lose her benefactor, forcing her to look for another. I deliberately planned it so that she would get a taste of heaven before falling straight to hell.
After all, I had never left hell.
My years of suffering under Erin and Mom's thumbs had nearly driven me insane.
Eventually, I got a letter from Erin. It seemed that she had always assumed that either Dean or Eric had been my target. That was why she had been so furious.
I heard she'd applied for medical parole. It seemed that the violent nature of her sex life had essentially killed any of her chances of becoming a mother.
I nearly laughed when Eric gave me the letter.
Erin had always lived thinking that she needed a man to achieve success. She foolishly believed that every other woman on Earth thought the same thing.
I rolled up my sleeves, showing Eric the battle scars that ran up my arms. His eyes had widened like saucers as I said, "You once asked me why I never wear short sleeves. Do you get it now?"
In the end, I didn't take the job at Eric's branch company. Instead, I sold the old apartment I'd bought years ago and left the country.
I heard from the grapevine that Erin and Dean had been involved in murder when they'd been dating. As a result, their case was placed under legal review.
I also heard that Mom fell ill. Aunt Abigail had also suffered health complications. The Whittaker sisters somehow reconciled and were now living together.
As for me, I was doing quite well for myself. After all, us Valantheans had never shied away from hard work.
I only work on work days and would take time off to travel during holidays. I would sometimes approach a familiar silhouette before leaving in disappointment.
Until one day, someone walked through the doors of where I was working.
He smiled at me, and suddenly, my world seemed to burst into color.
